What bullet weight for .300 mag?

bcsteve

bcsteve

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What bullet weight do you guys use in your .300 mag. I recently picked up a model 70 in .300 WSM to play with. My initial thought was that if your going to shoot a .300 mag might as well shoot at least a 180gr bullet. Now I'm thinking that with a TTSX a 168gr might be just as good if not better. Would a 180gr TTSX have anything on a 168gr TTSX.

Keep in mind that this rifle will not be used for deer and only an alternate to my Whelen for moose and possibly elk.
 
If you think a 180gr Nosler Partition would do the job, then a 130gr TTSX will also do the job as they penetrate about the same. Personally I've got 130gr TTSX , 150gr TTSX and 180gr TSX loaded for my 300WSM. Mostly because I like to try out stuff. I use the 130gr when deer or sheep hunting, and I'd probably take the 150gr if I was hunting moose or elk. Last year I was moose and grizzly hunting and I took 180gr TSX...

The new LRX 175gr looks interesting, I have a box but haven't tried it yet.

Me, I would probably just use a 150gr TTSX for everything except grizzly. So to answer your question, the 168gr gives up nothing to the 180gr. It's only 12gr difference.
 
I was thinking about the 175gr LRX. How do they look compare to the 168 and 180? Did you get those from Tod?
 
bcsteve said:
What bullet weight do you guys use in your .300 mag. I recently picked up a model 70 in .300 WSM to play with. My initial thought was that if your going to shoot a .300 mag might as well shoot at least a 180gr bullet. Now I'm thinking that with a TTSX a 168gr might be just as good if not better. Would a 180gr TTSX have anything on a 168gr TTSX.

Keep in mind that this rifle will not be used for deer and only an alternate to my Whelen for moose and possibly elk.
Click to expand...

My Son In Law has recently had a custom 300 WSM made up and the test results were from loads made up by the custom builder, using 180gr Barnes TSX. I'm guessing the choice of bullet was his. He got the 'receipe' for me and I've just cranked out a big batch of ammo for him duplicating their load specs. We're heading out that way shortly so I'll deliver the supply to him then.

In my change over to Barnes, in my 30-06 Husqvarna Light Weight with a 1:12 twist, I've pretty well settled on the 150gr TTSX although;) the 130gr TTSX isn't totally out of the question yet.

In my 308 NM Schultz & Larsen, 1:10 twist, I haven't yet decided whether I'll go with the 168gr TTSX or the 180gr TTSX. Quite probably the 180's.

In addition, where possible I've gone with TTSX over TSX as they have a larger hollow point and therefore should open up quicker or with meeting less resistance. And if they do, fragmentation shouldn't be a concern as they supposedly hold together well.

BarnesTTSXTSX.jpg


Back to your initial question and while I don't have any field experience with Barnes on game, ;)yet, I would guess either of your choices would do well. My choice would be the 180's.
 
bcsteve said:
I was thinking about the 175gr LRX. How do they look compare to the 168 and 180? Did you get those from Tod?
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They look really cool :)

very streamlined, very sleek for a grooved bullet. Apparently they are a bit softer and will open at longer ranges than the TSX or TTSX. However, being a Barnes, I am sure they will hold together well.

Yes, got them from Tod.:)
 
My Husqvarna Lightweight 30-06 is also set up to use 150 gr TTSX. I'd take any animal I come across with that.
This thread makes me think that the TSX and TTSX bullets make "magnums" a lot less attractive... and I've got a few magnums.
If a 30-06 with a 130gr TTSX will shoot the bullet at 3200 fps [from Barnes' website] thus making the ballistics quite flat, and will penetrate like a 180 partition [from Gatehouse], then why bother with a magnum? Something that will shoot flatter than a .270 win, and penetrate like a 180 grain partition... even assuming it will only penetrate like one out of a 30-06 starting at 2700 fps--which will still kill any moose or elk. Who needs to burn the extra powder, and put up with the extra recoil?
 
I happened to have some 165gr Hornady interbonds lying around, so I loaded them for my 300WM and 300WSM. Accuracy is pretty good and they are very effective on whitetail deer. Are they the best? I doubt it, but works well enough for me. Dead is dead. 2/3 deer didn't take another step, the other ran 20 yards with its heart shot out, so I doubt anything would have dropped it with that hit.
 
Huntin' Gun said:
My Husqvarna Lightweight 30-06 is also set up to use 150 gr TTSX. I'd take any animal I come across with that.
This thread makes me think that the TSX and TTSX bullets make "magnums" a lot less attractive... and I've got a few magnums.
If a 30-06 with a 130gr TTSX will shoot the bullet at 3200 fps [from Barnes' website] thus making the ballistics quite flat, and will penetrate like a 180 partition [from Gatehouse], then why bother with a magnum? Something that will shoot flatter than a .270 win, and penetrate like a 180 grain partition... even assuming it will only penetrate like one out of a 30-06 starting at 2700 fps--which will still kill any moose or elk. Who needs to burn the extra powder, and put up with the extra recoil?
Click to expand...

You make a good point and it's certainly true that premium bullets can make a cartridge "bigger" which certainly helps for arming new hunters, kids or anyone that doesn't liek recoil.

