265 gr. Lapua/Edge data TSX needed

[slewfoot]

The brown truck just dropped off a package.
One of the items are 338 Lapua bullets (Barnes 265 gr.) TSX tipped, triple shocks, long and pointy.
I've been waiting on the Bergers like alot of guys, but these caught my eye.
I have an edge and a AI lapua and have just shot the 300 smks.

I am looking for load data I have H1000, retumbo, rl25, 869, 7828, 265gr. data needed.
Any load data would be great. Maybe some of you guys who have shot custom 265's may have some data.
Will post a picture if I can figure out how.
Slewfoot

 

[slewfoot]

post deleted

 

[slewfoot]

Left bullet is, of course the "go to" 300 gr. SMK.
Center bullet is Barnes 265 gr. tipped triple shock (338).
Right bullet is Barnes 140 gr. tipped triple shock 7mm for comparison.
I'd kind of like to know what the BC is for the 265 gr.
Thanks for any thoughts. Sorry for the lag in getting this photo up.
Slewfoot

 

[XMC]

Hey, just wondering if you had any luck with the 265 grain TTSX loads???
Same brown truck showed up here too so I'm on the same path… normally just shooting 250 grain SMK with 88.5 grains of MagPro and getting one ragged hole with that but now I'm on a quest to take my 338 lapua to Co. with me this year elk hunting and give my 7mm rem mag a rest. Bought 200 of these 265 grain TTSX to play with to see if I can get them to perform. I'll be starting with MagPro but any loads you have found to work well I would be greatly appreciative to hear about…

 

[X-man]

Barnes said the 265TTSX came in at .570

 

[XMC]

Thanks X-Man,
I'm gonna have to call barnes back I guess; I called to talk to them pre-order and the rep told me .585, further reading in forums I saw .575 and now I see they have told you .570.
All are close but I would like them to land on one answer for this as it is an input for my BORS once I can find a pet load of (powder type / grains) to work with these little blue tipped monsters.
Have you had any luck developing a load for it?

 

[X-man]

Sorry fo the confusion.
Ty at Barnes said .575

I bought 20 boxes after being told .600-.610......

I just got the bullets the other day so no load yet...
Running 338Edge and 338Lapua so we should compare notes.

 

[XMC]

Sounds Great X-Man...

I generally make it to the range at least once a week so that would be great. I'll be getting started on some workups this Sunday so I'll let you know how that goes…
I'm running them in a Barrett 98B but we should be able to find a close load range; I have three 7mm rem mags, one sendero sf 2 bedded in a AI stock and two bdl's and they are only three tenths of a grain apart in sweet spots using Barnes 150 grain TTSX with 74.3, 74.4 and 74.6 grains of ramshot magnum.
As far as BC I'll just run with 575 and see how she fly's at 1,000yds once I can find the best load.
For these I'll be starting with MagPro probably around 87 grains to see where I'm at with velocity and working up to around 92 grains as long as things are still looking good. Hoping to find a sweet spot at least around 2850fps or better so we'll see.
Anyway thanks for responding and good shooting friend.

 

[XMC]

oops posted twice

 

[Festus]

I ran them up to 2850 fps with 94 gr. Retumbo. Ran out of powder space so I have some other powders to try. That's the standard Lapua, not improved.

Festus

 

[XMC]

Well the weather was not on my side this past weekend but I did run out to the range and waited for a break between rain showers and ran three of these 265 grain TTSX through the chrono just to get a velocity reference point as I had mentioned I want to get up in that 2850 range.
I was using Lapua Brass, WLRM primers, 88.5 grains of MagPro which is what I am using with my 250 SMK; Completely different bullet so I wasn't expecting any grouping to even be close; all I wanted was the velocity starting point. Shot 1 hit .5" left of center aim point, shot 2 had me thrown as it appeared I had missed the target which made me scratch my head a bit, shot three I saw the hole get just a hair taller and upon going down to inspect all three shots were there… 2650 was my velocity and gave me the reference I was looking for so I'll be pushing up from here but I was shocked to see the group on this first test. Hope I can find a sweet spot like this one at the higher end... Test group was at a 100yds, Rifle is a 338 Lapua 98B with a 27 in barrel 1 in 10 twist. Nothing spectacular again but just surprised me as I've never had a starting load run that tight.
I'll hopefully get some better weather soon to update new test results once I can reach my high end sweet spot for accuracy and stretch out the yardage to confirm.

