What would be your choice
 

I know there are followers here for both bullets so I'd like your opinion on what choice you would make for elk. I plan on using my 30-06 to fill my tag. I have been shooting Berger 175 gr VLDs and Barnes 180 gr TSXs out of it. Both bullets shoot equally well so that's not an issue. I know full well what the Barnes bullets are capable of. But I am wondering if the Bergers would be better. I believe the Bergers are designed to fragment. Opinions please.

I tend to dislike Barnes bullets and tend to like Berger, but given this specific choice - all else being equal for huntable precision - I’d take the TTSX over the VLD. The poly-tip driver adds a little extra insurance for expansion, and the solid shank offers added insurance for penetration.

For a mono bullet the 168 TTSX BT worked out the best for me on elk sized game when fired from a 30-06. It seemed a better match to the 30-06 than the 180 grain version. I used that combination on one of my Botswana hunts for critters up to the size of eland (app. 2,000 lbs. on the hoof). It worked quite well. I had previously used the TSX and found the TTSX to give more reliable expansion.

I have taken a fair number of elk. A broadside shot on a calm cow is not a problem, but penetration can be a big deal if a "less than ideal" angle shot is required. I now mostly use the Nosler AccuBond bullets for elk. I used the 180 grain AB bullets on the same African game as the 168 Barnes (out of the same 30-06) and prefer them slightly to the TTSX BT 168. I have two elk hunts planned for this season and intend to use a 300 WM with 180 grain AB on one and a 280 with 140 grain AB on the other.

Thanks guys. I was leaning toward the Barnes because I have a couple boxes of the TSX on hand and they shoot very well. On a broadside shot on a cow I think either would drop her pretty quickly.
I watched my hunting buddy a couple years ago in Newfoundland drop a bull moose in its tracks hitting it in the shoulder with a 180 gr TSX. And it never got up.
Mine with 180 gr Sierra Game Kings traveled about 50 yards before piling up. But I shot for the lungs and not the shoulder.

I'm glad I choose the Barnes. It really did a job on my elks shoulder. It shattered it and split the scapula for about 6"

would he have been less dead with a Berger?

No but she may have gotten farther from the road! The Bergers are good but I don't believe as "stout" as the Barnes. I wish I would have taken pics of what it did to the offside shoulder. RR it completely demolished the shoulder joint and split the scapula from the joint up to a length of about 6". You couldn't ask for anything else. I thing the Berger would have fragmented hitting that joint.

There are more DRT kills made with the Berger than any production bullet out there, they are designed to penetrate 2" then violently expand, they will ruin anythings day, and are super, super accurate!
RR

I guess we'll never know how my elk would have reacted. And as far as that comment I'm not sure about that. I personally had many many deer be DRT with good old Hornady Interlocks and Nosler BTs.
RR I wish I would have taken a pic of the heart during field dressing. It looked like it was split with an axe and the split part was looked like burger. That was my first shot.

I've shot a lot of different bullets, had a lot of DRT kills, but on average impact velocities have had more with Bergers than other bullets, now if ya swat them with impact velocities from 3300 fps and up, it doesn't make much difference.
RR