# barnes tmz or thors



## kdinkel (Oct 29, 2014)

What do you guys think? I currently use the tmzs and like them, but the thors look interesting. I realize they are pretty much the same thing just with a ring or sabot. I only hunt Utah so both are legal. Anyone use both? Do you think one is better than another? I will be using bh 209 for powder.


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

I'd say buy a pack and see if the Thors shoot better than the TMZ. I shoot the TMZ and have had great results. No experience with the Thors though.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

So, has anyone shooting the Barnes bullets actually killed a Big Bull Elk with them? I ask, because I know of one hunter shooting a LE Bull at 75yds. and chased the bull over two miles, and four more shots to finish it off. After that he said he will never use the Barnes again. He was shooting the spitfire bullet.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> So, has anyone shooting the Barnes bullets actually killed a Big Bull Elk with them? I ask, because I know of one hunter shooting a LE Bull at 75yds. and chased the bull over two miles, and four more shots to finish it off. After that he said he will never use the Barnes again. He was shooting the spitfire bullet.


The Barnes ML bullets work quite well for killing elk.....as long as you shoot them within range. I killed a large 5x6 with one last year in Colorado with a Thor bullet which is a sized Barnes.

One problem with ML hunters in Utah that I have found is that when they put a scope onto their ML they think that they have just turned it into a high power rifle and will take shots that they shouldn't when shooting a ML. You read or hear about 250 and 300 yard shots all the time when the range should be under 150 yards. Perhaps that is what happened that is what happened to your "one hunter" that you know.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

I'm sure either would be lethal. Shoot some and see what your gun likes best. I personally shoot the TEZ's and love the way my T/C shoots em and have been very effective.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Critter, my "one hunter" shot his first shot at 75 yds. Well within range. When he hit it, he said it dropped like a brick. When the smoke cleared, and they could see the Bull, it stood up, and began to run down the canyon. His complaint was that the bullet passed through the animal, and never expanded. Out of five hits, he only found one bullet in the far shoulder of the elk. 

Where did you find the full size Barnes bullet? I would like to she how they shoot, and and shoot into some gelll to see how they expand.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Thor Bullets are a Barnes bullet that is sized to the bore or your muzzle loader.

https://thorbullets.com/

Here is a picture of the bullet that took down my Colorado elk last fall with a unfired one. The shot was at 120 yards and the bullet broke ribs going in and broke ribs coming out. It was lodged on the far side skin. The elk didn't go 20 yards.


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## Spry Yellowdog (Sep 8, 2007)

2 years ago on a limited entry mz elk I fired 1 barnes TEZ 290 gr. into a 6x6. 150 yards hard upward angle. Recovered the bullet on the upward side perfectly expanded even after putting a nice hole in the scapula. Elk walked 25 yards before going down.
Given there accuracy and down range performance from my Omega i will never change.
2 deer have dropped in there tracks with the same combo at lesser ranges of 65 and 90 yards. The gun now has 3 shots through it at big game. Same bullet/powder combo. Same results. Now im loading barnes in my centerfire. Just need some test critters.

Spry


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

One thing about the Barnes copper bullets in both the ML and high power rifles is that people think that they don't expand by looking at the entrance and or exit wounds. Even when they get perfect expansion they are less than twice the size of the original bullet and when they exit a animal the hide stretches before the bullet exits so it looks like a small hole compared to what other bullet might look like when they come out. 

I have been using Barnes bullets now for about 15 years now and have never lost a animal that I have shot with them, but then I usually put the bullet into the lung/heart area and none of the animal have gone much further than 30 or 40 yards after being hit. Even a large buck deer that I hit in the liver didn't go very far before he was down.


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