Barnes TTSX vs Nosler Accubonds

[matt_3479]

i bought full equipment for reloading and now all i need is to settle on a bullet. i own a browning a-bolt 300. wsm and will be firing 180 grain bullet. Normally this gun will be taken on trips for Moose, black bear, whitetail, and caribou. Shots will be close and long range with most of my shots being between 75-350 yards. I have had closer shots, 55 yards and longer shooting opportunities 550 yards. Which bullet will perform better? which one do you suggest.

This year i am doing a combination elk and whitetail hunt down in Montana. I talked to the guy whos property we will be hunting and he mentioned that most shots will be longer. I have practiced out to 300 and 400 yards and have had fantastic results with both ranges. 2.5 " group at 300 yards was my best and 4" was my worst.

For Moose, elk, caribou, black bear and deer would you use a 180 grain nosler accubond or 180 grain barnes ttsx. I like the BC of the Accubond better

 

[bigngreen]

Let the gun tell ya what it likes, either one is good. Buy a box of each, you may find your rifle digs one and pukes on another. Terminally in those ranges both are great, ballistics isn't really going to favor one over the other till you get a bit farther anyway.

 

[partisan1911]

I was using 180gr Accubonds out of my 300WSM on a Mt. Goat hunt. I was not impressed with the results. Accuracy was fine but the goat went further than it should have. Shots were from 100yds up to 400yds. I have also seen a moose shot with a 300wsm and 180gr Accubond. Once again I was not impressed.

Please try the Barnes and report back. I have been looking for a better bullet for the critters up here using the .30 cal.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

I shoot a 7.82 Lazzeroni Patiot (essentially the same as the WSM), I have put quite a few Barnes bullets through this rifle from the 150 TSX which my rifle loves to the 180 MRX & now I have the 168 TTSX. If you heed one piece of advice forget the 180 TTSX, unless you are going to Africa after Eland & Wildebeest I believe you have a little more bullet than you need. That has been my experience with the 180 TSX in a WSM, now I DO believe the TTSX will be much better but it's really long & may compromise powder capacity. Grab a box of 168 TTSX & give them a fair try, I really doubt you will be disappointed.

 

[sdkidaho]

I was using 180gr Accubonds out of my 300WSM on a Mt. Goat hunt. I was not impressed with the results. Accuracy was fine but the goat went further than it should have. Shots were from 100yds up to 400yds. I have also seen a moose shot with a 300wsm and 180gr Accubond. Once again I was not impressed.

Please try the Barnes and report back. I have been looking for a better bullet for the critters up here using the .30 cal.

I realize this was from February, sorry for the late question. Do you remember what speed you were pushing these at?

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

i bought full equipment for reloading and now all i need is to settle on a bullet. i own a browning a-bolt 300. wsm and will be firing 180 grain bullet. Normally this gun will be taken on trips for Moose, black bear, whitetail, and caribou. Shots will be close and long range with most of my shots being between 75-350 yards. I have had closer shots, 55 yards and longer shooting opportunities 550 yards. Which bullet will perform better? which one do you suggest.

This year i am doing a combination elk and whitetail hunt down in Montana. I talked to the guy whos property we will be hunting and he mentioned that most shots will be longer. I have practiced out to 300 and 400 yards and have had fantastic results with both ranges. 2.5 " group at 300 yards was my best and 4" was my worst.

For Moose, elk, caribou, black bear and deer would you use a 180 grain nosler accubond or 180 grain barnes ttsx. I like the BC of the Accubond better

you didnt need to start another thread you could have continued your questions in the one you already opened about the Accubonds and VLDs

 

[Nomosendero]

OP said "I like the BC of the Accubond better" If that's an issue, consider the 175LRX or long range version of TTSX. It has a BC of .508, the same as the Accubond.

