Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Barnes 110gr .308 TTSX vs. Tac-TX

I posted this in the reloading forum and only got a couple responses. Re-trying here:

I ordered TTSXs but received TAC-TXs, which apparently are designed to expand at 300 BO velocities. I was intending to load the TTSXs to 3000+ in my 308 and 30-06 for deer. I have had great success with the 80gr TTSX in my 257 loaded to around 3250fps. Before I return the TAC-TXs, I thought I would check to see if anyone has used them pushed much faster than intended. I did email Barnes but haven't heard back. The 110 TTSXs are out-of-stock everywhere, so it would be great if these will work. I'm curious about their accuracy potential and terminal performance at high velocity. Thanks in advance.

How far are you planning to shoot to get your deer?

I suspect those would work at 2700+ fps muzzle velocity at the distances most people shoot deer. If your distance is short, you might also try a reduced velocity load in your .308 (see Speer's reduced load IMR4198 data and Hodgdon's H4895 reduced load instructions) to duplicate .300 BO velocity.

BTW - In Barnes' .308 Win load data on their website, they list both the 110 gr TTSX and TAC-TX together with suggested use for deer at the .308 velocities you mentioned, so that would appear to indicate they are somewhat interchangeable for deer. I wouldn't be concerned about penetration with that bullet design, but if you are, you could test the bullet in water jugs or some other media to reassure yourself.

Interested - I like ballistic tips. Now forced into lead free so will be trying the 110gr GMX and 120gr TAC-TX in the hope they are expansive and lose weight

They may be the exact same bullet. Barnes markets their 300 TTSX (.458) and their 300 Tac-TX as different bullets. They are in different boxes with different labels.. However, if asked, they will tell you they are the same bullet but marketed to different users. I've used them both interchangeably in my 458SOCOM.

The 110 TAC and 110 TTSX aren't the same bullet, I've used both in my 300 Blackout. The TAC is more tail heavy and only has one groove, the TTSX has 2.

Thanks for the clarification.

They are definitely not the same bullet. I have used the 120 grain version of the TAC-TX 120 grain Blackout bullet in various .30 caliber rifles for years. Pushed a bit past their original design window, they are exceptional performers on game.

They are extremely soft and open WIDE down to speeds at which traditional monos refuse to open at all. I've started using the 110 grain Tac-TX lately, and it performs very similarly to its bigger brother.

I've tested the 120s with impact speeds as high as 2800 fps. At those speeds, the petals appeared stressed/thinned in spots and looked to be close to shearing off, but none of them did. The widest portions of the mushrooms were over 0.9". At 1800 fps, the bullet still expands to around .6 -- impressive for sure. At 1600 fps, you're still looking at a half-inch mushroom.

These are one of my favorite bullets in a 30-30 Contender rifle. Between a 23" factory barrel I used to have and a 24" Van Horn I use now, the 120s have racked up an impressive string of in-their-tracks stops on hogs with non-CNS impacts. The 110 grain Hornady GMX performs similarly.

Here is a 110 grain Tac-TX taken from test medium. Impact speed was app. 2097 fps.


Here's a 110 grain GMX taken from a quartering shot on a large boar. The hog is directly below.





Here's a 120 grain Barnes taken from a bruiser boar:






I just wish there'd be a 120 grainer in 6.5 and 7mm with these same characteristics.

This was from about 15 years ago when I decided to give the 130 grain Barnes TTSX a whirl in a 30-30 AI barrel. Suffice to say, I never used it on game after recovering about a dozen that looked very much like the two below. Most of the traditional Barnes TSX , TTSX and Tac-TX bullets -- excepting the .25 cal 80 grain TTSX which adds range and lethality to the 25-35 single shots -- need speed to work their magic. But the 110 and 120 TAC-TX grain Blackout versions and the 110 grain Hornady GMX breath new life into cartridges such as the Herrett, 30-30, etc.

The .308 110gr Nosler ETip expands moderately even at low velocities, too. Not a big mushroom at 2150fps muzzle velocity from my 303 Savage, but the tip does peel open a fair bit into wet newspaper at 50 yards. I imagine the performance at higher speeds would be pretty good.

Here's the Barnes 120 grain TAC-TX Blackout bullet recovered after an impact velocity into medium of app. 2800 fps. I would not want to push it more than 2900 fps MV -- and that is already well beyond its intended design window. But if you restrict it to 30-30-type speeds, it affords some incredible terminal performance.

Mr T-

About those velocities you stated- are they the impact velocities or Muzzle velocities of those bullets?

Did that one whack one of your unlucky hogs?

DF

No, that one came from test medium. The 120 grain Barnes below was taken from a coyote shot in the center of the chest as he faced me. It penetrated the sternum, demolished the heart and a large portion of the lungs and wound up under the hide at the other end of the 'yote. The damage to the organs in the chest looked like something a high-vel .22 cal might have done. They do not make clean wound channels like the traditional monos do.

The MV of the load was 2630 fps. The range was 140 yards, if memory serves. This was one of the very few times one of these lost a petal at 30-30 velocities.




The photo below is of an exit on a coyote taken at 185 yards with the Hornady 110 grain GMX. MV from the 24" 30-30 was 2805 fps (using a book load of Re-7). I should have added something in to the picture for size reference, but it was well after midnight. The impact was shoulder-to-shoulder, so secondary bone fragments were a factor, but the exit nonetheless was about the size of a tennis ball.

Wonder how they’d do at 3K out of a .308?

DF

I added to the last reply to add an exit photo. As to top-end .308 WCF speeds, you'd likely shear the petals at closer ranges, which can be a good thing on smaller-to-medium game. If they all do shear, keep in mind that due to the increased depth of the hollow point, the base will be smaller/lighter than comparable monos of traditional construction.

Anyway, I haven't tried them at impact speeds above 2800 fps and likely won't anymore as I've divvied up some of my guns to our kids, including the bull-barreled .308. Even my 7mm Bullberry Contender, which has taken hundreds of heads of game over the course of 20+ years, has been passed down and no longer in my safe. Seeing them enjoy these rifles makes my heart smile.

Range report(s):

I loaded up some of these Tac-TXs with TAC (seemed appropriate!) and Federal magnum primers for my 30-06. Barnes lists 56-61 grains for 3268-3573fps for the TTSX. I fired one load of 56 grains over the Magnetospeed and it chronographed around 3600fps! Something was obviously not right, so I stopped, and pulled the bullets when I got home. They all weighed the correct powder charges. Looking at Ramshot's data, which I should have done from the beginning, they list 52.4-58.2 grains for 3211-3507 fps. Not sure what's up with Barnes' data.

I went back to the range a week later, and fired these groups with 52 and 52.5 grains. I don't remember the exact velocities, but they were around 3125 and 3175, respectively. Accuracy was more than good enough for me. I had loads with heavier powder charges ready to go, but I figured this is a good place to stop.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...01272/barnes-110gr-308-tac-tx-in-a-30-06

Hopefully I'll see how they perform on deer at over 3K fps later this month.