I have a LSS Mtn. rifle in 7mm/08 that I had tried 120 gr. TSX's in a couple of years ago. 2" @ 100 yds. was the best it would do with Varget. Recently I picked up a blue Mtn. rifle in 7mm/08, tried the TSX's again, this time with Big Game, 3 1/2" @ 100. The bullets were seated .040 off. Both of these rifles shoot sub MOA with various bullets (Accubonds, Bal. Tips, Sierra's) Any tricks I'm missing. Thanks PS I also have some 120 gr. TTSX to try.

I've only one experience with T/TSXs and that was in my 257 Weatherby. I seated them VERY far off the lands... as a matter of fact, I hadn't even bought the tool necessary to make the measurement when I put together the first loads (which shot sub-MOA) but simply seated down to the last driving band.

I'd say go deeper...

good luck,

efw

No writer here, but try seating them 10 thou deeper for three each and check for accuracy, i have found TSX's and TTSX's like to be seated deep and driven hard.

Gunner

Mess around more with seating depth...in BOTH directions.

They often prefer more of a jump than the .050 that Barnes reccomends...and.....sometimes not...

Never found a rifle that wouldnt shoot TSXs...

A pard at our deer camp has a Ruger tang safety 30/06 that just doesn't want to shoot any X bullet,everything else is right at MOA..go figure.

Definitely try differing seating depths. I have one rifle that likes them seated exactly as I seat Nosler BT for it, just a few thousandths off the lands. Another rifle likes them seated about 45 thou. off.

Jim

You could probably do worse than trying what always works for one of our members here.

Kiss, find pressure, and rock on!

You all know who I'm talking about.

I was using 47 grs. of Big Game with the 120 TSX, .040 off, and was getting some flatening of primers. According to the book, max is 49.1 to 50.0. Velocity averaged 2910 fps.

The book dopesnt always apply universally...just approach with caution

Ain't that the truth!

Do you have a chrony?

Yes, we chronograph everything. My buddy has had good luck with TSX's in several calibers, but I haven't had any luck with those 2 Mtn. rifles.

That sounds slow compared to what I've seen with 120s, and what you should be able to get. Like someone else said, TSXs seem to be most accurate when driven hard and you're not driving them hard. Maybe you just have soft primers? If it were me I'd try switching primers or barring that, try a different powder, Varget is most accurate in my 7-08.

What will 120 NBT's do in same rifle? I would try the NBT's for benchmark accuracy. Use 45.0 grains of Varget.

If that gives the accuracy you want, keep playing with the TSX's or use the NBT's to kill anything.

bingo. Most accurate bullets I've ever shot in a variety of calibers.

I will load up some this weekend with Varget and Big Game, going .010 deeper each time.

I have had good luck with a thorough bore cleaning b4 shooting a new bullet.

T

My procedure, and I've been very successful in getting them to shoot:

Load bullet .050" off lands
Increase powder charge until you find book speeds or therebouts..
Bump bullet in and out a bit to find best groups.

I did that, had been shooting Sierra's, scrubbed bore clean before trying TSX's. Thanks guys, I will try your recomendations.

I've always found those bullets to be very accurate. With the .257 Wby, I tried loading long, but found that the gun liked to jump those bullets. Same thing in the .240 Wby. TTSX and TSX like to jump. Loading long didn't work.

Also, in my experience those bullets do best running hot.

But, some guns just don't like certain bullets. You may have one of those guns. But, like other posters have said, work on COAL before abandoning Barnes.

DF

In both directions.

Every one of my rifles has responded to the "Kiss lands, find pressure, rock on" way of doing things when shooting TSX's and TTSX's.

jstall,

Contrary to popular belief, primer flatness often has nothing to do with excess pressure. I can explain why if you want, but it's true.

The Ramshot rifle powders tend to shoot their best at maximum pressures, usually at least 58,000 psi and sometimes more. A lot of handloaders get confused by this, when starting loads don't shoot all that well.

I'd start with the bullet seated a little closer to the lands, .03 or even .02, as I've often found them to shoot very well seated close, despite the Barnes suggestion. Keep adding powder until the velocity is up where it should be, at least 3000 fps or a little more.

If the rifle doesn't shoot well at that point, seat bullets deeper, about .03" for each sample.

If that doesn't work, I'd have to ask if you've checking bullet runout on each round.

There's a reason I click on all of JB's posts!

Good info.

More heads spinning and flying into orbit.


Travis

I would start off with a .050 jump, then work up a load. The go to .040 then .060...expect night and day differences.

All tripple shocks in 243, 270, and 7mm I have worked with have shot exceptionally well. I am not convienced that they are a better bullet to hunt deer with vs cup and core bullets and bonded bullets. Partitions are the benchmark in my book.

I have a good bait of .224 caliber Speer 64g Bonded Gold Dots I want to try this fall.

Thanks for the info Mule Deer. I shouldn't have much runout, as I use a Redding Competition seater. So I shouldn't worry about the primers to much and add some more powder. I'm about 3 grs. off of max. (47 grs.) I will try this and see how it works. I would really like to use these bullets if I can get them to shoot.