 

[.308ltr]

I'm a huge fan of the Barnes TTSX bullets. Just returned from a very succesful hunt in Namibia shooting the 180g TTSX bullets in both my 300WSM and 300 Win Mag. 9 shots 9 clean kills on plains game including Zebra, Kudu and Gemsbok. All heavily muscled and big boned animals. 8 of the 9 shots were thru and thru. Not at all long range shooting but the bullets were outstanding. Accuracy in both rifles is 1/2 to 3/4", again outstanding for a hunting bullet. I would trust the Barnes TTSX on any game found in North America including Moose and Grizzlies. (I would probably go heavier but would not change the brand)

 

[venom600]

I'm a huge fan of the Barnes TTSX bullets. Just returned from a very succesful hunt in Namibia shooting the 180g TTSX bullets in both my 300WSM and 300 Win Mag. 9 shots 9 clean kills on plains game including Zebra, Kudu and Gemsbok. All heavily muscled and big boned animals. 8 of the 9 shots were thru and thru. Not at all long range shooting but the bullets were outstanding. Accuracy in both rifles is 1/2 to 3/4", again outstanding for a hunting bullet. I would trust the Barnes TTSX on any game found in North America including Moose and Grizzlies. (I would probably go heavier but would not change the brand)

Your report on terminal performance is great. I've yet to test the terminal performance of the Barnes LRX (formerly TTSX) 200g .308 bullets I've been shooting, but they've outperformed everything I've tried so far, from an accuracy perspective. My 300 RUM loves the 200g LRX and holds .21 mrad accuracy out to distance. Really impressed with this bullet so far and can't wait to take some game with it this fall.

I know the Accubond's are well known for their performance, but I haven't been able to get them to shoot well out of my rifle.

--Ben

 

[gunner69]

Re: Barnes LRX Accuracy

I primarily hunt with a Lazzeroni Patriot (7.62). For years I have loaded 68gr of RL19 with a Barnes 180 gr TSX bullet. I tried 70gr of the RL19 with the 175gr Barnes LRX and I am shooting astonishing groups of <.5" groups at 200 yards - one after the other. I will never even try another round for this gun. I have a photo of 4 rounds inside of a 2" circle that were fired from 204 yards (there was a shade tree just and I wanted the shade so added 4 yards). Of course this is using a lead sled. This new bullet is extremely impressive and I'm looking forward to elk hunting with it later this year.

 

[chucksniper]

I was using 180gr Accubonds out of my 300WSM on a Mt. Goat hunt. I was not impressed with the results. Accuracy was fine but the goat went further than it should have. Shots were from 100yds up to 400yds. I have also seen a moose shot with a 300wsm and 180gr Accubond. Once again I was not impressed.

Please try the Barnes and report back. I have been looking for a better bullet for the critters up here using the .30 cal.

To me I can't really see the value of this expansion. Unless this is the end result of expansion, thus it had done it's job before looking like this. These bullets were recovered from a black bear.

 

[fishnfrank]

I have never been let down by the Barnes TTSX. I shoot a Rem 700BDL 300RUM and im pushing 180 TTSX at 3290fps and they are deadly. I have killed everything I have shot with these. 99% of them drop where they are standing and never take a step. I have killed big Mule deer and Whitetail in Nebraska from 100 yds out past 300 And 400 yds. I don't have the equipment to reload, so I have Cor-Bon ammo in Sturgis, SD load mine. They have done a great job. I am about to have them load 100 more rounds for me for this upcoming season. It will take a lot of convincing for me to ever shoot another bullet.

 

[GonzoK34]

For hunting the TSX, TTSX are excellent bullets. I've used both 180gr and 168gr bullets in my 300WM. I like the extra velocity and ft lbs of energy the 168s provide. The extra velocity means less wind, elevation adjustments. Most places I hunt the weather and terrain conditions are extreme. I've shot game out to 700+ yds and so far they drop in their tracks. In steep country you want the game to drop rather than go several hundred yards before expiring. I have packed out animals in country that most people would refuse to go into let alone hunt something that you have to carry out.

Gonzo

 

[Shootin4fun]

Okay, so the general consensus is that TSX and TTSX do a pretty good job. Now for us who live in Calif., Barnes should be giving out 50% off rebate coupons since they apparently had a hand in forcing us to use lead-free projectiles! One can always dream.

One of the reasons I handload is for cost reduction. It would be exceedingly frustrating if I didn't reload and had to pay $1.75 / round for factory loads with Barnes, especially if they did not immediately yield excellent groups in my guns. Even with reloading, I shoot about 4:1 standard bullets:Barnes. $.37 vs $.80 / round. I simply could not afford Barnes exclusively for the volume I shoot.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem like Barnes has been affected by the ammo hoarding that's currently going on. At over 2x the cost, its easy to see why.