80gr ttsx

[Diamondhitch]

Yeah thats the one thing I worry about with any gr bullet. On my first trip I took a Blesbok at 320 yrds across a small canyon, where I was sitting the wind was very calm I was shooting 190gr bullets and by the time it hit its target I had a 11 inch wind drift. I was able to see where my shot hit and ajusted for it next shot, down!

I had the same deal with my Blesbok. Wind meter said 18mph but after I finally dropped hom and we walked out in the open it was at least 2x as much wind. At 300yds I was lucky to hit and recover him. I just wish I could recover some of the dignity lost having to reload my gun not once but 2x. The second after walking back to the truck for more bullets. :whistling:

 

[Diamondhitch]

The biggest deal I see is making sure of the "new" animals size. If they are indeed like BHS then you should be fine at determining hold over. You've been there done that.

Sight in further out and you'll also cut down that hold over a bit.

Shot placement is king whatever you are shooting with.

Good luck with the hundreds.

I feel for you, having to find bullets right now.

No room for extending my zero. I like to sight in for an optimum 6" point blank range, that way my bullet never exceeds 3" above my LOS , on level shooting anyway. I do have a great 'measuring stick' though, regardless of game size. On max (12x) magnification the distance from the crosshair to the duplex is 2.5" at 100yds or 5" between duplexes. It is simple math from there to accurately estimate holdover or windage but my confidence goes up exponentially the closer I can get the crosshairs to his heart, regardless of range!

One part of me (common sense) says go with the 100s but them there is that other part... Well I know better than to listen to that part but it always makes such a great case!!! Lol

I pity anyone trying to find popular ammo right now, thats for sure. I have a stockpile of the 100gr TSX that my old bbl loved but only enough of the 100gr TTSXs left that it hated to find out that my new bbl loves them, go figure.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

I'm not much of a long distance hunter, so I can't comment on wind, etc with the 80g bullet at those ranges. I can personally vouch for the 85g Barnes (243 Win) on Zebra, Gemsbok (several), and Blue Wildebeest, as well as multiple smaller animals. Bullet performance never a problem. I think the first three are bigger than any sheep, so I don't see a problem, especially if 80g is all you can get.

 

[Cormac Siegfried]

I would love to go mountain hunting someday and think about it all the time. I cant comment on animal sizes and toughness, as i admit to ignorance, but I can say that of my opinion, if you have a .338 lapua, it might be a better primary gun. The .257 wby is hard to find bullets and the heavier ones are preferable. The .338 papua however, is a military round and might have better availability. Also, i have a friend who has access to lots of money and after constant research, dialogue with experts and such he made a .338 lapua that with his bullet (i don't recall the exact weight) achieved only 2900 fps. The physics of it make sense, the heavier bullet not only reduces wind drift but decreases speed enough to make any imperfections less detrimental. For example, your hand out of a car window feels more drag at 60 mph than at 30 mph.

Whatever you choose it is going to be an amazing hunt!

 

[Bert the Turtle]

338 Lapua is certainly the better choice for long distance shooting. But that's an awful lot of rifle to carry up and down mountains in sheep country.

 

[35bore]

I am sure I have plenty of gun for the job, few guns can compete with the .257 at long range on medium sized game. I do like the tbbc as a hunting bullet but not as a long range bullet, the extremely poor bc makes them like lobbing mortars at long range. Both guns mentioned have 20 or more jnches of drop at 600yds than the 257 and that makes range estimation and holdover estimation much more difficult.

No disrespect to the 257 was intended, I love the 25 calibers. Just saying I would rather you find the bullet you want, rather than settleing on one based on availability. I through the 8mm in as a future pet of mine, due to the fact I have regretted getting rid of my first one.:draught::draught:

 

[Diamondhitch]

If I had to use the 80s I wouldn't be worried but I have 100s now and they shoot awesome.

Despite less mass those little 80s clipping along at near light speed are exposed to the wind for a shorter time at any given distance and have less surface area to act on and as a result actually have the least wind drift of any mentioned.

The .338 at 500yds has substantially more drop than the .257, out further it may catch up but I wont be shooting far enough to find out so it will remain my backup gun.

Thanks for the comments guys

 

[Diamondhitch]

No disrespect to the 257 was intended, I love the 25 calibers. Just saying I would rather you find the bullet you want, rather than settleing on one based on availability. I through the 8mm in as a future pet of mine, due to the fact I have regretted getting rid of my first one.:draught::draught:

The 8mm is definitely a great choice for moose and elk, that's for sure.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Despite less mass those little 80s clipping along at near light speed are exposed to the wind for a shorter time at any given distance

Wind deflection is not directly proportional to time of flight, it is directly proportional to lag time.

and have less surface area to act on

Spin-stabilized projectiles always point into the relative wind, so all bullets of the same caliber have the same frontal area. Wind does not blow on the "side" of the bullet, ever, as long as it is stable.

The gory details have been hashed out many times...

The short story is that for long range shooting at known ranges, high BC bullets started at slower muzzle velocities are preferred to low BC bullets started faster.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

For a detailed explanation of the physics of wind deflection, Google "for you ballisticians bradshaw" and start reading at page 1.