How was your grouping at 2850? Any sign of pressure on the case?

 

[Festus]

I was remiss in not mentioning I was using Hornady brass. I bought 40 cases from 3rd Gen S.S. (sponser here). I was not optimistic really as the Lapua brass has proven to be superb. This Hornady brass is pretty good stuff, I was surprised. I've got a set of 20 cases with ten firings and they are still going strong. They weigh a bit less than the Lapua so loads may have to be reduced a little for Lapua brass. Also, you will run out of powder space sooner with the Lapua brass.

Like I said, I ran out of space at 94 gr. Retumbo so am trying some faster powders next. I got no signs of excess pressure with the 94 gr. Retumbo load and 2855 fps. Accuracy at that velocity was not very good, about 1.6" @ 100 yds., but this was apparently between nodes as I had some lighter charges producing just under .5". Next I will be trying RL-22 and Ramshot Magnum.

I would not be surprised if 2850 fps is about tops for my rifle though. It is a factory Sako TRG-S (M-995) with factory Sako tube, which I believe is only 24.5". The online specs say 26" but I think it is less. Guess I'll have to measure it. The specs also say 1:12" twist and that is incorrect. Mine is a 1:10" twist, thankfully.

Festus

 

[XMC]

Thanks for the info… I have 40 cases of Hornady brass from the first ammo I bought off the shelf when I bought my rifle; didn't have my new dies yet and couldn't wait you know..lol… They've been cleaned and prepped but I haven't reloaded them yet since I bought 100 cases of Lapua brass to work with and find my best tack driver options and don't like to mix brass for long range work during load testing. I'll play with these later down the road. I kind of thought 2850 to 2900 is where I would run out with 265 gn ttsx so hearing your results confirms that also for me; I've never had a rifle that would group well at max but I've always had a habit of seeing just how far I could push pressure safely till I started seeing signs and working backwards from there for nodes. I know that's probably not the right way to do it but I've always been impatient to find that maximum sweet spot. I always try keep going as I usually find at least two or three nodes that group tight then I run those out to 300 , 600 and 1000 yards to see which one performs best overall. I do have about 12 lbs of ramshot magnum so I'll be after that one next this summer, I use ramshot magnum in my 7mm rem mags and love the performance. I decided on MagPro for the .338 Lapua as my starter powder as I had talked to a friend that shoots competition all over the US and he gave me the load recipe of 88.5 for 250 grain SMK's and they work just as he told me they would but I as always want to see how fast I can push these TTSX for hunting and keep the tack driving groups…
Once I land on some good results I'll post them on here to share…
Thanks again for the info on your Retumbo results and Hornady Brass; I'll put them to use…

 

[XMC]

Well I was out play'n today out at the range… had quite a mix of several rifles and handguns out having fun for the 4th (my kind of firecrackers ya know)…gun)
Anyway as for the .338 Barnes 265 TTSX I had loaded up a few sets of five in half grain increments using ramshot magnum and gm215 primers.
Started with 93.5 grains which gave me an avg vel. of 2766, ES was 17 in the sting, at 200 this grouped a three hole connected triangle with the fourth and fifth round within. (This includes fowlers as I let the barrel cool completely and clean between groups)
Running up my groups started to open and at 95 grains I had a couple pretty sticky bolt arguments. 95 grains gave me an avg vel. of 2864 with ES of 27 which was the velocity range I was looking for but with groups opening and a sticky bolt I'll be headed back down the pole.
Next out I think I'll run 93 to 94 in 10th grain increments and see from there as I think this will be it for ramshot mag in mine.
Couldn't get much better trying higher velocity's with magpro: mine shot its best at 88.5grains at around 2650 opening groups up as I went higher.
So far Ramsot Mag is in the lead for me.
I'll post more results as I get mine narrowed down… how are you guys doing with your TTSX loads so far…