7 mm 140 gr Barnes TTSX load needed for DRT Deer and Hogs

[daniel brothers]

7 mm rem mag 140 gr Barnes TTSX load needed for DRT Deer and Hogs

My Buddy and I bought two Tikka 7mm rifles and he has killed two bucks with his... a 218 lb and a 224 lb. The bigger one ran 40 yards, and the other one ran 15 yds... both shot within 75 yds. Both were shot broadside behind the shoulder...WITHOUT any exit hole or blood... which is bad when hunting in thick brush and not sure if the deer is hit or not... just have to walk in the direction it ran in order to find the body. He is disappointed because his 300 win mag shooting factory Hornady American 150 gr interlocks knocks every deer in the dirt no matter where the shot placement. He says he never tracked a deer when shooting it.

The 7 mm is shooting reloads 139 gr hornady sp bullets... about 3100 fps.

SO........... I have to reload him some loads that will make his 7mm act like a 300 win mag with DRT kills.

SO.... we are going to try the Barnes triple shocks bullets... but not sure if there is a super load that will be SUPER effective... other than just following regular book loads. We have NOT tried Barnes bullets before, so we are not sure if these loads need to be hot and forceful.... or do these bullets need a slower speed to work properly.

Thanks Guys for your Help.

 

[watercam]

Because they are monolithic and thus a bit harder, they may be slightly slower than cup-and-core bullets you have tried. Work up. Also, these bullets like to be jumped a lot. Start .075" off the lands and try .050" and .030" to get started. My rifles all seem to like .075" off but will shoot .050" pretty well if you are out of space with a case full of powder. May need to use a slightly faster powder to make room. They do work very well on game. I have half a dozen elk under my sling with outstanding penetration from any angle.

 

[AckleymanII]

Dan, 140g tipped triple shocks with the same load will have very, very little blood to follow. I don't believe that the triple shock puts as much shock on a deer as a std cup and core bullet, so use a heavier cup and core bullet. We shot a lot of the 154g Hornady interlocks, and they are rated an elk bullet, which we used.

For white tails the following old school load is simply unbelievable in the results

160g Sierra BTSP
61g of IMR 4831
CCI250
Rem brass

The family has killed hundreds of deer with this load, and they very, rarely run....rarely. The Sierra is not a super tough bullet which gives rapid expansion, but you have enough of the bullet to punch through shoulders and vitals, massive damage on the inside of a deer. Great blood trail that a blind man can follow.

With the invent of vld bullets, we quit shooting the old school Sierra 160g spt bt, we still talk about how it kills and wonder why we ever got away from it.

 

[normmatzen]

I built my deer rifle on a VZ-24 Mauser action and a WWII surplus 7 X 57 barrel turned down to 24"

I used A-MAX 162 gr bullets as they shot within 1 MOA in the gun. One day I shot a Black Tail buck and a small pig . Both animals had a huge exit hole. Didn't have to track either animal as the dropped in place!

Bottom line, I changed to 140 gr TTSX seated short in the case . They actually shot better than the A-MAX's. I went to TTSX based on input on a number of hunter sites. Haven't shot anything with the gun since, so I have no first hand info on TTSX. By the way, my A-MAX Mv was around 2700 fps and TTSX 2800 fps.

 

[Zero333]

The 139 gr SST can come apart a bit prematurely when shot at shorter distances from a magnum cartridge.

If you're shooting these bucks withing 250 yards you're better off using a heavier cupNcore bullet or the 120/140 TTSX.

To make the best of both worlds (short and longer range) the Sierra 160gr SBT Gameking would be my #1 choice. 154gr Interbond and 162gr Interlock are good performers all around too.

 

[daniel brothers]

I loaded up some nozler 140 ballistic tips for him... but his other friend has had so much knock down success with his 7 RUM, shooting the 140 ttsx bullets that he is sending me two boxes to load up. Personally I like the nozler bt bullets... but need to load up these ttsx's for him in order to give him confidence in the 7mm again... instead of him grabbing for his 300 win mag all the time. So... I'm kind of in the middle... looking for better answers from experienced Rifle Men. thanks Guys for your input.

 

[Homerange]

Check out Nathan's page for 7mm Rem mag:
http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7mm+Remington+Magnum.html
Scroll down to Hand Loading.

 

[jimbires]

this is my experience hunting with Barnes bullets . I used the 160gr TSX in my 7 rem mag at 3100FPS . I was on a hunt with a guy that used the TTSX in a 280AI , I'm not sure of his bullet weight or speed . I killed three animals, he killed one . all four of these were the same results . long tracking jobs , poor blood trails , a live animal watching me come in and trying to get up and run as I walked in on them . none of these were one shot kills . please let us know how these Barnes bullets work out for your buddy .

 

[daniel brothers]

Jimbires.... that is NOT good to hear... WOW

Thanks for that link Homerange... I'll check it out

Jimbires.... after reading that Great link that Homerange posted... it sounds like the 160 gr ttsx were too heavy for expansion purposes.... probably why tracking animals was needed.

 

[jimbires]

Jimbires.... that is NOT good to hear... WOW

Thanks for that link Homerange... I'll check it out

Jimbires.... after reading that Great link that Homerange posted... it sounds like the 160 gr ttsx were too heavy for expansion purposes.... probably why tracking animals was needed.

