Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 130 grain TTSX or TSX in .300 Savge for elk?

Anyone tried either of these bullets on elk in this cartridge or a .308 win? My 12 year old daughter wants to hunt elk and is a little recoil sensitive. She usually shoots a 125 grain NBT in her .300 Savage for deer and tolerates it pretty well, thinking the 130 grain won't be much of a step up.

I load either the 130 TTSX or 165 Partition for my '99 in 300 Savage when elk are on the menu. Though I haven't shot an elk with the 130 TTSX combo (yet), I wouldn't hesitate to do so. I believe Steelhead has quite a bit of experience with the 130 TTSX in the 300 Savage and speaks highly of that combo, though am unsure if his experience includes elk (deer and bear?)...

I found the 130 grain ttsx a pain in the but to load in once used brass. I also found my 99 savages "sticking" upon extraction way before I got near max loadings. No chronograph and no kills. The bullets did group very very well.

Well my daughter shoots a M700 Classic, not quite the same rifle as yours. I still think they're probably worth a shot as the rifle shoots the 125 grain bullets very well. If they don't shoot I'll step up to 150 grain NPT bullets and give them a go.

I think if I used dry lube spray on the necks they would have seated easier. I have seen some terminal ballistic tests and the 130 s do penterate well. The BC on em ain't the greatest but they also grouped really well 4 me.

I had the exact same experience the only time L loaded 130 TTSXs in a 300 Savage. Never saw the results of shooting and elk with the 130s, but out of a good number of deer and 308s we still haven't stopped one. Don't know or not as I'd go past 250 yards with them in a 300 Savage, never tested their penetration starting at those speeds. I did notice that with the rifle I worked with I could not get what I thought I should for speed.

I know its a reach but bear with me. i used a 120 ttsx in a 6.5x55 ( 2900-3000 fps )to harvest a large cow elk at 300 yards complete pass through.

300 savage with 130 ttsx runs about 2900 fps or more.

same/ same ?

I posted this same question on a couple of other forums and everyone says the .277 130 grain works so the .308 130 grain should work as well. The thing is both the .277 and 6.5 bullets have a better BC and SD than the .308 bullet to get the similar BC and SD of the .277 caliber I have to step up to the 165 grain bullet. I just don't know if I can get 2500+ fps and still keep recoil comfortable for my daughter.

The main reason I want to use the 130 is that it's hitting with the same energy at 300 yards but at over 2100 fps which is 200 fps faster than the 165. I'm figuring a 2900 fps MV for the 130, an I've heard that that faster you can push the Barnes the better they work though my experience with them is limited. However I don't believe dropping down to the 110 TTSX is the answer for elk either. Not that I don't think a traditional 150-165 grain bullet is going to be blown away by the Barnes bullet performance wise, I'm just trying to keep recoil down.

If I could just find some 125 grain Accubonds I probably wouldn't be asking this question.

I can't fathom picking a 125gr Accubond over the 130gr TTSX.

Just load the 130TTSX and don’t worry.

My backpack elk rifle is a 308 Win. Couple years back I shot a big cow quartering towards me with the 150 TTSX (2800 FPS). 1 shot, it died. I decided I wanted more velocity to ensure expansion so worked up a load with the 130 TTSX (3050 fps). Waited for a broadside shot on another big cow, 1 shot and it died too.
Neither animal took a step but I am pretty patient and selective on my shots. Both were pass throughs.

I just think of this combo as a short action 270 Win.

BTW, the 130 TTSX is actually longer than the 150 Hornady or Partition being all copper vs denser lead. I wouldn't worry about BC for my 12 YO daughter...and don't worry about it for the way I hunt myself since I'm not going to shoot from far enough for BC to matter....SD simply doesn't matter. Good luck.

BC and SD do still matter IMO. The bullet with the best BC is going to retain speed better even at short ranges, delivering more energy at all ranges. More energy to me means the bullet is going to work better to me by opening more violently and rapidly and creating a bigger wound.

