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  1. #1
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    Default Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    I have been using 7mm Barnes TTSX 120gr in my 7x64 for many years on everything from springbok to Eland, and have found them to be accurate and mushroom perfectly every time. I regard them somewhat of a gold standard against which a hunting bullet should be judged. So with the supply issues that we have in South Africa, I went looking for a replacement. I considered the GMX, Peregrine and Frontier, but in the end, the only thing I could get my hands on in George through a local agent were the Balistix 7mm Huntac 140g. They look pretty cool and remind me of the GS Customs in that they have thin drive bands, rather than the grooves seen in other monos. They are also unique in that they differ in having a rebated boat tail. I’m not sure if this is a gimmick, or if it does anything, but it does look kind of cool. They are also covered in a white hexaboron nitrate powder which seems to help lubricate the seating which make reloading them a bit easier. I weighed the bullets, and found them quite consistent in weight.

    The load data suggested I start at around 51 grains of Norma URP and can go to a max of 53grains, so I loaded four test loads at 0.4g intervals: 51.2g, 51.6g, 52g and 52.4g and headed to the range. Under far from ideal circumstances, (I forgot my chair and bean bags at home), I still managed a sub MOA group with the 51.6g load. There were no signs of pressure with any of these loads, which suggests that I could be tempted to go a bit faster to get the next node, but what the hell, I didn’t have any time to play around before my next trip, and the 51.6 load shot very comfortably, without any extra grunt. I loaded up the remaining bullets, adjusted my scope and headed off to the Eastern Cape. While sighting in at the lodge, the load was bang on from the start at 1.5’ above at zero at 100m and I was able to hit a tiny gong at 200m every time, so I was happy with the load accuracy and consistency.

    The next day we went out looking for a Kudu, specifically, a massive bull to make lots of biltong, but with <40’ horns so I don’t have to fork out for a trophy. The Kudu where onto us from the start, and never let us get within 550m, so we tried a few different valleys and then we found a small herd led by a nice fat bull with smallish horns. His body size seemed about dowble that of the surrounding cows. After a lot of stalking and maneuvering, I peered over a ridge and found the bull standing on the crest of the next ridge, looking down toward us. I ranged the bushes around him, and got values between 350m and 380m. “Shit” I thought, there was no cover or way to get any closer. I stared at him for a while through the scope whilst some cows browsed around him. I looked at the tables I carry printed on my rifle stock. The bullet drop at that distance would be about 50cm, but fortunately, there was no wind. I decided it was now or never, and I was not likely to get a better shot at him, so I aimed about a hand height above the shoulder and pulled the trigger.

    The shot felt like I was playing golf, you know when you have enough time to speak to the ball whilst it’s still in the air. Despite the distance, the shot sounded good and I saw the characteristic tail flick and body flinch of a good hit. The bull ran about 50m down the slope towards us, , and then spun around and around for about 30 seconds before it dropped dead. On examining the animal, the shot was perfect for a kudu quartering slightly towards me. It went through the thick muscle that runs in front of the shoulder blade, near the joint, and out through the ribs just behind the opposite shoulder. A lot of lung blood and lung bits had pumped through the exit hole. I couldn’t have been happier with the placement of a boiler room shot.

    On examining the animal, I could not find the entrance wound, but the exit hole was very pronounced, a good finger in diameter, which suggests that even though the bullet had slowed from about 2750ft/sec to less than 2000ft/sec before impact, it still expanded properly, and had enough penetration to go right through.

    Below are three pictures showing:

    1. The entrance wound to the shoulder muscle (note how little actual meat damage there is where the bullet entered.

    https://ibb.co/0KvpdJz

    1. The exit from the same muscle (about 5cm thick), through which one can see that the bullet expanded to about twice its initial diameter.

    https://ibb.co/sKL88n5

    1. The exit hole through the rib section on the other side after going through the vitals, leaving a nice exit hole.

    https://ibb.co/4f9jDV8

    So I was happy with two things: The bullet expanded successfully at a low velocity, and it exited through a decent size hole to leave a blood trail.

    What was interesting, probably a different discussion is that there was a massive amount of jelly blood infiltrate running between the muscle layers of the thorax, which made the shoulders and rib sections of the carcass very difficult to work because of all the congealed blood trapped between the layers. I didn’t think this was from the bullet, or hydrostatic shock, as the impact velocity was very low, and the surrounding muscle was not badly affected. I discussed this with my medically trained friends, and we figured that the animal gets what you call surgical emphysema from the bullet hole, where basically the breathing activity of the chest muscles pumps air into the inter-muscular spaces where you find that fluffy connective tissue. The spaces then fill with blood and leave that congealed mass between the layers which is difficult to get rid of. The meat surrounding these blood clots was perfect, with no blood infiltrate in the muscle tissue. An experienced friend of mine also finds this on kudu that are shot from a distance, and that take a bit longer to die, that the meat damage around the bullet hole is minimal, but the blood clots between the muscle layers gets worse the longer the animal takes to expire, suggesting that the meat “damage” is secondary to the bullet damage.

