Anybody shooting 130 gr. TSX in a 300 claibre in their .308?

[sure as shootin]

Oops,,,,messed up on the title. It should read 30 calibre bullets.

According to the data provided by Barnes it suggests that you lightly crimp this bullet because it is quite short compared to other TSX projectiles. Just wondering if people are following that suggestion when reloading for their .308 when using the 130s? Or not bothering?

From Barnes:

*The 130-grain TSX has a very short shank; we recommend lightly crimping the case mouth with a factory crimp-style die to increase neck
tension.

 

[canadianshooter]

I use a Lee Factory Crimp die on these in .308. Figure Barnes may be right.

 

[Gatehouse]

I never bothered but it's not s bad idea. You can use a groove to crimp into as well.

 

[sure as shootin]

I use a Lee Factory Crimp die on these in .308. Figure Barnes may be right.

This is exactly what I bought last week just in case. What would determine if you really needed to do it or not because the tech. rep. at Barnes said I could try it crimped and not crimped. Have you tried not crimping to see how they shoot?

 

[kayaker1]

Following this with interest:

I just started playing with this combo too.

I am loading new Win brass trimmed with a Lee length gauge. I seat the 130gr TSX BT to 2.795” and the case mouth just about reaches the top of the upper groove. This allows a neat crimp into the groove with the Lee Factory Crimp.
My initial test was only 3x 3 shot groups using 47gr and 48gr of Varget. I thought I had over-crimped the 47gr load which may hurt accuracy but surprisingly they shot extremely well, 0.6” group at 100m but velocity was only 2850fps from my 20” barrel. I would like to work up a bit more than that. 48gr accuracy not nearly as good but with 2940fps.

I notice a similar phenomenon with the 150gr TTSX in the same .308. Start loads at 44gr Varget gave outstanding accuracy but a bit too slow for a mono-metal in my opinion. When I jumped to 45gr (my ‘standard’ charge with 150gr class bullets) the accuracy fell off significantly.

I’ll keep messing with charges and tweaking OAL. I look forward to reading what others are doing and achieving with this combo…

 

[Eagleye]

I cannot speak for the 308 Winchester, but because one of my 308 Norma Magnums loves the 130 grain TTSX, I am
loading it just for S&G. I am not crimping, and the groups generally run to ¾moa or less, right out to 300M

That bullet can be driven to well over 3400 in the bigger case, and I would love to shoot a big muley in the ribs to see
how it works.

Regards, Dave.

 

[kayaker1]

I tried loads from 47.5 - 48.5gr Varget again. All at 2.795" lightly crimped with the Lee FCD (crimp is just into the top of the upper most groove).

47.5gr was good, the rest showed poor accuracy. As per my post above, the mild loads work well for accuracy. 48.5gr gets me to 3000fps for the 20" barrel but not great groups. 47gr gives excellent accuracy with around 2850fps which is probably fine for most hunting (still maintains 2000fps at 300m for reliable expansion).

I probably need to mess with the OAL but the current OAL is perfect for the crimp...

 

[Budweiser2]

In one of my 300's . The 300 Saum I'm loading the TSX 130 gr it is very accurate with no crimp.

 

[Barnes_270]

I used to use the 110 TTSX in 308 - I would just roll crimp into a groove on the bullet. Worked great.

 

[sausage lover]

I shoot these in my 30 06 with no crimp and lots of jump! 3200fps over the chrony and grouping 1 3/4 @ 300 yards! Can't wait to try one on black bear.