School me on copper bullets

Like some previous posters. The Barnes is a great bullet. It's been around a long time. I've uses it in gemsbok and plan to use it on Cape buffalo.
 
I use copper since in I California. I use only barnes in all my guns. Have dropped the deer I've shot in their tracks. My buddy shoots the 150 ttsx's out of his 300wsm and dropped two elk with them. One was at 580yd and other at 40yd. The 580yd elk took 2 shots t was his sons first ever LR kill.
 
Mystras said:
I have been using Barnes TTSX 180's in my .300 WM the last 6 years. They are not forgiving bullets like lead bullets in that shot placement is critical on game. I'll explain...they do not fragment like lead and I have had several animals walk away and then die. I believe that with lead bullets they fragment causing additional trauma that helps knock down animals in their tracks. I had a beautiful 7x6 elk that I knocked down at last light on a pulled shot (bad hunter shot behind vitals on a moving elk). The elk went down and stayed down for over a minute. (Probably got the wind knocked-out of him) I did not feel I needed to take a follow-up shot Low light got dark, had to crawl 370 yards over deadfall to get to it and it was gone. Multiple days of searching in lost blood trail found the elk 1 mile away a week later. Terrible scenario. I have had several friends who have had similar experiences loosing animals with the TTSX. I was fortunate to take a bull this October at 487 yds with handloaded 180 TTSX. The conditions were not great, swirling winds, snow, last day to hunt. shot through left side quartered out behind vitals. Animal mortally wounded but did not drop and die. Had to take follow-up shots. I retrieved the first bullet on the far side under the hide. Expanded as designed. My experience with solid coper tells me the bullets are great and do their job. As long as you have enough energy at impact they open up and perform well as mentioned above. As with any hunting situation shot placement is key and I believe this is critically important when using weight retaining solid bullets. I like lead bullets for helping overcome my shortcomings in the field but I have been staying with copper because I don't want lead in the game meat I serve to my family. View attachment 123658
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Do you think you would have better results if you went to the lighter 168 grain TTSX bullet? The bullet makers recommend going to a lighter weight bullet in the mono bullets.
 
I've been a "unabashed" advocate of the Barnes X bullets since the early '90's. If I were searching for the perfect " all around bullet", it would be the Barnes TTSX or one of the new "kid on the block", Hammer Bullets. memtb
 
I shoot 180 TTSX and 168 TTSX out of two different rifles in 300 Win. Both bullets have preformed exceptionally well, and will kill an elk out 500 yards. I would let accuracy dictate which one to use. One of my rifles shoots the 168 TTSX a little better, which is the only reason I use it over the 180 gr.
 
dromsky said:
Setting up a .300 WM primarily for elk @ up to 500 yards. In recent years I have used Hornady Eldx with good results but, due to new regulations in Commifornia banning lead ammo and not allowing ammo to be ordered I am faced with adapting to copper for this setup. I don't yet reload so need some suggestions regarding loaded ammo. Gun is Savage 111 lrh, Vx3 3.5x14x40, 26" barrel, 1 in 10 twist. I have also read copper has better weight retention than lead allowing use of lighter projectiles? Currently have .270wsm and .308 that are both good to 500 but maybe a little light for that distance. Tia fellas
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With your 1-10" twist and your personal long range of 500y there are several options in our line of bullets that would work great. Some of it comes down to personal preference in bullet weight. As long as we stay inside the recommended min twist rate that is listed with each bullet you will have great terminal performance and accuracy.

I personally am a fast and flat guy, particularly when setting up a rifle for under 700y hunting. Our personal 300wm's are set up with the 181g Hammer Hunters at 3150fps for elk out to 800y or so. At your 500y range my 1st instinct is to go with the 166g Hammer Hunter. Depending on your barrel length you could expect to these to run pretty close to 3300fps. Running some quick numbers in JBM at 3300fps and 3000' elev, you would have a max point blank range on a 5" radius to 400y. At 500y it will still be carrying over 2350fps.

Let me know if I can answer any questions.
 
I have nothing against the Barnes and have never used the Hammer, but I have loaded the Nosler E-Tip with great success. They have been very accurate and deadly with both the 165/168 and the 180 in the 300 RUM. One shot kills on buffalo, elk, gemsbuck, zebra, kudu etc. I started using it to hunt my buffalo in the National Elk Refuge and was so pleased that I started using them on other game. One impressive shot was a broad side elk at 425 yards and it broke both shoulders anchoring it instantly. I did find the 180 went thru a antelope without much damage due to no bone hit. I started using the 165 on the smaller deer and antelope sized game and that worked better. You can purchase loaded E-Tips direct from Nosler and they have good sales often.
 
I have been checking for a long time and Barnes/Vortex does not have a load that I can find in 6.5x284 caliber
 
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