I am going to work up a load for my Sendero 300WM as soon as it gets back from Patriot Arms for bedding and having the Jewell installed. I am leaning toward the 150gr TSX's as I've had great results with my other 300 with 150gr Winchester Power Points but I'm also considering the 130's because you are supposed to be able to shoot a smaller for caliber bullet with the TSX's.

Any thoughts?

Since you are probably looking at Warp6 handloads - no matter which you use, you will likely blow the petals off and claim they don't open up.

I shoot 150's in my 308 @ 2835 and they work quite well out to 500 or so. That is my ELK load. Use 130's in a 260 AI @ 2730 for deer.

Any of them will work for deer. If you start pushing the 3300 fps muzzle speed and get a close up shot then Old Guy is right the pedals "MAY" come off. I would not go lighter than the 150's myself. But I would say go with whatever shoots the best in that gun. There's no need to use the expensive tsx for deer but if it floats your boat....go ahead.

I shoot the 168 grs in my WMs - just because it is the load I can use for anything I could possibly imagine shooting with a .300.

- mike

If you drop below the 168s you may find that they are not as accurate as the 168 and 180. Going too fast is a problem with the TSX in light bullets. The petals rip off and the body blows out the other side with a small exit hole and not much blood.

"but I'm also considering the 130's "

Not to worry - The 30 grains of unburned powder leaving the muzzle is probably enough to kill it anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by RBinNM:
"but I'm also considering the 130's "

Not to worry - The 30 grains of unburned powder leaving the muzzle is probably enough to kill it anyway.

The previous posters are right on. The problem, if you consider it that, with the Barnes bullets is that at impact velocities above 3000 fps you are likely to lose the petals---"petal shear" I've seen it called. This could severely reduce the effect of the bullet.

On the other hand, if you are planning on shooting at extended ranges where the bullet has slowed dramatically before impact, then this isn't a concern.

Like mho, I use the 168s in my .30-06 b/c if they can't kill it, I need my .375H&H.

So my two cents is try the 130 grainers if you want but that will probably be a better open country load than anything else.

LWD

I recommend the 180gr TSX. The 180 and 200 grain bullets are made for the 300win due to their high BCs and SDs. You won't have such extreme velocities with heavier bullets at close range that the petals will be blown off plus it will retain energy better at longer distances. The holes in the deer will be about the same size with the heavier bullets as with the lighter ones. I use the 180TSX on top of RL-22 even on little South Texas whitetails. Some may scoff that it's too much gun but it's a shooter and with my 180TSX handload, I have nothing but confidence with it. The way I look at it is there's plenty of energy for longer range shots if needed, but it won't blow up and create alot of meat loss like more frangible bullets. The only drawback I can see with the heavier bullet is more recoil.

The biggest benefit, and why I took this approach in the first place, is that once you find a good shooting 180gr TSX load, you're also setup perfectly for open country mulies and elk.