I always thought that it was funny that people used 130=140gr bullets in a .270 and were happy with performance, but if you used a .30 caliber you MUST use 180gr bullets or it will fail. Yes, I understand about S.D....But it's still funny to see the horrified looks on the faces of 300WM shooters when I tell them I am using 130gr bullets and they will outpenetrate their 180gr Federal Hunter pack factory ammo on anything.....They just don't believe it, because they don't' understand it.:)
 
Here is some good reading on 130grTTSX

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246742

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=251524

Nutshell:

n526315515_1368540_8380.jpg


From left to right we have:

180gr TSX
16" penetration
179.7gr retained

180gr FS
16.25" penetration
173.2gr retained (Although a petal broke off and was with the bullet, but I lost it before I weighed it)

130gr TTSX
15.75" penetration
129.6gr retained

180gr NP
15.5" penetration
121.6gr retained

180gr Hornady Interlock
14.25" penetration
124.9 gr retained

n526315515_1368539_4782.jpg


So, we see the FS penetrated the most, with less expansion.

The Hornady proved that heavy bullets at moderate weight will still penetrate well, although the Hornady was mangled in the end, and may not have stood up at higher speeds.

The NP did what they often do when stressed- shed the front and leave the rear to penetrate deeply.

The 2 TSX bullets penetrated about the same, although the 130gr expanded larger due to higher velocity.

I'd still use the 180gr TSX if I was going to use my 300WSM on a grizzly hunt, but I think the 130gr TTSX should do very well as a general purpose load. Going at 3500 FPS, you won't even have to think abotu elevation correction to about 400 yards, I bet. (Although i haven't crunched numbers yet)
__________________
 
Also of note: John Barsnes who writes for Handloader and RIfle magazine plays with lots of guns and bullets. He recently stated that if you found you liked the performance of X grain Nosler Partition, you can use X x 80% of a TSX style bullet.

So a 180gr NP would be a 144gr TTSX.
 
I'm thinking I need to pick up some 130gr TTSX's and play with them in my 30-06 Remington mountain rifle. I just found a sweet load with 165gr Interbonds that shoot 2875 fps and 1.09" avg 3 shot group in that gun, but I might trade that for a 130 gr TTSX going 3200 fps... if it shoots good groups.
That would fly better, and penetrate similar to a 300 win mag shooting 180 grain cup-and-core bullets, if what I'm hearing is true.
Interesting...
 
Huntin' Gun said:
I'm thinking I need to pick up some 130gr TTSX's and play with them in my 30-06 Remington mountain rifle. I just found a sweet load with 165gr Interbonds that shoot 2875 fps and 1.09" avg 3 shot group in that gun, but I might trade that for a 130 gr TTSX going 3200 fps... if it shoots good groups.
That would fly better, and penetrate similar to a 300 win mag shooting 180 grain cup-and-core bullets, if what I'm hearing is true.
Interesting...
Click to expand...

The 130gr TTSX worked well in my '06, only on paper so far but no accuracy complaints:). The target is from some trials I was doing with the 30-06 and my 7x61 S&H.

TTSXloadtestresults-1.jpg
 
I would like to try the LRX in my new 308 Norma Mag as well. If they shoot well, they should be the "Bee's Knees" I have a supply of 180 & 200 Accubonds laid in, and whichever one shoots best will probably get some action also. In my "older" Norma Mag, the 200 Accubond makes really nice groups. Hard to argue with 3 shots cutting most times. lol
Eagleye.
 
Eagleye said:
I would like to try the LRX in my new 308 Norma Mag as well. If they shoot well, they should be the "Bee's Knees" I have a supply of 180 & 200 Accubonds laid in, and whichever one shoots best will probably get some action also. In my "older" Norma Mag, the 200 Accubond makes really nice groups. Hard to argue with 3 shots cutting most times. lol
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

I had much the same results or experience with Sierra 200gr SBT's, on paper and on game.

308NormaMag.jpg


DSC03355.jpg
 
I shoot 200gr TTSX (now known as LRX) in my 300wm, and 200gr Nosler AB...also 240gr Woodleigh Weldcore :) I can seat them out a long ways in my No1 and push the 200's to 2900 fps with a moderate load, 2650 fps with the 240s

A 168gr TTSX @ 3200 fps will kill anything in BC
 
bcsteve said:
What bullet weight do you guys use in your .300 mag. I recently picked up a model 70 in .300 WSM to play with. My initial thought was that if your going to shoot a .300 mag might as well shoot at least a 180gr bullet. Now I'm thinking that with a TTSX a 168gr might be just as good if not better. Would a 180gr TTSX have anything on a 168gr TTSX.

Keep in mind that this rifle will not be used for deer and only an alternate to my Whelen for moose and possibly elk.
Click to expand...

IMO, the 168gr TTSX is a perfect bullet for a WSM...
 
I use 180gr AB's with RL22 and 215 primers. Under 0.5" groups at 100m with my Sako m75ss 300WM and the Greywolf 300WSM I had (sold it ot a friend).

I had 180 TSX's back in the day but never reloaded any. I was happy with the performance of the AB's at the range and on big game (prior to reloads it was the factory WS 180gr AB's). I did load up a few 200gr TSX's and without actual load development, my rifle shot a nice tight cloverleaf.

IMO, 180gr AB's or the TTSX's get my vote as the BEST bullet for a 300WM/300WSM. The 165gr AB's or the 165-8gr TSX/ TTSX's would be next on the list.
 
I've killed 2 bull elk with the 150ttsx one in an 06 & 1 with a 300 win mag no probblems to report on that front works as good as anything else I've used in a 300 including the 200 gr x that I shot a pile of game with may have to give the 175s a try though
 
As an old timer, I believe in using heavier bullets. However, when I switched from Partition to TSX with the 300wm a few years ago I lower my bullet weight from 200 gn to 180 gn. It was accurate enough.

When I want to shoot 165 gn I will shoot with my 308.
 
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