I recovered one TSX bullet from a whitetail deer , it had all the petals broke off it . I have that picture on photobucket , but I can't post the pic due to photobucket wanting a $400 subscription fee . I'll see if I can find the bullet and take another pic to post . I keep reading you need to run light per caliber and run them fast , but if I trashed a 160gr what would have happened to a lighter weight bullet going faster yet ? I decided to get away from the barnes bullets , after seeing this bullet .

 

[AckleymanII]

Dan, I have at least 8 boxes of the 140g tipped triple shocks and 6 boxes of the 120g tipped triple shocks that I shot in a 7 STW at 3600 and 3800 respectively. I will not sell you any because deer run when shot with them. I also shot these 140g ttsx out of a 7 mag with 65-66g of IMR 4350, and the deer looked like they had been shot out of a circus cannon when the gun went off.

Lung shots where you do not want a runner means MASSIVE tissue damage on the inside, which your friend was getting with the 300 Winchesters with the 150g bullet.

Other than taking a neck shot at the shoulder/neck junction or a shoulder shot, the load I gave you with the 160g Sierra bTSP is the best we have come up with for a 7 Mag and NON runners.

Federal Premium loads 160g Sierra BTSP, if they work for your friend, get the Product number from Federal and get out of the middle.

People that do not like running deer should learn to shoot shoulders or toward the shoulder on the "off" side, especially late in the afternoon where tracking is all but impossible. This is where the 160g Sierra would really shine, with the blood trail that a blind man could follow, if when they do run.

People that hate running deer should also try a 338 Win mag with the 165g Tipped triple shocks at 3200. Or course, the super accurate load with the 165g at 3200 does not leave much left to put in a biscuit, neither does the 150g out of a 300 Win.

 

[daniel brothers]

LOL... you are right Keith... he said the 300 blew them up pretty good, and that was why he did not shoot the shoulders. After he killed a deer with it... I think he went to Bojangles for his biscuits....LOL.

I think he would rather lose some meat than have to track them at all... especially in the evenings.

I like your thoughts on the Sierra bullets... it makes sense to me. I'll try to get some and load them up... if for no other reason... because you are my Hero...LOL. If I can't find them before this Thursday, then I'll use the Nozler 140 bt that I got from you.

Those deer he shot were big ones... and under 75 yds. The bullet was under the hide.

I shot a 155 lb 8 pointer last Friday with my 243, Nozler 90 bt, about 75 yds, hit it perfect broadside, it ran a 80 yd circle before giving up the ghost. I only tried the 243 because those youth kids were knocking deer in the dirt with the same rifle and load...but those deer where around 80-100 lbs.

A BIGGER CALIBER is going hunting this Friday.

 

[daniel brothers]

PS.. Keith... I just saw this post review you made over in Midway... guess I will have to get some now...LOL.



160g Sierra BTSP

By Ackleyman II

from SC

We load this bullet in the 280 Remington and 7 Mag both with a MV of 2950 fps. In the 280 We use a max load of 7828 and in the 7 mag we shoot 61g of IMR 4831 with a CCI 250. Dad, Brothers, cousins, and myself have killed over 300 deer, and we know of only a couple that have ran, and they were all pumped up chasing does at ranges close to 300 yards. None have ran over 50 yards with 98% of the deer dropping right in their tracks.

 

[Homerange]

Jimbires.... that is NOT good to hear... WOW

Thanks for that link Homerange... I'll check it out

Jimbires.... after reading that Great link that Homerange posted... it sounds like the 160 gr ttsx were too heavy for expansion purposes.... probably why tracking animals was needed.

Check the Knowledgebase page too in that website, there's a lot of specific info on particular projectiles and their terminal performance.
All based on field results of course.

 

[AckleymanII]

You will become a TRUE BELIEVER in the 160g Sierra BTSP!

 

[scubohuntr]

The Sierra 160 is the only bullet I have ever had an outright failure with. I hit a little forkhorn whitetail at 60 yards with a .280 Remington (Remington 742- obviously not a hot load); just clipped the near shoulder a little bit. He ran off, leaving almost no blood trail in deep powdery snow. Since I had called the shot as good, and there was no intervening brush, I knew darn well he was hit. I followed him about 200 yards, and caught up to him standing on three legs in a ravine. Followup shot in the ribs, angling forward put him down. The postmortem showed the first bullet had blown right up, taking the whole front quarter with it, and never penetrated the rib cage. The followup shot made it through the ribs and then blew up, no exit wound and only fragments of bullet to be found. I switched to Hornady and Nosler after that for hunting bullets. I still love Sierra's match bullets, and I'm sure most of their hunting bullets are excellent, but I don't need to be shooting something I don't have absolute faith in. I haven't shot Barnes, but I probably will once I get my .375 SOCOM built.

 

[leatherstocking]

Interesting thread, but...
I’ve been using the 150 TSX In. 7mm RM for a few years, and always DRT with lung shots. Always an exit wound, though not a big one.
Changed to TTSX this year, and same results.
Loads were 54-55.5 IMR 4831, near the min loads. This year, one at 300 yds, one at 165yds.
I did gut shoot one a couple of years ago, and he only went 30-40 yds, before laying down