Reloading for 30-06 Barnes TSX

[Adelaide]

Hi All ,Keen to reload some 168g TSX for my Browning 30-06. Any suggestions on powder loads and seating depth. Also are Magnum primers better than standard. Really appreciate some advice.

[TassieTiger]

I shoot 168’s in my sauer 06 and it group’s beautifully.
58.6gns of ar2209 with large primers give 3050fps and I don’t have too much, if any muzzle flash using large primers.

[SCJ429]

Why don't you start out by loading them to mag length, try some magnum primers and swap to standard primers if you cannot get the ES you are looking for. The ADI data is a good indication of what powders will work with that weight of projectile. If you are not using ADI powder, I find that the Nosler data gives you a great indication of the best suited powder, their most accurate load is dead on for burn rate required.

[SCJ429]

Nosler say 4350 which is the same as 2209. Tassie was right on the money.

[Blr243]

The first time I loaded a Barnes copper proj in my 243 I had my first ever excess pressure problem. Maybe I used standard data for a 95 lead proj , and maybe the longer bearing surface of the all copper proj was the problem. Long time ago. Can’t remember

[Adelaide]

Thanks a ton for the info, what seating depth are you using. Also note that at 57g 2209 the case looks pretty full.

[JimTom]

Would love to try these out of my .308, and some larger ones through my 300WM. Hunting projectiles.
In your opinion gents, are the Barnes worth the extra coin?

[marksman]

The first time I loaded a Barnes copper proj in my 243 I had my first ever excess pressure problem. Maybe I used standard data for a 95 lead proj , and maybe the longer bearing surface of the all copper proj was the problem. Long time ago. Can’t remember

l had this problem myself but with 6.5 cal as well as really bad coppering
l think at that time there were quite a lot of complaints that made barnes change the amount of bearing surface

[Blr243]

Jimtom. The first time I paid for Barnes was when I wanted to shoot red deer with my 243 nearly 20 years ago ( it worked no problem). And I imagine if u had a 223 or 22250 and you needed to shoot some big boars then paying for premium projectiles makes good sense. But I think if you are shooting big boars and you have a 2506 or a 270 then a conventional soft point should be fine. To me the Barnes x has always been something to look at if u did not quite have enough gun / projectile weight in your current outfit for a particular animal ..... I recently bought a 50 pack of Barnes something for my 243 for the next time I spy a cracker boar but I had to sell one of my kidneys to buy them. but more importantly, I’m still waiting to hear about your first thermal pig success?

[Blr243]

Marksman I agree. It’s been a bloody long time since I first tried Barnes and they have had a good amount of time to sort it so hopefully situation is better now

[JimTom]

Jimtom. The first time I paid for Barnes was when I wanted to shoot red deer with my 243 nearly 20 years ago ( it worked no problem). And I imagine if u had a 223 or 22250 and you needed to shoot some big boars then paying for premium projectiles makes good sense. But I think if you are shooting big boars and you have a 2506 or a 270 then a conventional soft point should be fine. To me the Barnes x has always been something to look at if u did not quite have enough gun / projectile weight in your current outfit for a particular animal ..... I recently bought a 50 pack of Barnes something for my 243 for the next time I spy a cracker boar but I had to sell one of my kidneys to buy them. but more importantly, I’m still waiting to hear about your first thermal pig success?

Thanks mate. I am still waiting for my first thermal pig success too. Have been away at work for last six week mate. Hoping we can go hunting here soon.

[tomtom889]

Hey mate, I reload Barnes TTSX projectiles for my .338 Win Mag, I myself was also concerned about pressure do to the projectile being solid copper instead of lead core.

I emailed ADI reloading support about the load I wanted to put through my rifle and this was their response:

Unfortunately we do not have any test load data for .338 Winchester Magnum with 225
grain Barnes TTSX projectiles. Monolithic solid copper projectiles, such as the Barnes
do create more bore resistance due to their harder construction than lead core
projectiles. As a result chamber pressures for any given projectile weight and
propellant charge weight are generally higher for the solid projectile compared to a lead
core projectile.

As a rule of thumb you can calculate the starting/maximum charge weight for a Barnes
or any other solid copper projectile by reducing the charge weight for a same weight
lead core projectile by 4%.

For example, you can refer to the test data generated with 225 grain Hornady SP
projectiles, which are lead core jacketed projectiles and reduce the charge weight by
4%. This means that your starting weight using the 225 grain Barnes and AR2209
would be 60.4gr.

The Cartridge Overall Length of 3.340” used to generate the data with the 225 grain
Hornady SP projectiles is at the Maximum SAAMI Cartridge Overall Length for this
cartridge.

TL;DR, if you have an ADI loading manual, reduce your min/max safe loads by about 4% for a given-weight projectile.

Happy and safe reloading!

[Blr243]

Thanks for posting that tomtom

[Adelaide]

Thanks a ton for all the advice. Got a batch shooting tight ( 57.2g AR2209 and seated 1.2mm off lands).