Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Seems like these would work well

Sounds good Vern. I'd imagine a 1 in 12" would not stabilize the 62. I'll play with seating depth a little, maybe even try book suggested OAL and see how it acts.

Oh hell yes! I used them on pigs out of a 1 in 8 twist .223AI

I was wondering if you've used them before. I know you like the 53gr TTSX. I probably should have snagged the TSX as well!!! Damn..

No, you done good. I switched completely over to TTSX when they became available. There were a few ( VERY few..) reports of TSXs not opening properly from people I actually believe, so I switched,

as mentioned I used them ( and 55 TTSX) on pigs.....I took nothing but brain shots so of course they worked, virtually anything does. Shot a bunch of deer-body shots- with the 55TTSX, super results, but the more hogs I see shot the more I think brain shots are the ticket . Accuracy is great with these bullets too...in most cases they like a bit of a 'jump' to the rifling, maybe more than you expect...

Ok, thanks buddy. I saw the online data suggests an OAL of 2.385", so that is pretty far off the lands in my rifle. About .135" off. I figure I'll try them at that setting and .050" off, and maybe even .100" off the lands. I won't load up many, probably 5 of each. If one is a definitive winner, I'll go with that one, load up more and test at 400 again.

Next best in line was the book suggested OAL:


Scope was zeroed the other day, prior to shooting the 400 yard targets. Good thing is this adjusted OAL load is still pretty zeroed. This group was shot after dialing back down to zero, from 4.5 moa.

Not sure, but shortening the OAL didn't help for average accuracy at 400. Would it kill a steel yote? Yes, for sure.

Average accuracy written on target:



Not excellent. But it is what it is. Now to move on to some different powder. May even try Big Game next? I'll probably run a magnum primer though. I'd like to cut the group size in half, or at least 1 1/2"..

I think you'll get them. They shot easy in my old gun. Old 4064 and 3031 weren't horrid for me either.

Thanks buddy. At least now I know kind of how far off the lands it likes. .020" or .135"!! ha ha.. I have some 4064 I could try, but no 3031. I'll bet even AA3100 would work.

I haven't tried 4064 or 3031 yet, but here's how the worst shooting load at 100 did at 400 yards. I loaded up 5 of each charge weight, fired 5 shots on target at 100 yards. All except for this load. The first 2 went into 1.5"!!!! So I saved 3 to shoot at the steel yote, after shooting a little 22lr that day:


Nice freshly painted song dog, with a few copper splashes. I added the orange dot, so I had something better to aim at. That bullet shoots consistently. I'll give it that. Not a great group. It's moa, but that rifle shoots better than that with other loads/bullets. What I'm trying to use as far as powder goes, is something that drops from the powder measure accurately and quickly. All of my other loads for this rifle are like that. The next powder I am going to try is AR Comp. Even though I hate burning that stuff up.. The Big Game powder seemed to burn dirty. AR Comp is next.

Was this at .020 or .135 off lands and still with 36.0 gr. CFE 223, and does this powder seem dirty and leave residue?

Good question cullbuck. The pictures shown last were shot with CFE223. That powder burns pretty clean, I like the copper fouling reducer it has, as it seems like the barrel doesn't get real dirty. The loads are .020" off the lands, as that is what seemed to work the best with the earlier testing. So I loaded up some more at 36grains and shot the targets and the steel yote at 400 yards. One thing I can comment on about the CFE223, I had 3 slight hangfires out of 25 rounds loaded up. I did not like that, so I moved on to Big Game powder. Accuracy was similar, with no hangfires. The 3 shot group on the steel yote, with the 1" orange sicker, in the previous page, was shot with Big Game powder.

The latest testing was with AR Comp powder. I am pretty happy with these results. As I said earlier, if I could find 1/2 moa for 3 shots at 400 yards, I'd be happy. Id' still be happier if they were 1.5", but 1/2 moa works for me. Well here goes:


I only loaded 10 of the 32.5gr charge weight, because that charge weight shot around .8" for 5 shots at 100 yards. It was the most promising load of the 5 I tested that day. The 34.5gr charge ended up showing overpressure/signs of pressure:





Load data is written on the target.