If I have three mono bullets of the same weight and shape in 6.5, .277, and .308, the SD of the .308 bullet will be the least. I should reasonably think that it'll penetrate the least out of the three. I'm not saying I won't get an exit with the .308 bullet, just that I have a better chance with the other two. I prefer two holes in an animal, I'm not worried much about bullet recovery.

I'm really not sweating the small details as much as it might seem. I'll just let my daughter's recoil tolerance decide what she shoots, as long as the bullet shoots well. My job is to get her in position to maximize that bullets effect.

Her ability is getting better every year as to what she'll tolerate in recoil as she's getting tougher every year. Hell, she just took second place at her Rodeo Bible Camp in steer wrestling yesterday. If she'll tolerate it she may shoot my .270 or .30-06 as they are both easier to carry around all day than her M700 Classic by being a full pound lighter.

Have you considered using the 95 grain(6.8mm) TTSX in the 270?

I don't think I'd want to go that light and there is other problems as well getting her to use one of my rifles.

The major one is she wants to use her rifle, which isn't a bad thing. She asked me for a wood stocked .308 rifle for hunting after shooting a friends.308 rifle. However, my friends rifle was a HB Savage Tactical and she was able to tolerate the 165 grain loads no problem.

I wasn't able to find a wood stocked .308, but was able to trade into this .300 Classic for no money. After comparing a .308 round to a .300 Savage she was satisfied that they were similar in performance. Plus she had a wood stocked hunting rifle that she always wanted.

The problem was when we tried factory 150 grain ammunition to sight in the scope she didn't like the recoil again. So I dropped down to 125 grain bullets and used 4895 reduced loads and worked her into 3000 fps loads. I still don't let her shoot very many of that load at a time and always while wearing a PAST pad at the range. She loved the performance of the 125 grain loads on deer compared to the previous ones she shot with her .223 and 55 grain TSX bullets.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If she can wrestle a steer and given another year I bet she can tolerate any load in the savage.

Just practice with the lighter loads and use a pad for the heavier ones. Even a 150-165 grain load is not that big of a jump in recoil.

taylorce1,
I haven't shot any Elk with it, but have shot quite a few deer & large bodied hogs with a Remington SS Model Seven 308 Win. with a 20" bbl. and the Barnes 130gr TTSX.
Probably not a lot of difference between the 20" bbl 308 and what your 300 classic will do velocity wise.
Based on what I've seen the 130gr TTSX do to those hogs at ranges out well past 300yds (about as far as the terrain will allow for shots) , I would not hesitate to use that combo on an Elk, and I've shot them with plenty of other combos.
Complete penetration even with bad angles thru lots of grizzle, etc.
FWIW, I believe you are over thinking the BC & SD part of it, unless she is going to be shooting long range in wind that she shouldn't be shooting in anyway......which I doubt you would let her do from reading your posts, and the monos don't need a high sectional density for penetration the way cup & core bullets do.
Just make sure she gets enough practice in to be able to place her shots well from a field position at the distances that you anticipate, and don't shoot in a bad wind and she'll be fine.
Good luck whatever you decide,
Ted

Man, load up some of the 130 TTSX's and get yourself a couple 5 gallon pails of water, line them up at 300 Yards. If you like what you find from the recovery, then your good!

Might have to put a "hole in the bucket"! I picked up 200 of the 130 TTSX last night from Cabela's as well as 60 250 grain CVA Areolite bullets since she's going to try ML deer if she draws the leftover tag. That and she talked me into getting her a SA .22 LR Revolver as well. Damn that girl makes things expensive on me! Oh well, it's only money.

Good times! I have an 11 year old daughter who's going into her 3rd deer season this fall. I have had her shooting full-house 140 TTSX loads out of a 7mm-08 since she was 9. She has never complained about recoil. You may be doing this already, but I have never had her practice shooting from a bench, or any other sitting position. I always have her shoot standing up, with the shooting sticks she'll use during the actual hunts. The really reduces felt recoil.

If she ends up taking a shot on game from a sitting or prone position, she'll be so full of steam that she won't feel a thing!

I wish you and her the best of luck. My daughter shot a buck her first year out, and she's been hooked ever since.