140 gr. or 150 gr. Barnes TTSX for an elk round?

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Aug 23, 2020
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SO I'm trying to decide between the 140 gr. or 150 gr. Barnes TTSX .284 (7mm) in 7mm-08 for elk ?
Which one would you go with?
Thanks
 

Ronin75

Lil-Rokslider
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I have used 150 TTSX bullets on 3 cow elk at distance of 185-275 yards (7mm RM). The recovered bullets look like something from an Barnes bullet advertisement
 

jhm2023

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I'd go with the 140 ttsx or maybe even the 139 lrx for more velocity. The 140 ttsx and 145 lrx has served me well out of my 7 rem mag for everything up to grizz. The pictured bullet is a 140ttsx recovered after it traveled lengthwise through a 6.5 black bear. Found under the hide on the opposite end.
058a0bb67b7fdfc56f108fe2d1bd7c43.jpg


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sneaky

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139 or 145 LRX. 145 LRX hammered my last bull out of my 280AI

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I shot a large-bodied cow with the 150gr TTSX out of my 7mm RM this year and it worked great. Out of a 7mm-08 though, I would lean toward the 140gr or even a 120gr to keep your velocity up.
 

tunafed

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Trouble with the 120's is that the BC is so poor it's likely the 140's will be going as fast or faster at ranges beyond 300 yards.
When I lived in CA I used the 120 ttsx pretty much exclusively in my 7mm-08 Tikka. With a book max load of CFE 223 I was getting a muzzle velocity of 3240 fps. With the 140 ttsx and a handful of different powders the best I got was 29'ish. 120's were a tad over 2200 at 400 yards according to a ballistic calculator and the 140's were about the same at 300. The 120 grouped better out of my barrel. Experience having to hunt with mono's like Barnes and GMX's made me uncomfortable with impact velocities less than 2200.

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I keep reading about you guys getting 3200 fps with 120's out of a 7mm-08 and I have just never seen that in any 7mm-08 I've owned, and I've owned a bunch. Ya'll must have some thin air or something. :D

I'd agree with impact velocities below 2200 with Barnes. I think the Hammers do better at lower impact velocities if a person wants or needs to stay with monos.
 

sneaky

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I keep reading about you guys getting 3200 fps with 120's out of a 7mm-08 and I have just never seen that in any 7mm-08 I've owned, and I've owned a bunch. Ya'll must have some thin air or something. :D

I'd agree with impact velocities below 2200 with Barnes. I think the Hammers do better at lower impact velocities if a person wants or needs to stay with monos.
Absolute Hammers will get that speed, especially the 119s

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tunafed

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I keep reading about you guys getting 3200 fps with 120's out of a 7mm-08 and I have just never seen that in any 7mm-08 I've owned, and I've owned a bunch. Ya'll must have some thin air or something. :D

I'd agree with impact velocities below 2200 with Barnes. I think the Hammers do better at lower impact velocities if a person wants or needs to stay with monos.
CFE 223 got it there with Lapua brass and Federal GM215M's. BL-C2 and Big Game got it pretty close to it too. Not traditional powders for a 7mm-08 I know but, if it works it works.

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CFE 223 got it there with Lapua brass and Federal GM215M's. BL-C2 and Big Game got it pretty close to it too. Not traditional powders for a 7mm-08 I know but, if it works it works.

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Yea, I heard CFE 223 was pretty darn good for the 7mm-08 but I never used it. However, I'm partly convinced that CFE 223 is the same powder as LeverEvolution, but just with the anti-copper additives. This is based on what I saw when I loaded for my Grendel, using LeverEvolution under 130 Sierras.
 

wildcat33

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CFE223, LeverEvolution, and big game are all very very close to Varget; a classic 308 class powder. So makes perfect sense it would work great, even if it says "223" on it!
 
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I’ve shot 3 Elk with a Barnes TTSX 150g. 7 REM Mag
820yards, 840 yards, 1015yards. All dropped where they stood. Muzzle velocity 3230


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Care to share the load ? I'm working up ttsx in 150 currently and could use some help
 
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