So, of the powders tested, I would say AR Comp is top performer right now, then second place goes to Big Game. CFE223 would be a no go as of now, but could change if I used a magnum primer.

I would be plenty happy with those results. What 5 charge wts. of AR comp did you try?

I have been trying to put together a hunting load for deer (factory stock, Tikka 8 twist 22-250) using 62 gr. tsx and 77 gr. Berger OTM tacticals. I got the 77 gr. Bergers to shoot the best (100 yrd) groups but after testing one square through the shoulders of a mature whitetail buck this past weekend I am going to concentrate efforts on the 62 tsx now to see how they do.
So far with the 62 tsx I have tried:
RL-15 at 35.5 and 36 gr. (produced 3/4 to 1" group)
IMR 4895 at 34, 34.5 and 35 gr. (34 and 34.5 produced 3/4" to 1" groups, 35.0 opened to about 1.25")
Varget 34 and 35 gr. (produced 3/4" to 1" triangle groups) very similar to RL-15
IMR 4064 at 34 and 34.5 (34 produced 1" group and 34.5 about 1.5")
H380 at 38 and 39 gr. (38 produced 1.5" on 2 shots, didn't shoot 3rd or the 39's)
This was all at 100yrds and only 3 shot groups as I only have about 30-45 minutes of daylight left when I get to my farm after work and I am letting the barrel cool completely between shots so 3 is about all I can do.
I loaded some more 4895 at 34.5 gr. mainly because I have plenty of this powder, but after your results I will try some AR comp as well.
Thanks for your helpful post.

Man, you are putting a lot of time into your load work with the 62. I like the list of powders you tried. Your rifle sounds about like mine too. I'm not getting gilt edged accuracy with the 62, like I have with the 53 V-max, 77 smk, or 88 ELDM. But I do like how consistent it shoots. And when shot at 400 yards, it's easy enough to keep them all within 1/2 moa of the aiming point.

Your question about AR Comp and the charge weights I used are as follows:

1. 32.5 grains (best accuracy at 100 yards)
2. 33
3. 33.5
4. 34 (third best 5 shot group @ 1.25" at 100 yards)
5. 34.5 grains (second best accuracy at 100 yards)

Now, something that you are aware of is AR Comp is not listed in the Barnes load data. Generally when I see RL15 listed, I'll reduce the AR Comp charge weight by 5%, since it is just "reformulated" RL15. I read that somewhere, so that is what I do. What I've found by doing that is I'm at max with pressure signs, so I am going to probably start reducing the charge weight by 6.5-7%, from now on, just to be safe. I ran into the same issue when working up a load in my Winchester featherweight 22-250, using the 53gr V-max. With this being said, I'd caution against loading past 34 grains of AR Comp with the 62 TTSX bullet. I'm not saying to use AR Comp either. That is entirely up to you. Just a disclaimer. What may be safe in my rifle, may not be in yours.

BSA, Thanks for the additional info.
I will probably start at 32 with the AR comp and work up at .5 gr intervals to 33.5 if it allows.
What was your best 100 yrd. group sizes with the AR comp and CFE 223?

I may tinker with some seating depth trials also based upon your results when I have more time. I haven't tried anything closer to lands than .035 or anything past .080 as what I've read, these like some jump.
I just settled on .069 as that is where a seating die for a different gun puts them and I can leave my other seat die set for the 77 bergers at .018
The bergers were easy to make shoot into tight little groups but this finicky 62 barnes is costing me lots of primers.
I may get some Hornady 80 gr. ELD-x to try in the future as well and give those bergers to the coyotes and bobcats.

The best 5 shot group with AR Comp was .8", and the best it did with CFE223 was .646" at .020" off the lands. I also want to add that I actually liked the performance of Big Game powder over CFE223. I just did not like the hangfires CFE produced.

I like to test accuracy at 100 yards then stretch them out to 400 yards, because of the convenience the range provides. It's a great test, but you also have to be critical of the wind and make notes. I've found some loads are more stable at 400 yards, even though they may not shoot as well as others at 100. Certain powders are known to provide better results at longer range.

