308 ttsx advice

Campower

New member
Im trying to decide on what grain ttsx to run in my r700 AAC sd. 20" barrel 308 1:10 twist. Its only been used as a target rifle thus far and havent tried anything under 175gr (which it shoots very well). Im torn between the 130 and 150 ttsx. The 130 should be able to be pushed very fast, but im worried that since it is such a short bullet, and remington chambers are very long that i could be wasting time and money even bothering. Let alone the fact that Barnes recomends a factory crimp on this bullet due to the short bearing surface. The 150's are a bit longer, but I wont be able to push them as fast as the 130's, which normaly wouldnt be too big of a concern, but a 20" tube presents its own challenges regarding velocity. Im using Lapua brass, CCI 200 primers, and I have Varget, IMR 4064, IMR 4895, RL-15 and CFE223 to work with for powders. Thanks for taking the time to read this rather long post. OH and im a northern Mainer, So I have black bear, whitetail, and Occasionaly Moose on the hit list.
 
In remingtons, 130g TTsx with 51.0-51.5g of win 748, federal 210 is unreal accurate, deer don't stope them. My neighbor shoots a close to Max load of Varget would works well. Length of a 130g TTSX is about the same as a cup and core 150g, so the bullet is not as short as you would think.

I killed 12 deer in a year with a 135g Sierra single shot pistol bullet, bullet never exited the animal. TTSX never stops in a deer that I have found.
 
What about the recommendation to crimp the 130 from Barnes? I've never crimped any of my bolt action handloads, and would like to avoid doing so... anyone have success without the crimp?
 
Nope the guys I got advice from all crimped so I bought a lee fcd and crimped. It may not have helped by it sure didn't hurt. Groups were very small and consistent from my 30/06 with h4895.
 
I've never crimped a Barnes bullet, and I've used them accurately and successfully in several cartridges. Just load it 0.030 to 0.070 inches of the lands like their manual says and go for it. 0.050 seems to be about right for most of my work.
 
Originally Posted By: DesertRamI've never crimped a Barnes bullet, and I've used them accurately and successfully in several cartridges. Just load it 0.030 to 0.070 inches of the lands like their manual says and go for it. 0.050 seems to be about right for most of my work.

I never even ever had to play with seating depths, .050 jump worked for 7mm 120g, 7mm 140g, 30 cal 130g, 6mm 85g. 1/2" groups is more than adequate for deer.
 
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Same here, I don't crimp them, for bolt guns. I have run experiments, and found no measurable difference in a crimped bullet vs non-crimped bullet, in 308 Win., for the firearms I tested. I do crimp TTSX bullets, in 308 Win. for an LR308, and a Browning BAR, just for peace of mind. As for which bullet, I load 130 gr. TTSX bullets, in 308 Win, 30-06 Sprg, and in 300 WSM. Nasty bullet, with exits out to 320 yards, in medium sized game(longest hunting shot to date). If I were elk hunting, I would load up to 150 gr., in the 300 WSM, but see no need for the addition weight, for medium sized game. And yes, this is a LONG bullet for a 130 gr. bullet, so don't think in terms of stubby cup and core bullets in the 125-130 gr. range. Just know your OAL for the rifle(measure chamber), and load .050" off the lands. Once you find the right powder/primer/case to get the groups to tighten, then maybe try changing the seating depth up to +/- .020" around .050", to shrink the group some, but in my experiments, it usually doesn't get better that right at .050" off the lands. I think in all of my load development, I found one rifle that preferred .035"-.040" instead of .050".

Squeeze
 
Run the 130gr TTSX or TSX, your choice, as fast as you can.

I don't recover Barnes from deer or elk, using either my 270 (130gr TTSX at 3,150) or 30-06 (168gr TTSX @ 2,925fps).
 
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