Barnes 165 vs 168 ttsx out of a tikka 300 wsm

[T28w]

I was looking into these bullets and read that the 165s are more for cartridges like a 300 wsm that may have coal issues due to mag length.

Anyone loading the 168s in a factory tikka?

 

[madcalfe]

The 165 and 168’s should both work.

 

[T28w]

Anybody worked up a load for both and care to comment if the 168s seemed to be harder to get dialed in vs the 165s?

 

[idig4au]

I shoot 168s ttsx through my 300 wsm exclusively. Barnes typically like 0.050” off the lands but my sweet spot is 0.015” but mind you I had my gunsmith chamber my build for this particular bullet.

I think as long as you find the sweet spot in seating depth, either 165s or 168s will work just fine.

 

[Hudge]

I’ve been running 165 gr TTSX with StaBALL 6.5 for a year out of my Tikka T3. I found my best accuracy at .150” off the lands. I ended up buying a new Mountain Tacticla bolt stop and magazine so I could get closer to the lands. Due to mag restriction with the original mag, I had to start at .081” off the lands. I’ve backed it all the way down to .025” off and the .150” off was still my best grouping.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

As long as the 168 works well in your magazine and throat, I think it should give better performance. Better BC and I have read that the 168 is made to open up at lower velocities for the 30-06. Seeing as these Barnes copper bullets don't seem to have much trouble working at 'too high' velocity, the extended window on the bottom end should only help for longer distance shots.

 

[T28w]

I’ve been running 165 gr TTSX with StaBALL 6.5 for a year out of my Tikka T3. I found my best accuracy at .150” off the lands. I ended up buying a new Mountain Tacticla bolt stop and magazine so I could get closer to the lands. Due to mag restriction with the original mag, I had to start at .081” off the lands. I’ve backed it all the way down to .025” off and the .150” off was still my best grouping.

I have not seen the 165 in person. I picked up some of the 168, better be lower opening speed, but then saw on Barnes website that the 165 is made more for the 300wsm due to mag restrictions. My lgs does not have the 165 or I would have picked up a box of each. I’m about to eliminate the coal issue, but I was getting concerned last night playing with a modified case and getting a cbto measurement that would fit in a factory mag that the bullet base is going to take up a ton of space. I have a Redding type s seating for and can’t do compressed loads so was a little concerned. Have u found this to be an issue?

 

[T28w]

Especially since you are .150 off the lands. That’s quiet a jump. I was going to be around .060 off the lands to make it fit in the mag just with a quick measurement.

 

[danwolf]

I've ran barnes 168 in my 308 about .15 off the lands and grouped really well, then tried 150 grains at .050" off the lands and they shot even better. I just got a Tikka 300 WSM, and will eventually try the 168's as well.

 

[Tikka300wsm]

It’s been a while since I reloaded for my tikka 300wsm but I think my coal was at 2.86 with the 168 ttsx.

 

[Tmac]

Last I checked, the 168gr TTSX also had a lower minimum velocity number, about 300fps lower. Makes is very suitable for non-magnums like a 30-06 or longer range work, where COAL is not an issue. Have not checked lately, so it may have changed.

 

[7rem]

My last 300 wsm was a T3 and it shot the 168 ttsx insanely accurate with RL17 I was getting 3240 FPS. I never shot it past 500 yards but it was less than 3” at 500 yards.