Barnes 120g ttsx 6.5mm

pzkw108

pzkw108

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I would like to have some of you sharing your experience with the Barnes 120g ttsx in the 6.5mm caliber . My hunting gun is a Tikka in 6.5x55 and I've been using the Nosler ABLR with good accuracy but strange downrange performance so far.

The TTSX seem to be a good hunting bullet but I have no experience with solid bullet, for me 120g is on the light side for the 6.5mm, but looking at the 120g ttsx AOL of 1.322" I guess a 140g solid will ended up too long !!

I did the Quickload part of the load development so far and I expect getting close to 3000fps with IMR 7828ssc

Thanks
 
Not sure if this will help your cause but I shoot 120 gr TTSX (.284) out of my 7-08. I get 2900'' fps shooting those projectiles over Varget but without a compressed load which I may try next spring at the range. Excellent accuracy and dropped three deer on the spot this season with them.
 
H4831 is excellent for 6.5x55. It likes slooooow powders, so IMR7828 might be a good idea too.

Killed my deer with a Barnes TTSX this year. A 168 gr out of my 308 model 70 at 160 meters. Very good performance for such a hard bullet. Very good and rapid expansion was achieved as evidenced by the 2 inch exit hole and very badly mangled vitals. Lung pieces were actually carried outside the chest cavity by the bullet and onto the ground about 3 feet from the deer in a very long blood splash. I was very impressed.

I have found a good load for it and it shoots under an MOA at 260 meters.

In a 6.5x55, a 120gr should shoot flat as a laser. It will penetrate like a 140gr lead bullet because of weight retention, and don't let anyone make you believe you should use anything else. Finding the right load should not be too long if you try the ladder test method.
 
I saw a Mule Deer shot last fall with a 120 TTSX. The bullet went through the close side elbow, then through the brisket and clipped the heart before passing out the far side. The bullet opened nicely and left a half inch exit hole. The buck ran off and lay down around 30m away. It was mostly dead when we got near.

That wasn't the first animal I have seen taken with that particular bullet.

The thing about monolithic bullets is they need to be driven fast to open reliably. I would estimate it would require at least 2700 fps at the muzzle to function reliably out past 200m.

Depending on the rifle you're using that velocity may not be safely reached. The rifle used that morning was a T3 Tikka chambered in 6.5x55 swede. The load of IMR7828 pushed the bullet at just over 2900fps.
 
pzkw108 said:
....Not sure what your trying to do here mbogo3 !!!! reach 10 000 posts ?
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Could care less about post counts.........just sharing what I've used successfully on a variety of BG for decades..........don't read nothing else into it.My son shoots a the same gun a T3....I'll let you experiment on your own then.....Harold
 
bearhunter said:
I saw a Mule Deer shot last fall with a 120 TTSX. The bullet went through the close side elbow, then through the brisket and clipped the heart before passing out the far side. The bullet opened nicely and left a half inch exit hole. The buck ran off and lay down around 30m away. It was mostly dead when we got near.

That wasn't the first animal I have seen taken with that particular bullet.

The thing about monolithic bullets is they need to be driven fast to open reliably. I would estimate it would require at least 2700 fps at the muzzle to function reliably out past 200m.

Depending on the rifle you're using that velocity may not be safely reached. The rifle used that morning was a T3 Tikka chambered in 6.5x55 swede. The load of IMR7828 pushed the bullet at just over 2900fps.
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can I ask you what was your AOL bearhunter ?
 
I still need to mess with the 120 TTSX. I got them to shoot fairly well with RE19 at around 2900 fps and killed one deer. RE22 and N560 were not great for accuracy (they are with other bullets) but that could be due to many other variables, likely OAL being the key variable to play with.
I have found the 130gr TSX to shoot more accurately in my Tikka with H4350 (44gr for approx. 2740fps). I never the tried the 120 TTSX with H4350 and I should as it would be the ideal bullet for me. I tried the 120gr GMX with H4350, V-N560 and RE22 and could not get it to shoot worth a damn! I still have about 20 GMX's I would swap for 100gr TTSX if anyone is interested to try them. The 100gr TTSX should be a nice deer bullet in the Swede, I would like to try some loads with them.
 