    The second animal shot on the trip was by my daughter, a nice size blesbok bull at about 150m. I did not allow for the wind (Dad error), and the bullet drifted about 20 cm back from where she was aiming, to hit the animal just behind the diaphragm. I heard the characteristic thump of a gut shot, and felt oooo noo. Fortunately the animal weakened and then dropped after a minute or two. An examination of the internals showed that bullet went through the stomach and the liver was turned to mush by the bullet, and the animal blead out. Again, there was a tiny entrance hole and a good size exit wound.
    So although my sample size is small, it appears that the Ballistix bullets load fairly easily, and are accurate. They also expand well, even at low velocity, and have good penetration. Overall, I think I’m happy to use these as locally made substitute for Barnes Bullets.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Thanks for the feedback. I have had good results with the 115gr Huntac in a 6.5mm Creedmoor.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Quote Originally Posted by TStone View Post
    Thanks for the feedback. I have had good results with the 115gr Huntac in a 6.5mm Creedmoor.
    Same here ... shooting 150gr Huntac .308

    The other advantage for me is that I stay a rocks throw from where it gets made. So I don't have to worry if the dealer has stock :)

  4. #4

    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Thanks for sharing.

    My experience have been with the .308 155gr UltraHunt in .308 and 165gr UltraHunt in 30.06. As you said they load easy and are accurate.

    To add I've also experienced the "Jelly Blood" on both the entry and exit but this seems to be more prominent on the Kudu's we hunted this year and not the Blue Wildebeest and they did seem to "travel" a bit further then expected after being shot even though the internal damage was quite serve but again this is apparently normal mono behavior.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    A very nice to read and well set out post, very informative - I been waiting for this insight for some time now.
    I am personally hoping for a lot more input on this bullet.

    I have been a mono user longer than most hunters and stuck mainly to GS Customs, I also dabbled with Impala and Peregrine bullets. After GS Custom became unavailable I bought large stocks of conventional bullets which I am now working through, but I am hoping to find a good mono again for when the conventional bullets are finished. I am using Barns TTSX in one of my weapons, but the cost is horrendous.
    I have found that the TTSX does not please me with smaller game unless bones or CNS is destroyed animals run too far in the kinda terrain I hunt. The Impala shot to date were all perfect boiler room shots and animals all ran 80 to 110 m. The B/Pig all died almost DRT. The Kudu were DRT and geees lucky it tripped or we would have walked far. The Barnes saved the day a few times with the new hunters simply because it just carried on and on and on till it hit a vital or broke a crippling bone.
    I am wondering what these Ballistics will perform like in the .223? Its the only caliber I am buying bullets for at the moment.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Do you guys do any barrel prep to prepare for the HBN?

    Sent from my SM-A526B using Tapatalk

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    @Messor

    I did the same as I do when changing to any new bullet, cleaned and de-coppered the barrel. I tried three loads, largest 3 shot group measured 22.4mm and the smallest 10.2mm. Then I went hunting.
    Whether the HBN has any influence or not I truly don't know. The barrel cleaned easily after I finished the Ballistix bullets, but it has always been real easy to clean.

    @Treeman.

    Last time I checked, the smallest caliber they made was 6mm.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    Do you guys do any barrel prep to prepare for the HBN?

    Sent from my SM-A526B using Tapatalk
    Nothing specific for HBN, but before I try a new bullet I de-copper and clean the barrel as best I can, as I have found some incompatibility with using monos after lead core bullets. After a good scrub of the barrel to get rid of the gliding metal the accuracy returns for the monos.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Quote Originally Posted by K@kaTo View Post
    To add I've also experienced the "Jelly Blood" on both the entry and exit but this seems to be more prominent on the Kudu's we hunted this year and not the Blue Wildebeest and they did seem to "travel" a bit further then expected after being shot even though the internal damage was quite serve but again this is apparently normal mono behavior.
    A friend of mine simply took the carcass, slashed the ribs with a big sharp knife and then hosed out the blood jelly with a high pressure washer, and he claims the meat was good to eat. Another mate uses it to descale fish. ... I think I need to invest in one of those machines.

    I just cringe when I work on a carcass shot with cup core bullets and land up fishing out all the lead and copper fragments out the meat. They do kill quicker, but they make such as mess.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Balistix Bullets Review and interesting observations.

    Quote Originally Posted by treeman View Post
    I am wondering what these Ballistics will perform like in the .223? Its the only caliber I am buying bullets for at the moment.
    I think it depends on what you are planning to shoot. My suspicion is that it might zip through small game too easily, where a cup core or varmint style bullet may be more effective, certainly if you are planning on using the 223 for head shots. On second thoughts, if you have a good dog, you two can have a lot of fun together finding your animals

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