Monolithic Bullets. Your favorite manufacturer and why?

Love the Barnes TTSX. Haven’t used them in .243 but they have performed perfectly in .308” and .284” for me

Barnes TSX in my 450 Bushmaster



Maker Rex in my 300 BO.

I haven't yet used any but the only ones I think I like the performance of are the hammer bullets, talked with one of the owners and was very nice and helpful. I was going to try them in one rifle then rona happened and stalled that idea. Not sure what gun to try them in yet.

KansasTrapper77 said:

One of my interests of the CX is they claim its a copper allow a little softer than solid/pure copper thus expanding easier. Are the other manufacturers alloys as well and just didn’t market that or what? My greatest fear of monolithics are penciling through a target.

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The Barnes TSX in my first post first picture impacted the raccoon at less than 1850 fps and expanded very nicely.

The Maker Rex in the second picture impacted the armadillo at slightly less than 970 fps.

Pick the right bullet for the velocity your shooting and they work very nicely. That said I tested both in water jugs and wet magazines before I started shooting critters with them.

KansasTrapper77 said:

970fps. I am impressed. I figured that was a 1800+ FPS bullets.

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Maker Bullet has a whole line of all copper bullets specifically tailored for subsonic use in calibers from 22 to 50.

mcb said:

Maker Bullet has a whole line of all copper bullets specifically tailored for subsonic use in calibers from 22 to 50.

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I don't know comparison prices for this sort of bullet, but I checked Maker Bullets and their product is priced a little higher than I'm willing to spend.

Their 158g .357 projectiles are $34 for a box of 50. That's more than I'm prepared to spend on loaded ammo.

Bullet prices are ridiculous now. Some are more than a dollar per bullet. I'll use my own cast bullets if it continues.

Speedo66 said:

I don't know comparison prices for this sort of bullet, but I checked Maker Bullets and their product is priced a little higher than I'm willing to spend.

Their 158g .357 projectiles are $34 for a box of 50. That's more than I'm prepared to spend on loaded ammo.

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They are not cheap that is for sure but IMHO the performance is worth it to me. My 300 BO Maker Rex load is right at $1 every time I pull the trigger. But a good evening of armadillo hunting might cost me 10-12 dollars. I have a very similar shooting load using Barry's plated bullets that shoots to basically the same point of aim out to ~150-200 yards that I use for plinking fun and it only cost me ~$.32/rd.



The Barnes bullet I am using got bought at a substantial discount a while ago (thankfully I bought a bunch). With today's prices that ammo reloader would probably be close to $2 a round. But given the low volume of that cartridge I shoot (again I have cheap 450 BM plinking loads) and the exceptional performance I have gotten from that bullet I would still buy it and use it for hunting. I shot a big does with that TSX nearly lengthwise head to tail and it still exited and did tremendous damage the whole length of her.

If I am calculating correctly... the Barnes TTSX has at least eight kills(7 bucks) on my 80 acre hunting spot in the last three years ...

That's six 80 grain TTSX .243 Winchester kills, one 80 grain TTSX .25/06 and one 120 grain TTSX 7/08 .... most were dropped in the track shots ... one took about eight steps and one about ten steps ....

All the shots were 1/3 up the chest ...right behind the shoulder shots ...

This is eight shots at 100 yards 80 grain TTSX out the .243 Win ... 1/2" orange dot for size ...

Every account I have been able to find claims the Hornady CX bullets are "harder" bullets than the TTSX in the .30 caliber and smaller diameter ... have no experience with the CX ...but the GMX Hornady would not shoot a very good group in my .243 Win rifle ....

Grandson first ever deer with .243 80 grain TTSX ....125 yards freehand...

I’ve had good experience with the TTSX in 25-06 (100 gr), .300WM (150 gr) and my BIL is happy with them in .30-06 (180 gr). I was not happy with the TSX in .300 WM (165 gr). I took several deer with that load as well as lost the only deer I’ve ever lost. I did not think it expanded reliably. A few long runners besides the one I lost.

The TTSX has a larger nose cavity than the TSX to accommodate the plastic tip. I believe this leads to more consistent expansion.

180gr nosler e tips In my 300wm. I've killed a couple of cow elk with it now. It's accurate and it seems to work just fine. The elk I shot two weeks ago had both scapula destroyed at about 50yds. The bullet exited.

I understand your reasoning with the 243, but I think a bonded bullet would be cheaper and still get you where you want to go. 100gr Hornady interlocks at 3000fps from my 250 savage have never let me down. One of them traveled 18 inches down the length of a deers spine. It was pretty mangled but it did the job.

I've had good luck working up accurate loads with TTSX bullets in 25-06, 270 and 308 Win but have yet to kill anything with one of them. I have used a 139gr Hornady GMX bullet as loaded in their superformance ammo, to kill a big Idaho moose 10 years ago. I used my 7mm Rem Mag and the range was about 80 yards. The bullet went through both side, including one shoulder on the exit side. Killed the moose dead, although he did travel a few yards (downhill, of course!) before he keeled over.

Fron what I've seen on the other forums guys usually prefer the tsx over the tipped ttsx.

