Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 308/130 TTSX

A question for JB.
I’m loaded up with 130 TTSXs in my 308 for spring bear. I picked these after your and Eileen’s experience on cow elk. Not quite six months ago I had posterior cervical fusion, C2 through T2. Cannot take much recoil this year hence the question. My load is running 2924 if that matters.
I have some 150 grain GMX and partitions if I need to switch.

And the question is?

Is that enough bullet? I normally shoot a 200 grain partition in my 308 and 06. They kill very well

I’d never worry about your 130 combo at that speed. If it shoots well it’ll take a bunch of bear to stop it.

The 130 should work great on black bear.

Thank you, my neck appreciates a lighter bullet

I run 46.5gr Benchmark under the 130TTSX in my .308Win. It is the most accurate bullet out of this particular rifle and regularly shoots sub .5moa @ 400yds.Velocity is 3,140 ft/sec. An 8 point whitetail took one head on at 200+ and was pole-axed to the ground.

Run the 130 TTSXs. You may never return to the 200s.

THIS

Yep. The results are beyond what was anticipated.

They kill 200 lb pigs really well out of a 300 Savage 99.

..130 TTSX is a great pill ..

.

That's a great bullet and should be perfect for a .308

The 130gr .308 TTSX (and the 120gr .284 TTSX) are awesome options these days, especially for chamberings with moderate case capacity like the NATO case. They are fairly tough to catch in big hogs, so I'd certainly shoot a black bear with one.

Gentlemen, thank you for the help. Chronographed the load today. Ran two competition electronic chronos in tandem as my old one had blown over and quit working. Ordered a new blue tooth one so I wanted to compare it against another. The difference was four feet per second. Those shiney little buggers are running 3018 from my 18” scout. I guess that will do.

Here's a photo of Eileen's cow elk taken at 250 yards with the 130 TTSX from her Serengeti Rifles .308. Muzzle velocity was 2800+ fps. As noted earlier, the cow stood quartering toward her, and bullet broke the right shoulder just above the big joint and ended up under the hide in the middle of the ribs on the far side. In fact her hat is about where we found the bullet. The elk stumbled 20 yards and fell dead.

There's a member of the 'fire who regularly takes his .270 Win loaded with 130gr TTSX to Africa, and has taken scores of big game with it.

I'd guess velocity of his TTSX would be a measly 100fps faster than what you're getting out of your .308.

Black bears are on the low end of what kind of game that combination will handle.

Well, I'm thinking I need to try these in my sons 308 M48 Nosler rifle. I've been having a helluva time trying to get this thing shooting as good as I think it should.
Using powders and bullets on hand, after much experimentation I've had good luck with RE15 and 150 Partitions or Hornady Interlock BTSP.
What powder/powders are you guys using? John, are you using Varget? I cant seem to get Varget to shoot well in my sons rifle, I am suprised.
Barnes site does not list RE15 in their load data, any idea what a good starting load would be?
The other powder that has shown some promise in my sons rifle is BLC-2. Barnes shows 50.7 - 56.4 of BLC-2 which seems kinda hot.
Son uses this rifle for deer in North Dakota although he applies for the once in a lifetime sheep/moose/elk tag so ya never know.
2800-3000 fps good to go, rather than trying for more velocity??

Sorry to hi-jack thread frank500, but I've been thinking of trying these bullets for a while in this rifle, hoping for good results.
Thanks for any input, and again I apologize for intruding on this thread.
Nick

My Barnes #4 says 44-48 grains RL15. Never a bad choice in 308 win. I've never had bad luck with Varget shot in 3 rifles. If not Varget one of the 4895's then RL15 and I4064. I find the 130TSX/TTSX to be an awesome combo for inside 300. It has caused my 270 win Mark V Accumark to collect dust. I also own a Mark V Accumark in 308 win. and with 130's it does not give up velocity to the 270 in the same bullet weight. Accuracy of the 270 is better by a pretty good margin 5 in 1/2 compared to 5 in 1 moa. At 300 that's hardly worth mentioning. After that is another story.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Nick, I tried 2495 and TAC. Either made decent groups from my Kimber Montana. The TAC velocity was surprising, so that’s what is loaded. 2495 and a Speer 125 TNT hit the same point of impact as the 130 TTSX out to two hundred yards. The 125 is my winter load for coyotes and wolves.