Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 300 Win Mag / 180 grain TTSX

I’ve been trying to find a 200 - 210 grain bullet that will shoot well in my 300 Win Mag. I tried Accubond LR in both 190 and 210 grain, Barnes 200 grain LRX, Sierra Game King 200 grain, 200 grain ELD, with a variety of powder, primer and seating depths, and couldn’t get any of them to shoot well consistently. All have high BCs and maybe stabilize at long distance, but out to 250 yards in my rifle no go. My barrel is 1 in 10, maybe 1 in 9 would work better. 190 grain SMKs are half MOA or better from it though.
I decided to drop down to 180 grain to see how they would work. I had some 180 grain Barnes TSX sitting on the shelf which my 308 Win didn’t like so I gave them a try, and results were promising, but I didn’t have enough to work up a load. I picked up a box of 180 grain TTSXs and went out today to test them.
I had several powders on hand RL 17, 19, 22, H4831sc, and H4350, which were all listed in the Barnes manual. I was only interested in how these bullets shot at the top end of the load range so I backed off 1 grain from max loaded 3 then bumped it up to max and loaded 3. This is not something I’d do with a rifle I don’t have experience with, as well as powder or bullet I don’t have experience with. If that were the case, I’d start at the listed starting load and work up.
Anyway, it turns out this rifle likes 180 grain Barnes bullets. I didn’t experience any high pressure signs with any of these loads. Results as follows:
Test conditions: 72-80 deg, light winds, 2300 ft altitude. Distance 150 yds
Powder, Charge, Velocity Ave Group size (MOA)
RL17. 66.7. 3101. 1.4
RL17. 67.7 3151 0.3
RL19. 70.9. 3097. 1.4
RL19. 72.5. 3150. 1.0
RL22. 71.5. 3134. 2.0
RL22. 73.0. 3191. 1.3
H4831sc. 70.5. 2965. 1.8
H4831sc. 72.0. 3012. 0.2
I had already used this bullet with H4350 so I knew I could safely tweek the charge up a bit. This is above max. Do not use this data with your rifle. Start at listed starting load and work up.
H4350. 65.5. 3032. 1.6
H4350. 66.5. 3134. .86
H4350. 67.5. 3286. 0.26
Looks like I have 3 powders that will work pretty well. I’m not sure which is least temperature sensitive but I’ll research that and go with the one least sensitive.

I've tried many bullets in my heavy-barreled Rem. 700 5R and most shoot well. The 200 grain Game King has certainly been among the best using H4831SC.

From what I've read, the Australian Extreme powders are probably the most temp stable.

The newer generation of RL powders are said to be more temp stable than the older ones.

Have you tried RL-26? It reportedly is a high performer in the 300 WM with heavy bullets and has a good temp stability profile.

DF

Edited to add, H-1000 has been a favorite in that application and is temp stable. There are claims that RL-17 is hard on barrels, but I use it in my 6.5-284, as it's a top performer in that round. I don't shoot it that much...

180 TSX seated .020" off of lands. H4831 for about 3050 (26"bbl) or Magnum for about 3150.
Both are very accurate and temp stable.

Cheers,
Walt

Any 180 grain bullet in a 300 Win Mag with IMR4350 powder at around 72 grains should give you about 3100 fps ... Old recipe from my gunsmith

I’m with imgoofy, except I use a 165 TTSX with IMR 4350 powder. I use it in a 700 with the 5-R Barrel.

Try 200 grain Partitions. They shoot very well in my 300 WM.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to stick with the 180 TTSX. I'll be working the 3 powders I have. Hopefully I'll be able to use the H4350 as I have 8 pounds of it for my 325 Win short mag. I'll keep the IMR 4350 in mind though. I seated the 180s 0.050 off the lands, but as soon as I select a powder, I'll work on the seating depth more. Thanks again.

H 4350 will be just as good, if not better.

Just settled on this load. 180gr TTSX, 71.4g IMR4350. .6 MOA @ 200. Going to load a bunch and check MV and should be good to go. For some reason, the Tikka likes the 180 TTSX much better than the 175 LRX.

OrangeDiablo- Did the 175 LRX not stabilize in your Tikka rifle? I just picked up a Tikka T3 Lite in 300 win and was thinking 175 LRX with H4831SC