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JD0x0 · January 6, 2014, 01:07 AM

In .277 130-150's should be fine for Elk. 140-150 grains is well into CXP3 game territory so Moose, Elk, Kudu, stag, should all be harvestable, with bullets in that weight range. Bullet construction is just as important as weight and from what I understand, the TTSX is a heavily constructed bullet which doesn't expand much considering it's weight and velocity. This can be positive or negative depending on which way you look at it and what you're hunting. I've gotten reports that the 130 TTSX is too heavily constructed for deer, and doesn't expand enough so it passes through and through without dumping a large percentage of it's energy in the target, or at least, not what a lighter constructed bullet may do, while still penetrating enough to cause exit wounds. For deer this is potentially bad, and I've heard that the lighter 110 grain TTSX works better on small deer. OTOH, I've heard that it's a great Elk bullet for this very reason. It's tough enough to get through the hard stuff and offers decent expansion, yet should still create consistent exit wounds. From what someone else had told me, If you're using the TTSX you can use a lower bullet weight by 10-20 grains because they're so heavily constructed. (I'm guessing that's why they don't make a 140 or 150ttsx because it'd likely be too tough to use on most game, especially at long ranges, when velocity drops off)

If I was consistently shooting long range, I'd probably want 150's just to have the higher BC bullets even though there are certainly 130's and 140's capable of harvesting Elk. If I had reloading equipment I'd probably use something like Hornady's 150 grain SST or Nosler Accubond 'Long range' 150 grain, under a max load, if I was consistently shooting over 400 yards.

January 6, 2014, 01:07 AM	#11
JD0x0 Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2013 Posts: 1,037	In .277 130-150's should be fine for Elk. 140-150 grains is well into CXP3 game territory so Moose, Elk, Kudu, stag, should all be harvestable, with bullets in that weight range. Bullet construction is just as important as weight and from what I understand, the TTSX is a heavily constructed bullet which doesn't expand much considering it's weight and velocity. This can be positive or negative depending on which way you look at it and what you're hunting. I've gotten reports that the 130 TTSX is too heavily constructed for deer, and doesn't expand enough so it passes through and through without dumping a large percentage of it's energy in the target, or at least, not what a lighter constructed bullet may do, while still penetrating enough to cause exit wounds. For deer this is potentially bad, and I've heard that the lighter 110 grain TTSX works better on small deer. OTOH, I've heard that it's a great Elk bullet for this very reason. It's tough enough to get through the hard stuff and offers decent expansion, yet should still create consistent exit wounds. From what someone else had told me, If you're using the TTSX you can use a lower bullet weight by 10-20 grains because they're so heavily constructed. (I'm guessing that's why they don't make a 140 or 150ttsx because it'd likely be too tough to use on most game, especially at long ranges, when velocity drops off) If I was consistently shooting long range, I'd probably want 150's just to have the higher BC bullets even though there are certainly 130's and 140's capable of harvesting Elk. If I had reloading equipment I'd probably use something like Hornady's 150 grain SST or Nosler Accubond 'Long range' 150 grain, under a max load, if I was consistently shooting over 400 yards.