Hi All, I am trying barnes ttsx 168gr heads in .308 with 43.5 grains varget and seating the bullet head so the case length is as the book says 2.810. The problem is it is compressing the powder quite a bit, should I be concerned. It is lapua brass I am using

My Barnes book says that 45.5 grains of varget is a 101% load, but that is with Win brass. Lap brass might be thicker. Check your oal and make sure you need it that length to fit your mag and throat, and lastly, don't worry about it. Unless your primers are really flat. Then back off a bit. Why don't you sneak up on it instead of jumping right in with both feet?

HI dpcd, I am using 43.5grains of varget, the min load is 42.0 according to my Lee book and I have to make them that length to fit the mag. It is a kimber 84m I am using. Thanks for the reply.

Remember that those copper bullets are much longer than lead ones so that is why you are getting compression, and as I said, I don't know how thick Lap brass is compared to Win. Just shoot them and see; they will be fine, probably.

If they don't work out you may want to try the 165's. They are made for rifles that have problems with the 168's. I believe they have a different ogive and are shorter.

Thanks again dpcd, like the confident reply they will be fine "probably". As you say they are fine shot 2 at the target this morning then went out with clients from Belgium and shot 2red hinds and calves.

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktailer:
If they don't work out you may want to try the 165's. They are made for rifles that have problems with the 168's. I believe they have a different ogive and are shorter.

Blactailer is correct. The 168s were made for the .308 and the 165s were made for the 300 WM type of cartridge. You can read up on this on the Barnes website.

This taken from their FAQs.

quote:

Is the 168-grain .30-caliber TSX the same as the 165-grain TSX? Is it really a match-grade hunting bullet?
These bullets have different ogive geometries. The 165-grain TSX incorporates a shorter tangent ogive in the nose profile. It’s designed for cartridges with short magazines such as the .300 WSM and .300 Win Mag. The 168-grain TSX BT has a secant ogive which lengthens the nose profile and has shown superb accuracy downrange. It offers the best of both worlds because it’s also a premium hunting bullet offering exceptional terminal performance. It is best suited for cartridges such as the .308 Winchester, .30-06 and .300 Weatherby.

I am glad they did the job on the red deer; I knew they would.

Hi again dpcd, hes they were fine and did kill the red deer. Huge exit hole however they do not knock the deer down like some other heads I have used ie hornady sst and amax. hollow point 168gr not very impressive either, again huge exit hole but deer run a long way

Well, remember that the TSX is made for penetration on big tough animals, and not for rapid expansion, dumping all the energy in small animals like deer. That is why I still use the old fashioned lead and copper bullets (you know, the plain Hornady and Sierra ones) for hunting. I am not punching through 4 feet of meat.

When you run out of the 168gr Barnes, drop down to the 150gr TTSX, or even the 130gr TTSX.

In the 308Win, the 130gr ttsx should be able to fly at over 3,000fps, and you probably won't see any difference in penetration. These will still hammer big game.

While Varget is listed as the most accurate powder in the latest Barnes manual for this bullet...it has not been for me...although acceptable.

I shoot these bullets in the exact same rifle you are loading for. It actually did not really like them and made me work for a supper accurate load. I found 2. The best for my rifle thus far...is 43 gr of R-15 with the bullet seated with the case mouth at the upper limit of the top groove and crimped there with a LFCD. This is a pretty compressed load too which I do not like that much. R-15 and Varget are pretty similar in volume density and kernel size. This load will produce 1/2" 5 shot groups...have not chronoed yet.

The second best powder is AA-2230 with IMR 3031 a close 3rd. My AA-2230 load was 40 gr with bullet seating the same. It shot an inch with with most of each group at the 1/2" level...each time in 5-shot had one that made the group bigger.

I like AA-2230 as a powder and am going to to pursue tinkering with this load as AA-2230's bulk density is better and it is an 86% case capacity load. No comprsson at 40 gr. I have not chronoed this load either. I will say...both of these above mentioned loads are flattening CCI primers significantly telling me I am near max pressure.

Barnes recomends looking for lower case capacity loads for this bullet in the .308 Win.

By "heads" I assume you mean "bullets"

I am being forced to go to lead free bullets. From my research I see that the Barnes lead free bullets penetrate much deeper than the lead core bullets I am used to. Complete penetration is normal. The expanded diameter is smaller. Based on that I am concentrating my efforts on the lighter rather than heavier bullets. Keep in mind that a copper bullet will be longer than a lead core bullet of the same weight. In 30 caliber, perhaps a 125 to 150 grainer will give higher velocity and thus a flatter trajectory. Also copper bullets in the hevaier end of the range could require a faster twist. So, going ligter could give better accuracy, flatter trajecotry, and less penetration into the mountain behind the animal.

I think transisiton will require some re-evaluation of how thing are, like steel shot.

That 130 gr. Barnes TTSX or which ever one, will literally discomboberate a deer at 3000 FPS out of my Savage 99F .308 Win. I have yet to recover one of those bullets but they do mess up the innards of a big buck and leave a good size exit hole most of the time and good short blood trails..I would not hesitate to shoot an elk broadside with it and would expect an exit hole and a quick kills..I wouldn't take a going away shot however, so for elk I opt for a 150 or 165 gr GS Customs bullets...