I have seen one deer shot with the 120 TTSX from a 260.......it was an abysmal failure to open. It was a neck shot, arguably not the best shot on a rutting WT, but did not take him off his feet at 70 mtrs or so. Took us 2 hours to finally finish him and the wound showed no expansion at all. I did not chronograph these loads but an experienced estimate would put them around 2800 fps at the muzzle.
If you are looking for a suggestion I would say it is best to leave these bullets for the 3200+ fps cartridges and use the Nosler Accubond in the smaller cases. They work beautifully and I have killed many, many head of game with ABs in various calibers and cartridges as has my son and have never had a failure to open and many were pass throughs and a lot of bang/flops. Partitions are another top killing bullet in the 6.5 with both the 125 and 140 being exceptional bullets.
I used 140 Parts for years in my 264 WM and killed a lot of deer sized game and smaller with it and never once found the cartridge or bullet lacking in performance on this sized game. Many, many bang/flops with the 264 WM, probably more than any other cartridge/bullet combo I have used on game.
 
There used to be "the most accurate load" designation on the Barnes web site. For a given bullet, it would list all the pertinent data , with an asterisk for the for accurate load found during their testing. I reload for a Browning 708 Micro Hunter, that was dismal in the accuracy department. This was using 140 gr conventional bullets and appropriate powders. I owned 2 708s previous to this and felt I could come up with a load in my sleep. Since the 140's were so awful, I tried 120gr TTSX's just for the hell of it. I tried their "accurate recipe" and the rifle started turning in 1/4 to 1/2 inch groups. The powder of choice was Reloader 15, which might be hard to find. Velocity is 2870 fps over the chronograph. I followed their suggestion for considerable bullet jump. The rifle as is, has very little recoil and is sweet to shot. I would of thought the Barnes 120gr TTSX bullets would of been the finicky bullets, and 140 gr bullets would of been the standard to beat.
 
c-fbmi said:
I have seen one deer shot with the 120 TTSX from a 260.......it was an abysmal failure to open. It was a neck shot, arguably not the best shot on a rutting WT, but did not take him off his feet at 70 mtrs or so. Took us 2 hours to finally finish him and the wound showed no expansion at all. I did not chronograph these loads but an experienced estimate would put them around 2800 fps at the muzzle.
If you are looking for a suggestion I would say it is best to leave these bullets for the 3200+ fps cartridges and use the Nosler Accubond in the smaller cases.
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Well you know what they say about a sample of one. I've shot a few deer with the 120gr TSX and TTSX out of my .260 Rem (not enough to be statistically significant either) and all have dropped right there with no tracking required. Broadside lung shots with with only red jello when you opened them. Definitely signs of complete and rapid expansion. YMMV
 
I've put 4 120tsx factory 260 ammo all the way through elk, one at around 100 and 2 at over 250 yards. The closer one just put her head down and coughing up blood, and got another one to speed up the process. The far one did the 40yrd dash and got another one when it stopped and did the wobble, it was already done though.
I have since started reloading and have just shot paper with 123sst and they are nice and accurate, and played with some 130ab's that were ok too.
I have a faster 6.5 now and using 130 swift s2's p, 130ab's and have 127lrx to try. The 127lrx should make a nice all round bullet, as a little more weight and a bit softer to help expansion.

I'd have no worries with a 120 to 300yrds on big game, both them elk had jellied lungs like BCSteve experienced.
 
I'm sold on the tipped tsx. I've been shooting the factory 225 grain in my 338 win mag for a few years. I just picked up some h4831 yesterday and I'm going to have a go at loading the 210 grain ttsx for my all around load. If I was loading for bear, I'd go with the 250 grain partition
 
I don't know what to do, I really like the NP, but my wife wants me to go lead free and the Barnes are cheaper too.

My gut tells me that the Barnes will not be more effective than the NP.
 
MiG25 said:
I don't know what to do, I really like the NP, but my wife wants me to go lead free and the Barnes are cheaper too.

My gut tells me that the Barnes will not be more effective than the NP.
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The Barnes may not be more effective than the Partition (they will penetrate deeper than the NP) but they will not be less effective either.
 


This was about 250 yards out of my 338 win mag. It's a 225 grain ttsx. It went through the top of the lungs and out the front shoulder through a bit of bone. We recovered the bullet just inside the hide when we're skinning
 
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