I'd like to have at least one rifle next year shooting a mono, I just have that feeling new York will ban lead ammo, probably the only reason they haven't is they make so much for the tax each year. Like everything else in ny up state pays for the city. I may try some monos in my 7wsm, that will push them fast enough to try out some different speeds, I just don't have the mag space in that gun and not much twist for heavier bullets. The 6.5 prc maybe a better choice it's have the mag length, power and the twist. Maybe try some in my 6 arc.

Posted in another thread but here is my experience. Go light for caliber and fast IMPACT velocity (no long range shots or reduced loads). Better yet, stick with bonded bullets instead unless you live in California. Just my opinion based on several animals and my preferred behind the shoulder shot placement.

Barnes is kind of like Vortex, lots of marketing and a cult following. Ever wonder why Nosler doesn’t heavily market the Accubond for example? They don’t need to because it flat works and hunters share their positive experience with products like that. Again, just one meat hunter’s opinion.

Peakbagger46 said:

I’ve used exactly 3 Barnes bullets on mule deer. First was a 165g TSX in .308 broadside with good place at about 70y. Deer ran leaving a poor blood trail and needed a second shot.

Second mulie was also a doe but was with 130g TTSX with .308 youth load data at appropriately 80y. Almost zero blood trail and I searched for hours without success. The only big game animal I’ve not recovered. Not a good day.

Last fall I decided to try Barnes again due to various people I respect speaking well of the bullets. This time it was with my 30-06 shooting a 130g TTSX at the speed of light. An 80y behind the shoulder shot put the small mule deer buck on the run but recovery was short.

I’m no professional hunter, but that’s what I’ve experienced. Better have a HIGH impact velocity or aim for bone.

As a behind the shoulder double lung guy, I’ll stick with bonded lead core bullets.

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I’m very interested in monolithic bullets especially Barnes TTSX.
I handload and I just can’t find what I’m looking for, and I’ve been searching since early this year.
I use Nosler Accubonds and love their performance but I’ve seen a few things about how lead bullets “break apart” into micro pieces and get into the meat of the animal taken.
Also being in New York there is a possibility of only being able to use monos on state lands and with the current climate here nothing would surprise me anymore….

Don’t forget Federal Trophy copper. Don’t know who actually manufactures these. This is one I took out of a fat doe I shot head on though the nose and out the back of the head at the base of the skull and it then plowed into the spine and made a large gouge about 12” long breaking every vertebrae.

It was fired from a 20 ga shotgun and is either .500 or .510 diameter.

troy fairweather said:

Fron what I've seen on the other forums guys usually prefer the tsx over the tipped ttsx.

I'd like to have at least one rifle next year shooting a mono, I just have that feeling new York will ban lead ammo, probably the only reason they haven't is they make so much for the tax each year. Like everything else in ny up state pays for the city. I may try some monos in my 7wsm, that will push them fast enough to try out some different speeds, I just don't have the mag space in that gun and not much twist for heavier bullets. The 6.5 prc maybe a better choice it's have the mag length, power and the twist. Maybe try some in my 6 arc.

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I've had exactly the opposite experience with the two bullets. Much more consistent performance with the TTSX. Your 7wsm with limited mag space is the perfect rifle to try monos because you don't need a heavy for caliber bullet. The BCs typically aren't as high as ballistic tips, so don't worry about it. Horses for courses. Use an Accubond or similar if you want high BC. The nice thing about the monos is they typically retain nearly 100% of their weight which allows you to go light for caliber and drive them fast which helps with opening.

From what I've read, Nosler Partitions average about 70% weight retention and Accubonds retain about 80%. So the final weight of my 150 gr TTSX is the equivalent of a 214 gr Partition or a 188 gr Accubond. There is no critter in the woods of NY that can't be taken with any of those bullets. Furthermore, the vast majority of deer in the woods of the NE are taken at ranges under 100 yards where BC doesn't matter. I personally have taken one deer over 200 yards. Most shots for me are inside 75 yards.

I'm working on TTSX loads for all my hunting rifles because I believe that it is a matter of time before NY bans lead hunting ammo. NY DEC is already "encouraging" hunters to choose non-lead. I plan to have an accurate TTSX load for every hunting rifle before that happens so I'm not scrambling like the masses will be. I've got my load for the .300WM. I've got 1.5 boxes of factory 100 gr TTSX for the .25-06 so the next project will be duplicating that load. Next will be a 185 gr TTSX load for my FILs .338WM.

Wolfshead said:

I’m very interested in monolithic bullets especially Barnes TTSX.
I handload and I just can’t find what I’m looking for, and I’ve been searching since early this year.
I use Nosler Accubonds and love their performance but I’ve seen a few things about how lead bullets “break apart” into micro pieces and get into the meat of the animal taken.
Also being in New York there is a possibility of only being able to use monos on state lands and with the current climate here nothing would surprise me anymore….

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What are you looking for? Did you check ammoseek.com? They currently show multiple weights of TTSX available from reputable online stores in 7mm (120, 140, 150) and .308 (150, 165, 168, 180). 100 gr available in .257 and 225 gr available in .338. 120 gr available in 6.5mm only from one store with low ratings, so I'd avoid.

I strongly believe the TTSX is a better bullet for deer hunting than the TSX. Take a look at this cross section of .277" bullets.


The hollow point on the TSX is as thin as a wire. Look how much bigger the hollow point is on the TTSX.

Note: It's been a while since I uploaded images. I can't seem to get the image in the body of the post and I don't even know if it will show up as an attachment.