I'll also do like you did with your seater die setting, when working on some loads and bullets. I almost did this with this 62gr TTSX, but decided to test different seating depths as some suggest with these Barnes bullets, since I got them for cheap. However, generally I've found them (TTSX) to shoot the best at around .025" off the lands, even though that is not the norm. Most guys, even in this thread, suggest .050" or more off the lands for best accuracy. Maybe give .020 or .025" off the lands a try and see what kind of results they yield. Keep us posted too. I'd appreciate that. Thanks!!

If you find something that works exceptionally well, I may be inclined to give it a try. It may also help others here.

Well I got to shoot the 32.0 and 32.5 gr. AR Comp. loads and the 32.5 had the best group of those 2 (.7") and the POI is the same as with 34.5 of IMR 4895, however the 32.5 AR Comp load produced a tighter group.
I will probably try 33.0 just to see how it does, but am satisfied with the results of the 32.5. I did notice the primers are flatter with 32.5 AR comp as compared to the 34.5 4895 loads.

Good info buddy. I will report that I lost some brass due to the 34.5gr loads. Primer pockets were toast. Found this out yesterday when trying to prime them. Luckily it was only 10 pieces of sig brass. One of the reasons I cautioned against going up to 34.5gr's. I figured the 32.5gr load would work very well for you too. Even though every rifle is different, that seemed to be the best for me. Also, another thing I was thinking about early this morning is I may want to try 31.5 and 32 grains, and then I better run the 32.5gr loads over a chrono, before loading up a bunch. Just where I'm at with it. Did you happen to run yours over a chronograph? I'm thinking in my rifle that load is going to be running about 3,530 or so..

No I haven't chrono'd any yet but want to (probably wont' have time until deer season is over), I am interested in the difference between the 34.5 4895 load and the 32.5 AR comp.
Also to note the 77 bergers with 32.0 RL-15 shoot close enough the same POI as the above loads with the 62 tsx (only about .5" lower and maybe a hair left but that may just be me) that no scope adjustment needed.
I wish I had an opportunity to shoot these at 3 or 400 like you are doing but just no time for it yet. It's a PITA also cause I have to load up my target and haul it across a plowed field (when dry) shoot some, and then go fetch it up again.
Based upon the barnes data for RL-15 and using your 7%, the max for AR-com would be 33.8 so I don't think I'll waste any more primers/bullets trying the 33.0 gr. load.

What stock do you have on your rifle?

Good info man. Your rifle is basically just like mine, so if it's shooting good at 100 yards, I'll bet it will be producing groups like mine does at 400 yards. If you shoot better than me, maybe even better. I wouldn't stress over that. From what I've seen, it shoots very consistently at longer range. Does it do better than the matchgrade target bullets like the 77SMK, or the 88 ELDM? No, not hardly, but it was not designed to be a target bullet. For its weight and the velocity we are pushing it at, I'd think it would hammer deer. The reason I started this thread. I was hoping more guys would chime in, but I trust some here that have said it works well, like ingwe.

The stock on my Tikka T3x is a B&C with a full length bedding block. The stock is fairly heavy, but it is comfortable off the bench and in the prone position.

I've also had 3 different scopes on this rifle, from a Zeiss V4 4-16x44, Nightforce SHV 5-20x56, and most recently a Burris AR 7.62 4.5-14x42 to lighten it up, yet still have the adjustability to get out past 800 yards if I want. I may eventually just put a Burris FFII 3-9x40 on it, and use it for my yote rifle. Good enough for out to 500 yards, set up that way, and with this 62gr TTSX. There have been many days that i wished Tikka would make a heavy barreled fast twist T3x chambered in 22-250. Sometimes I wished this rifle was a little heavier and more stable feeling, when shooting longrange. But it is what it is: A skinny barreled Tikka that shoots remarkably well, for what it is.

With that being said, had I not gotten the stock for free, I'd likely be using the factory stock, and it would work just fine.