Which bullet - Should I load TSX or TTSX?

[CoElkHunter]

TTSX is available in .30 165. Have a box in my reloading room.

Oops, my mistake. The factory ammo I've been looking at recently in .308W showed only the TSX in 165gr. and the 168gr. in TTSX.

 

[ACM]

I’m a huge Barnes fan. Shoot them in almost everything. Something you need to think about is if the TTSX is a boat tail, it will be longer, & take up more room in the case (depending on multiple factors). Barnes are already long for weight due to being copper. This is why in some cartridge/bullet weight combos the shorter flat-base TSX works better for a larger powder charge. Flat-base TSX is also more likely to stabilize in heavy-for-caliber loads depending on your rifles twist rate. Again there are many other factors that contribute, just trying to keep it simple. All that aside, you can’t go wrong with either. I use TTSX for 30-06 velocities, but have not had a TSX failure.

 

[gizmo]

.30 168gr. is a TTSX. .30 165gr. is a TSX if I'm not mistaken. Not that it matters.

It is the exact same bullet except the TTSX is tipped with a flex tip designed to initiate expansion upon impact and slow the bullet in the cavity in order to maximize and control the hydrostatic shock effect inside the animal. The reason the TTSX isn't available in say a 400 grain .416 bullet is because that bullet needs to preform and especially penetrate on large heavy skinned/boned animals. There is not much of a risk in over penetration on say, Cape Buffalo, with an expanding bullet and with a tipped bullet initiating expansion too early it can cause under penetration resulting in a wounded and lost dangerous animal at best or a dead person at worst.

 

[fsrmg1]

Try both and go with the most accurate.

 

[pilar]

The TSX is hell on nilgai here, should be great anywhere

 

[cmk]

.30 168gr. is a TTSX. .30 165gr. is a TSX if I'm not mistaken. Not that it matters.

TTSX is available in .30 165. Have a box in my reloading room.

I've been told by someone who had exchanged emails with the good people at Barnes, that the 165gr bullet has a different ogive, and is slightly 'harder' - and so it is better suited for the .30 magnums (300 WinMag in particular, due to the relatively short neck (or if it was the throat?).

The 168gr bullet would be the preferred choice for 30-06 and 308win (unless you want to use an even lighter bullet for the latter).

IIRC, this was true for both the tipped and standard version. I don't recall if any specific numbers mentioned, so I guess that it mostly makes a difference in the edge cases, e.g. the 165gr (T)TSX may perform worse at 350yd/m from a 308w (poorer expansion compared to the 168gr), or the 'softer' 168gr at 30yd/m from a 300Wby may overexpand/lose its wings.

In between those, you may not note any difference, and nor would the animal.

 

[dchum]

The TSX is hell on nilgai here, should be great anywhere

Nilgai just hate copper… Hate it!