Barnes TTSX too tough for Texas whitetail?

[Brian Pfleuger]

Oh, that's the 95gr, sorry didn't have time to do the the 110 yet.

[Tex S]

Got lucky and found a can of rl-17. I think I will work up a load with some 95gr pills. Will keep y'all updated.

Any ideas on col?

[jmr40]

Barnes has some data on their website. http://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-cont...hesterWeb2.pdf

As does Ramshot. http://www.ramshot.com/wp-content/up...pec_7-2-13.pdf

Barnes bullets seem to shoot best when seated deep and with a lot of jump to the rifling. I seat mine just at the bottom of the top ring on the bullets. Sorry for the bad pic, but you get the idea. This is a 130 gr 308. Not real scientific, but this is where I get best accuracy. Bullet seating depth seems to be a bigger factor in accuracy with these than with most other bullets.

I found Ramshot TAC to work best in my 308, Big Game in the 30-06. There may well be better powders, but as you say load data is somewhat limited and this is what I found data for. I'm pleased with both the velocity and accuracy I'm getting.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I'd start with the OAL listed by Barnes or measure specifically for your gun. The TTSX bullets are (apparently) short in front of the ogive. Even loading them to "normal" max length puts them in the rifling in my guns.

[trapper300RUM]

I use the Barnes Long Range X 200 grain in my 300RUM & ii got sick & didn't even get to hunt the last three days of the season so my brother took my rifle & killed a spike he showed me how far the shot was about 175 yrds & then on the last day it was doe day & he killed a nice big doe & he showed me how far the shat was at least 225-250 yards he said that the doe turned a complete flip before she hit the ground &the meat damage wasn't nearly as bad with the Barnes LRX as the SST 180's i used season before last now they destoryed the deer BIGTIME . I am only gonna use Barnes LRX now EXCELLENT BULLET the only drawback they are costly thats the only beef i would have with them

[Tex S]

THIS POST CONTAINS LOAD DATA THAT IS VERY CLOSE TO, OR OVER MAXIMUM IN SOME RELOADING MANUALS! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

This is going to be a somewhat long winded post, so I'll start here...

Finally got everything I needed to develop a new whitetail load. Banged out 25 rounds last week and finally got to the range today. Here are the details...

Qty. 25
Brass- Brand new Nosler Custom
Primer- Fed 210M
Powder- RL-17
Bullet- Barnes TTSX 95gr
COL- All bullets were seated .050" off the rifling.

My rifle is a 22" Browning A-Bolt, and I was really wanting to achieve 3700 fps, but that proved to be unattainable with my short tube. Below I will list some velocity readings. I did a version of the OCW load workup, starting at 57.0 grains and working up to 62.0. The other measurements listed below are case head measurements that I took (before and after firing), as a copy of Ken Waters "Pet Loads" has been on my bench as of late.

57gr .4663 to .4688 (No velocity reading here due to incorrect chrony setup.)
58gr .4667 to .4686 3483fps
59gr .4663 to .4684 3414fps
60gr .4660 to .4684 3367fps

60.2
.4663 to .4691 3495fps
.4661 to .4690 3522fps
.4661 to .4693 3526fps
3514 avg fps

60.5
.4661 to .4693 3522fps
.4663 to .4695 3526fps
.4661 to .4692 3532fps
3526 avg fps

60.8
.4662 to .4695 3538fps
.4661 to .4693 3549fps
.4663 to .4694 3543fps
3543 avg fps

61.1
.4662 to .4694 3576fps
.4663 to .4695 3566fps
.4662 to .4696 3590fps
3577 avg fps

61.4
.4660 to .4696 3599fps
.4660 to .4696 3598fps
.4662 to .4696 3596fps
3597 avg fps

61.7
.4663 to .4696 3641fps
.4660 to .4695 3647fps
.4660 to .4696 3659fps
3646 avg fps

62.0
.4662 to .4697 3653fps
.4663 to .4696 3653fps
.4660 to .4697 3651fps
3652 avg fps

Here is what the groups looked like...





It looks like all I will be able to squeeze out of this thing will be 3650 fps, which I am quite pleased with due to my short barrel. I was happy with the grouping (short of several pulled shots), and this seems to be a fairly resilient load. I was also pleased with the ES on most of the charges, as they were all pretty tight. All groups printed high and to the right, and this seemed to be the norm through the entire range of powder weights tested. I haven't measured, but just by looking at the targets is seems like all 25 shots printed under 2.5".

Take a look at the 62gr load. It looks like this is where it ran out of gas, and I quit increasing powder charges (was planning on stopping here anyway). Here, a .3gr powder increase only yielded 6 more fps than the previous load, and accuracy suffered. Case head expansion was also larger, but there was no increase in velocity. Look at the ES on this load though... a spread of only 2 fps!!!

I'm thinking somewhere between 61.4 and 61.7 will be my load. This will still offer a minimum of 3600 fps, and the rifle seems to be accurate in that range.

I will now select a powder charge, and load up 25 more rounds, but this time I will experiment with bullet seating depth in an effort to fine tune the said load.

What do y'all recommend I do as it pertains to next steps? Like I said, I will have enough components for 25 rounds. Do you read anything on these targets that I may have missed? Think I am on the right track?

[Snyper]

Again, this was Texas white tail - my opinion is that the bodies on our deer down here are just not substantial enough to promote the TTSX round doing what it is designed to do.

The bullet will perform the same no matter the size of the deer since the projectile only reacts to the portion it contacts.

With solid copper bullets, they should be lighter than normal for the cartridge, and loaded to high velocities

I actually stopped using Barnes bullets because they did too much damage (and cost twice as much)

I switched back to Ballistic Tips and never regretted it at all

[Tex S]

Snyper,

It's odd that you have experienced alot of meat damage with the TTSX when compared to the Nosler. I would go as far as saying my results have been quite the opposite.

Who knows?

[Tex S]

Anybody have any comments on the targets I posted?

[hooligan1]

I'd load 25 with the 60.8, and the same for the 61.7, fire them one at a time on seperate targets, this would let you know which would be more suitable.
I look for accuracy and repeatability in my loads, and not knowing really your marksmanship skills, those might be best groups.. I sure would try those to rule them in or out.

[Tex S]

Let's just say that my marksmanship skills leave much to be desired... especially after 5 or 6 cups of coffee!!!