Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Monometals- whats the deal

I have a .308 Vanguard a buddy gave me some years ago. It shot great when he bought it, then suddenly wouldn't group for chit anymore. I tinkered with it a little and never got satisfaction. He gave it to me, said if u can make it shoot you can keep it. I recrowned it and its been sitting ever since.

Decided its time to put it to work, since I sold the .270 and no longer have a medium bolt action. Provided I can make it shoot ok, I was planning on picking one bullet to run in it for everything I need it for, from deer to moose. Was thinking a 150gr TTSX or similar might fit the bill.

Was at the gun shop to get some, but saw some GMX and E-tips as well. I figured I'd wait a bit and do some research first. These are kinda pricey, and if there's one that clearly better than the others I'd like to start there. Any recommendations?

I've got a few powders that might work, CFE 223, IMR 4064 and Varget, so I'll try a few different loads and hopefully something clicks.

A mono through the shoulders and stuff stops. I've used nothing but Barnes. Have shot GMX and they were accurate as hell. Haven't messed with E-Tips. They'll be a pile of varying opinions, but its all I shoot at game. I reckon if one day something escapes, I'll bitch.

I generally work up the Barnes to where I want it, then try to match ballistics with a target bullet for dinking around with at 1/2 the price.

.277 = 129LRX & 135SMK
.264 = 120TTSX & 123 Amax

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.....

Barnes TSX or Barnes TTSX.

Known entities with plenty of track record, both in accuracy and performance.

I usually start with a TTSX, unless e-tip seconds lure me in with price.

I typically go a step lighter than I would with a lead containing bullet. They seem to penetrate very well, so a little more velocity and less recoil seems a good pick up.

Another bonus is that the TTSX seem to shoot well far back from the lands so they are a great choice in a rifle with COAL restraints. The TTSX's have been on average more accurate in my hands than other (non target) bullets, but OAL seems important in getting them to shoot well. I had a rifle go from 2-3" groups to .75 with .050 change in COAL, that's a bigger change than I usually see with a cup and core design.

Spot on.


All true.

blasphemous


I agree and would add a Hornady GMX into the mix. I have not tried E-tips as the Barnes/Hornady have worked for me.

I like the relief grooves in the Barnes/Hornady as I believe they help reduce pressures a little vs the E-tip through reduced bearing surface.

My goto 270 loads are all 130gr TSX, TTSX or GMX over 60gr of H4831sc. A new rifle will almost always shoot one of those loads from 1-1.25".

I am perfectly content and have used all of those for hunting with excellent performance.

The only thing that has me leery of Barnes into the future is the change in ownership.

Get your bore really clean before you start. Wipe Out seems to work good and doesn't take any elbow grease.
Start with the 150gr TTSX and Varget. If that doesn't work you can experiment from there but it should bring home the venison.

All good advice so far. The TTSX has been the easiest bullet for me to get to shoot well. The COAL did not seem to really matter in the three rifles I've played with. About .050 off to fit the mag has always worked. I have found that lighter is better. In comparing one at ~2750 to a lighter one at ~3020, the faster version seems to do more internal damage. Tiny bit of penetration price for the lighter, and wider expanding, light bullet, but still very good.

You said you had Varget in house. You will probably have to look no farther. It has worked well in every .308 that I have been associated with. It, and the 130/150/168 gr. TTSX should be your huckleberry. If Varget for some reason is not satisfactory, see if you can find RL 15; it usually works too.

130 TTSX or TSX's worked really well in a .308 when I had one thanks to steelhead sharing his load data...

You can get the 130's up to about 3050-3100 fps in a 308. Since the copper bullets retain near 100% of their weight you'll get penetration close to a 180 gr bullet which will weigh about 130 gr, or less, after impact.

All of them work best if started at around 3000 fps. I'd stick with 130's in 308, save 150's for 30-06 and anything heavier for the magnums.

Any chance you still have that data?

All i can say about mono's, is start with a TTSX/LRX and I doubt you'll be looking any further..

48.5grs TAC
CCI 200
130gr TTSX
Lapua Brass
OAL 2.76
3085fps

CFE 223 works great in my 308 (23" barrel) with 150 gr TTSX and HSP. 2950+ fps is safely achieved with margin.

Excellent, thanks. I'm not sure I can find TAC around here but I'll give it a shot, might get lucky.