130gr TTSX in 16" .308

Spent the last couple of weeks working on a load for my 16" Tikka .308 using the barnes 130gr TTSX, have a load which is shooting well but im down on speed compared to what seems to be the "normal" from reading information about others experiences/results.

Barnes book max suggests 46.9gr compressed for 3148fps in a 24" barrel, with a COAL of 2.735" Ive found more than a few posts with people saying they are getting to around the 3000fps mark with a 16 inch barrel using around 49.5-50gr of 2206h with a longer COAL than Barnes suggest.

At first i was using norma brass and loaded up a ladder from 44.5gr to 48gr at Barnes COAL, at 46.5gr i was at 2800fps (Magnetospeed), 47gr was ejector stamp/heavy bolt.

Tried again last weekend, this time with hornady brass. With the hornady, i got to 2890 with 47.5gr, 48gr was ejector stamp/heavy bolt.

So at this point my safe load is around 2740 with the norma brass and a little over 2800 with the hornady, however both of these have an average SD.

Ive since loaded up another ladder of charge weights but at mag length which is 89thou further out than they were at barnes coal, so going to try that and see if results differ.

Interested in peoples thoughts on if it would be worth trying different brass ie Lapua, or a different powder. Greg from terminator products suggested leverevolution works well in the short .308s but hes only tried it with around 150gr weight class projectiles. At the end of the day i realise 2800fps is going to be adequate for the sort of hunting ill use this rifle for, but being a copper monolithic projectile, when it comes to speed the more the merrier. So would be nice to squeeze some more out of it if i can.

Anyone played around with this combination and can offer some experience?

Cheers

I shot the 130ttsx out of a 14.5” for a long time. 49.0gr of h335, lapua brass, loaded to 2.8coal.
Shot it on plates out to 665yards using 3023fps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MSL

I shot the 130ttsx out of a 14.5” for a long time. 49.0gr of h335, lapua brass, loaded to 2.8coal.
Shot it on plates out to 665yards using 3023fps.

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What brass were you using?

lapua

might I SUGGEST YOU GRAB SOME SPEER 130grn hp and work out kinks with them..then tweak load for the barnes.... the speers are awesome pill for lighter animals and expand/explode nicely .it will save you some $$$ doing development and may just give you ideal alternative load to use.
and chuck the plurry chronicgraph away...if it shoots accurately,just use it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MSL

I shot the 130ttsx out of a 14.5” for a long time. 49.0gr of h335, lapua brass, loaded to 2.8coal.
Shot it on plates out to 665yards using 3023fps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Shit that's hot. I was running 47g h335 and had to back it of cos ruining brass. No idea how fast it was going but never failed to kill.

"Ive found more than a few posts with people saying they are getting to around the 3000fps mark with a 16 inch barrel using around 49.5-50gr of 2206h with a longer COAL than Barnes suggest."

This^^^^

Check jam length.
Check mag fit/feed length.
If it's jumping at mag fit start there at your max length for fit &feed and if it don't shoot work back in oal till it does.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

"Ive found more than a few posts with people saying they are getting to around the 3000fps mark with a 16 inch barrel using around 49.5-50gr of 2206h with a longer COAL than Barnes suggest."

This^^^^

Check jam length.
Check mag fit/feed length.
If it's jumping at mag fit start there at your max length for fit &feed and if it don't shoot work back in oal till it does.

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Have checked jam, hence why my latest loads i have loaded them at mag length which is 89 thou further out. This works out to 146 thou jump. This rifle has a long throat, even if i didnt care about fitting them in the mag i couldnt load these 130gr TTSX even 20 thou off jam, projectile would barely be in the neck of the case.

As far as how it shoots, with 46.3gr of 2206h it groups well enough, 3/4 moa which for its intended use is more than good enough, its just the speed being down at 2800 that im questioning.

Try some ADI 2208 ?

