Update-.307 and the 150gr TSX

[xxclaro]

Some time last year I asked for any info concerning the 150gr Barnes TSX FP in the .307 Winchester. I finjally bought some and loaded them up last fall for some deer hunting. Long story short, I got a shot at a good size(about 150-175lb) doe, at a distance of about 125 yds. At the shot he deer leapt high into the air, then ran off into the bush. I couldn't find any blood,and it was getting dark, so I headed home for the night. It was good and cold at night, so as long as the coyote's didn't find her, I figured I'd be okay.
The next morning I got a couple friends and headed out to search. After lots of searching, we found a sparse blood trail. It petered out, but by listening for magpies, I finally found her, intact.
At first glance, I thought I had hit her near the base of the neck, but upon butchering her I found I had actually hit her right behind the shoulder,mid-chest, and the exit was about the same. It seems the skin kind of slid around and covered the entrance and exit. I don't know if this happened immediatly after the shot, or after she ran a distance. Internally, the damage seemed pretty decent, lungs were pretty jeelied, but she ran at least 600 yards,maybe a bit more.
All in all, I was unable to get the accuracy with these bullets that my Sierra 150's produced. It was okay, eventually got close to 2 inches, but it took some doing. I wasn't that impressed with the performance of the bullet,at least not enough to pay the premium for them. I think I'll go back to the Sierra, or maybe try something else like a Hot-Cor. I'm curious about the Partition, but have been unable to find them locally. I'm not sure if I''ll us this gun again this year or go to the .444 or .375 this time,but it is still one of my favorites.

[Tycer]

Thanks for the write-up. Those 165 gr BT Sierra Game Kings sure are fine bullets.

[Kapincrunch]

No doubt if I still had my 307 I would load the 30/30 160grain Hornady LE bullet not that it is available.
jim

[william iorg]

I had two similar experiences with the 356 Winchester when using the 220-grain Speer bullet while hunting our smaller West Texas White tail deer. Both shots involved deer in motion at less than fifty yards.
The first deer – a doe of about 100 pounds on the hoof was hit at an angle from behind and the bullet entered from behind the last rib and penetrated the liver and both lungs and exited behind the front leg on the other side. The big Speer bullet did not encounter enough resistance to begin opening up until just prior to exit. The hide hid the entrance and the exit wounds and there was a very small splash of blood from the exit wound where the deer was hit and not another drop of blood on the ground until the deer was found 130 paces away in a large circle from where she was hit. There was a large pool of blood under her when we drug her from under a cedar bush.

The second deer was a spike meat buck, just a bit heavier bodied. I hit him from quartering behind while he was in motion or just starting to move and he disappeared at the shot. I’ve at least told Chris Cash this story before. There was a big splash of blood where the deer was hit, the bullet crossing the body at the liver and penetrating a small portion of one lung. The little buck disappeared at the shot and I did not have a clue where he had gone. I got my wife and I stood on the spot where the blood splash was and she followed widely scattered tiny flakes of blood on grass stems and a drop here and there on the hard, rocky ground. These small specks of blood did not start to appear until about thirty yards from where the deer was first hit. My wife trailed him to the spot where he lay about 110-yards away. This was a hot-dry winter and the ground was hard and dry with no foot prints visible. The inside of this deer’s body cavity was filled with blood but very little blood was able to leak out.
My wife is a big fan of Frederick Burnham and has studied tracks and tracking. I am not certain I would have found this deer until after it started to stink.

In my experience deer will trot or run till they run out of oxygen in the blood stream. I have experienced more one shot dropped in it tracks kills using the 307 Winchester than any other rifle, but the majority of my shots have been at 100-yards and less because of the brushy country I hunt in.
In my experience using the smooth sided 150-grain Barnes X bullet in the 30-30, 30-30AI and 307 Winchester the bullet leave an impressive exit wound. The exit wounds I have seen from the x-bullets in a variety of calibers have all left a slice type wound in the skin with the meat around the wound open or puckered out from the body. I have not personally shot a lot of deer with the x-bullets but I have hunted with a number of people who have and the results have always been impressive exit wounds.

I have experienced some of my best accuracy in the 30-30AI and 307 Winchester when shooting the 130-grain Speer and the 150-grain Barnes-X bullets. What load were you using? What COAL were you using?
With either bullet I have been able to shoot a number of three shot groups which measure less than one inch using the Target Tool from RCBS Load. Both bullets give me the confidence to say: “watch this” when I set down at the bench.
Most bullets and loads fired from my 307 Winchester will average between 1 ½” and 2 ½”. I must work pretty hard to shoot 1 ¼” three shot groups with full power hunting loads. My rifle wore a Weaver V4.5X
Scope for many years but now has a Burris straight 4X Short Mag scope mounted.
With light loads in my 307 Winchester it is considerably easier to shoot groups which measure under 1 ½” using the Target Tool.

My bullet of choice is the 170-grain Speer bullet. The Speer bullet is accurate and tough enough to handle close range shots at 307 Winchester velocities. The 170-grain Speer bullet penetrates deep and straight. My most interesting shot was directly into the chest of an adult white tail at less than 50-yards and the bullet penetrated the full length of the deer’s body. The bullet never touched bone and was under the skin on the ham, it looked like a marble under the skin.

My experience with the 170-grain Nosler Partition is that it is a just under 2-inch bullet in my 307 Winchester. I have not experimented a great deal with the Nosler bullet as the Speer 170-grain bullet has given me such fine performance on deer and pigs.

My experience with the 444 Marlin in my Winchester Timber rifle leads me to believe the best all around deer bullet is the 270-grain Speer Gold Dot followed by any 240-grain JSP bullet – all of these ahead of a full charge of IMR or Hodgdon 4198. The 240-grain bullets drop deer in their tracks and always seem to exit for me – I am shooting meat deer and try not to punch shoulders.

[xxclaro]

Thanks for the great info William. I don't recall exactly what my load was, except that it was Varget and I played with the OAL alot. I've heard alot of good things about the 130gr Speer, and am curious to try it. I'm still a bit cautious about it, as the shots can get pretty long and the bucks pretty big out here.
I've done no loading for the .444 yet, though I've been meaning to. The Hornady LM 265 are jsut so darn accurate out of this rifle I really doubt I can improve on them.
The .356 has proven itself time and again for me, though I've setteld on the 180gr Speer as my bullet of choice.
The .375 has given me fits with accuracy, so hasn't got to go hunting yet, but maybe I can rectify the problem this year.