I use them in a ruger #1 in 7x57 (160gr), and CZ550 in 9.3x62 (250gr). the #1 will shoot them to close to MOA until the barrel heats up but the 9.3 will shoot clover leafs all day long. the 9.3 is seated .02 off and the 7x57 is just slightly more at .025.

Seat depth and a clean bore are critical in loading the TSX for accuracy. I wouldn't mix shooting NBT or other bullets while you are working on getting your tsx's to shoot. If you haven't already, clean out all the copper using a strong solvent like CR10, sweets 7.62 or similar.
Once that is done, I start at .055" off the lands. I have found my best accuracy loading these from .055 to .060 off the lands, loaded up to near max powder.
Seat depth is the most critical factor once you find your max powder charge. In my 7 RM I was getting groups right at MOA, I adjusted the seat depth .05" in and cut group size in half.

He's tried everything that Ruger just don't like em period! I on the other hand have had absolutely no problems with 53gr TSX'in my swift,85's in my 243 and 6mm,130's in the 264,140's in the 280 and now TTSX 150BT's in the 300 Win.As others have mentioned my best performance has been with them seated deep off the lands and yes running them on top end seems to help..

7mm-08 - 120gr TTSX, out of a Kimber Montana:



OAL 2.75" , 50 gr of Big Game. Work up, that's close to max. I have not chrono'd them as it was raining hard that day, but they grouped well. The barrel doesn't look so hot in the borescope, but it shoots well with TTSX, and Nosler Partitions. Count me as someone who's had good luck backing TTSX's off .050.

Now that said, I was shooting 53 TSX's in my #1 .22-250, and because the brass was new, I purposely ran the bullets touching the lands. The goal was to keep the case head against the breechblock in firing. With a mild charge of Varget it did about an inch at 100 yards, which was better than I expected.

A few more comments, since several people have added to this thread:

The reason to start with the bullet seated as close to the lands as possible is that backing the bullet off results in lower pressures. If you start with the bullet backed off, then seat it closer to the lands after working up a "max" load, pressures rise, sometimes a little too much.

I've never noticed much difference in accuracy when shooting TSX's in a barrel that's already been fouled with other bullets. I shoot 'em all the time in previously fouled bores, most often when shooting a bunch of different handloads using a variety ofbullets for an article. Things were different with the older X's, because they fouled so badly, but I haven't found TSX's to copper-foul any more than conventional bullets, and they often foul less.

Yessir! Never a bad idea to start touching the lands, and work back from there.

I've also found TSX/TTSX bullets to foul very little.

Where do you find such bullets? Don't see anything like that on Speer's website. thx

All bullets always shoot best kissing the lands at max pressure.........

I used to think this also, but I'm not sure "ALL" applies to the Barnes bullets.

What've ya got to lose by trying a kiss?

May work great, did for me.

Oh I'll try it, especially since the loads are several grs. from max.

Nothing to lose*, may work great, has for me too.

But "always"? Snork


*gotta be extry-careful working towards max in lands contact though IMHO.

Wow, that's great Jeff.

Try letting an informative thread, be an informative thread.



Nothing further,
Travis

I had many problems and gave up on the Barnes bullets in the past. When the came out with the Triple Shocks with the grooves and a modified metal, I gave them another try.
My experience is that you can seat the TSXs out near the lands similar to cup and core bullets. The grooves help with the pressure also.
For rule of thumb, .030" off the lands usually works best with about all bullets for me. If not something close to that then I go to seating at one caliber and it ofter works adequate for most of my needs.
jmho
Tim

Can't say for the 7-08, but I have a couple 30-06s and a 300 WinMag and a 405 Winchester that shoot the TSX bullets real well. Don't know if I got lucky or not, but I found that 57 gr of H414 and a 168 TSX worked real well in my Tikka '06 and 47 gr of H4895 and a 150 TSX worked real well in my wife's Tikka '06. The 168 gr TSX and a moderate load of 75 gr of RL-22 works great in my 300 WM M1000 Browning. These were all first loads tried, and seated to SAAMI specs. I must live a charmed life, because getting those things to shoot in 3 different rifles, all I had to do was load the ammo and squeeze the trigger. The 405 does good with 58 gr of H4895 or some Benchmark and a 300 gr bullet at close to 2450 fps. Hang on!

From Jeff Obama?

What ya'll smokin today, Trav?

Touching the lands is always a good place to start. My only problem is magazine constraints.

i'm with you on that!

I ain't in the business of making you happy, podner.

Jeff-O says,

I ain't in the business of being informative , podner.
[/quote]



Fixed it, yer welcome.

120 TSX with a near book max load of Varget shoots well (<1") in my 7-08 Kimber Montana seated to the top driving band (deep). It is primer sensitive and thrives on CCI 200s and hates CCI 250s. Remington 9.5s are OK and Winchester LR not so good.d Seating longer was worse in my rifle, including beyond magazine length and up to KISS.

So far no luck with up to 50 grains of Big Game, but I've loaded up some more to try. Fast but not as accurate as Varget for my combo.

120 TTSX don't shoot as well in my rifle and are gone now.

Just brought home a box of 145 gr LRX to try next. Great BC for Barnes.

Me niether. I shoot barnes/berger combo's in several 30's, and barnes/hornady combo's in 7mm..clean bore or fouled bore dont seem to make a difference in the way either of them shoot..which has always been very good.