Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game .308 180 ttsx or 168 ttsx

Yes, absolutely this thought process.

I started using 168 grain TSX bullets in my .300 Weatherby when I built it in 2009. Those bullets worked great on elk here in Montana, and exotics in Texas. A few years later I switched to 168 grain TTSX bullets as I thought they grouped a little better in my rifle. Those bullets also worked great on a Montana bull elk, a hunt in New Zealand, and multiple hunts in Africa.

Several years ago I put a Leupold scope with their CDS dial on my .300 Wby and I worked up a load with the 180 grain TTSX bullets and had Leupold cut a custom CDS turret for that load. That is the only bullet that I now hunt with in my .300 Wby.

If I was to hunt with a Barnes bullet in my .308 Win or a .30-06 I would use which ever 168 grain TSX or TTSX bullet shot best in that rifle.

30-06 168 ttsx 45k off 58.7 H4350 lapua case fed 210m 2900ish 22.5 inch barrel. Kills elk and moose just fine and very accurate. I have tried this load in 3 different 06's and they all shot around .5 @ 100 yards.

165 TTSX for the 300 & 130 TTSX in the '06.

Copper likes speed. I would go with whatever I could get moving, likely 130s.

I’m using the 168TSX in my .308’s. Every animal I’ve taken with the 168TSX has been literally a bang-flop with 10 seconds (or less) of death kicks. My experience with this bullet has been fantastic BUT I have yet to shoot an animal further than 25 yards with it so I can’t speak with personal experience as to its long range performance. 😁. I would like to take a “normal” shot for our western hunts but the last 5 or 6 deer I’ve killed have been at distances of 15 feet to 60 feet…weird that I have no trouble getting within knife fight range but since I’d like to take a longer poke I’ll probably continue to be “stuck” shooting them within powder burn range.

Needless to say that catching the bullets has been tough. I caught 1 168TSX on a Sitka Blacktail buck of all animals. He was standing facing me at about 10 yards unsure of what I was when I fired. I tried to slightly angle my shot hoping to not tear open the guts and it worked perfectly. The bullet was recovered under the hide on the rear end of the buck bulging the hide. The bullet took out the heart and lungs and caused the insides to turn to mush. It sent a couple pieces of rib fragments through the hide that looked like an exit wound or 2. The buck’s legs folded and he literally dropped in his tracks. That bullet looked exactly like the picture perfect mushroom for an advertisement which is precisely what all the TSX and TTSX bullets that I’ve seen myself or recovered myself.

I use TSX and TTSX in all my hunting rifles and I have never had a bullet “failure”. The 165 ballistic tip in my .308 shoots identical to the 168TSX. My .338WM and my 35 Whelen are the 2 rifles that are still using cup and core. I’ll be working up some monolithic Barnes loads for those rifles eventually but the way they are shooting with C&C bullets I’m not in a hurry.

I had a hard time finding the 168 TTSX when I was doing load development with my -06. I did luck into a couple hundred 175 LRX bullets. I have them moving at 2900 fps and found the stability and accuracy I was looking for. Still need to fine tune it to perfection but I am excited to see how they perform on game. I have heard good things.

No experience with the 300 Win Mag, but I'd go with a 130 TTSX in a 30-06.

Have killed, and seen killed, big game from deer to elk with various TSX, TTSX and LRX bullets from 130-180 grains in .30-caliber cartridges from the .308 Winchester to .300 Winchester Magnum. Have yet to see any significant difference in how any of them killed stuff, or penetrated, or grouped at 100 yards, or whatever--and even less difference between the 168 and 180.

But no doubt there HAS to be some difference, at least among those Campfire members who dote on minutiae.

180grain in the 30-06, 300win mag. The 180 grain out of my 300 win mag reload is over 3000fps. No need to go with a lighter bullet with that velocity. I do use the 168grain bullet in 308 Winchester, it's a prefect match for the 308.

Since Barnes makes both a 165 grain and a 168 grain version of their .308 TTSX I was curious what is the difference in them. I sent an email to Barnes with my question and here's the reply I got.
I'm sure plenty of guys on here have used the 168 TTSX in their magnums though.


Hi John,

Great question! The 165gr versions incorporate a short nose profile, often referred to as the ogive, to accommodate cartridges that require a short COAL (Cartridge Over All Length) requirement, such as the 300 Win Mag and 300 WSM. The 168gr TTSX has a longer ogive than the 165gr TTSX and it provides a more efficient, more streamlined design that allows it to retain its velocity and energy better. We test each bullet and assign it a value that rates each bullets ability to overcome air.This is referred to as the BC or Ballistic Coefficient. The higher the BC value the more efficient it is. So you’ll see a slight downrange advantage to the 168gr versions with their higher BC’s when they are incorporated in cartridges such as the 30-06, 308 Winchester or 300 RUM that can accommodate the a longer finished cartridge length and magazine requirements.

The 165gr TTSX requires a minimum impact velocity of 1800fps for bullet expansion and the 168gr TTSX only requires 1500fps.

Thanks, Ty

Ty Herring | Consumer Service

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With virtually 100% weight retention I’ve moved from the 168gr. TTSX down to the 150gr. TTSX in my 30-06. It’s my anything from mice to moose bullet. I get 3000fps out of my 24” barrel with Big Game powder and 5 shot groups well under an inch! I’d have no issue using them in any 300Mag!

Elk Country

I shoot the 168 gr TTSX out of my .308. I go to 180 gr out of 30-06 and 300 Wby.

I'd run a 150 in a 308w. No need for a 168 or 180. Speed is what works well with these mono metals..

The 150 requires more velocity at impact to open than either the 130 or the 168. I verified that with Barnes.

Correct - and the 168 will carry more velocity farther out than the 150.

Yup, I just got an email from them this morning when I asked about minimum impact velocity for reliable expansion.
TTSX .243/80 = 2000 fps

TTSX .308/130 = 1800 fps

TTSX .308/150 = 2000 fps

TTSX .308/168 = 1500 fps

According to JBM ballistics, a .30 150gr TTSX started at 3000 fps hits 2000 fps at 450 yards. A 168gr TTSX started at 2850 hits 1800 fps at 550 yards.

You get 100 yards of additional terminal performance with the 168s. I used these velocities as they are approximately what I achieve in my 30'06. The 168s are more difficult to get to shoot well than the 150s in my rifle, however FWIW.

Whichever one your rifle shoots best. I’ve killed or seen game killed by 30cal “x” bullets from rabbits to eland in 130,150,168 and 180grain weights at ranges from just off the barrel to around 600 yards…as long as they’ve hit where they were supposed to they all worked very well.


With that said I’d probably pick the 168 IF that’s what my rifle preferred.

168's no question