Seating it out gives more case capacity.
Especially important with marginally slow powders like 2208-2206h-h335

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dannyb

Try some ADI 2208 ?

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You can get good velocity with 2208 but getting enough in is the problem..... especially if not seated out

so lets see if I have this right..better or Dannyb will throws jandels at me.
you are already seating out 89thou more than the book....and rifle has long throat?????

so as Cam says seating longer gives a bigger case capacity=less pressure=less velocity AND your long throat will allow it to jump even further before getting all tight n building pressure so its a weatherby defacto magnum sort of..which ALSO=less pressure and less velocity
my trucksteerer barely passed schoolC brain tells me thats two reasons your velocity is lower than expected or two reasons you would possibly need more powder to achieve same velocity
luckily the humble .308 is sort of designed to have a long "spacewalk " into rifling....

I use 49.5gr 2206H behind 125 gr. Nosler Accubond for 2950fps. Loaded to mag length. Winchester brass Federal Match primers. No pressure signs . I think you'll find Winchester brass has a larger water capacity than most other brands. I use a funnel and dropper tube to pour powder slowly. This is in a 16" .308 Tikka Tx3. Under moa if I do my part right. Devastating projectile performance. Accubond was recommended to me over the Barnes due to them not expanding when the velocity drops off a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so lets see if I have this right..better or Dannyb will throws jandels at me.
you are already seating out 89thou more than the book....and rifle has long throat?????

so as Cam says seating longer gives a bigger case capacity=less pressure=less velocity AND your long throat will allow it to jump even further before getting all tight n building pressure so its a weatherby defacto magnum sort of..which ALSO=less pressure and less velocity
my trucksteerer barely passed schoolC brain tells me thats two reasons your velocity is lower than expected or two reasons you would possibly need more powder to achieve same velocity
luckily the humble .308 is sort of designed to have a long "spacewalk " into rifling....

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Yep sorry, should have been more clear. Loaded to barnes max coal of 2.735 it has 235 thou between ogive and "jam". loading them out to mag length has brought the ogive 89 thou further forward making it 146 thou between ogive and "jam".

I'm getting around 2900fps with 48 grains of H335 out of Lapua brass. COAL around 2.8 inches...must be Tikka mag length.
16 inch barrel, don't seem to have any pressure issues.

so your case internal capacity when loaded is a bit more than the barnes manual load..so velocity/pressure will be less...by said tiny bit... long jump to rifling MAY contribute another wee bit...the suns angle and old fellas dangle on the day a wee bit more.... chuck chronicgraph away and you would be happy with your load...

Revisiting this - Got my hands on some lapua brass & did some more testing, What a difference some decent brass made. 130gr TTSX loaded at 146 thou off jam (mag length), 49.5gr of 2206h and its up at a flys dick over 3000fps. Pulled back a grain and it groups great at 2960 so have my hunting load sorted for that rifle :thumbsup:

Seeing i cant leave well enough alone, anyone tried CFE223 with the 130gr TTSX in a .308? Seems to be a big thing in the states, some blokes swear by it. Yes i know micky duck "leave it alone and go shoot something with it" :XD::XD:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

Revisiting this - Got my hands on some lapua brass & did some more testing, What a difference some decent brass made. 130gr TTSX loaded at 146 thou off jam (mag length), 49.5gr of 2206h and its up at a flys dick over 3000fps. Pulled back a grain and it groups great at 2960 so have my hunting load sorted for that rifle :thumbsup:

Seeing i cant leave well enough alone, anyone tried CFE223 with the 130gr TTSX in a .308? Seems to be a big thing in the states, some blokes swear by it. Yes i know micky duck "leave it alone and go shoot something with it" :XD::XD:

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@16" and 2960 I'd say you are right In the Sweet spot and at max pressure.
You could perhaps eek out another 20-40 fps with h335 or CFE223 but I wouldn't bother myself....and I have a full can of cfe223.
An important consideration in today's world is developing a load you can repeat.