Looking to weigh pros and cons of Hornady CX , Barnes TTSX, and Nolser Expansion Tip (and any others y’all want to discuss).
As these are all premium brands I’m sure you would be fine regardless of choice. Perhaps the answer is whatever shoots best in your rifle.
HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to compare anyways.
My initial thoughts are that Barnes has been doing cooper bullets for quite some time. I’m sure that experience has to be represented in their overall package. Further, I believe I’ve heard that the TTSX is a harder copper and thus you should get more penetration. Inversely, the Hornady CX is a softer copper and may have better expansion. I do not have much knowledge on Nosler other than they make great products.
I suppose it’s also fair to compare ammunition offered with each bullet. Love that CX comes in the outfitter line. Would be neat to do an “outfitter” equivalent w/ a TTSX.
I am a huge fan of Barnes TTSX bullets. Very accurate, consistent and knock the snot out of whitetails. The only thing to keep in mind w/Copper is that they will not expand properly at lower velocities - IIRC Barnes recommends a minimum of 2,000 FPS impact speed (or maybe 1,800).
I also so in the latest American Rifleman that Remington has come out with a tipped copper bullet. Its the “Cut” line.
I’ve also had great results from TTSX’s on Whitetail. I’ve got some lrx hand loaded up but have not had a chance to shoot anything with it yet.
For the .284 120 TTSX, Barnes has stated to me by email that 1800 fps is needed for 1.7X expansion. If you want 2X, need to increase it to 2000. But every bullet in every caliber is different. Some of the 30 calibers will apparently expand to 1.7 x down at 1500 fps.
The 2000 FPS is certainly a good safe standard rule which is easy to remember as extra velocity won’t harm anything. But Barnes is also very good about answering emails for this and can tell you the specific velocities for each and every bullet that they make.
The LRX’s expand at lower velocities than TTSX.
Oh and edited
I’ve tried some of the Hornady Outfitter ammo and never gotten decent accuracy results from it. I may have to try the CX one day as a hand load.
I’ve tried some of that Weatherby stuff in my 280 AI. It shot absolutely lights out. However I’ve only shot less than a box through it because that stuff is so darn expensive.
I believe there’s some custom ammo makers who load Hammer bullets. There may be a link on Hammer’s website.
There’s a list of companies that load in a variety of calibers in the first post in the link below. I just looked at Aria Ballistics .308 and they have several in .308
This is the list for anyone that doesn’t wanna click the link.
Took your advice and reached out to Barnes with regards to .30 cal 150 and 168 grain bullets and the required velocities for expansion. 1600 fps for 1.7x and 1800 fps for 2x. Thats much better than I was expecting.
When I first started using Barnes a LONG time ago, I wasn’t really keeping track of accuracy as diligently as I do these days. But I would have to say the factory loads shot no better than one inch and more likely closer to 2 in at 100 yards. Of course that’s perfectly fine for around here where we hardly ever shoot above 100 yards and their terminal performance was excellent.
More recently, I tried some of their new 280 Ackley loads and they shot reasonably well, and better than most other Factory barnes ammo I’ve ever shot.
But it’s really amazing what you can do with these things when you hand load them.
Custom ammo companies like Choice and Copper Creek also do a pretty good job. That would be something to consider if you don’t want to hand load. However those places can get quite pricey at times.
As I said somewhere upstream, I’ve never gotten Hornady Outfitter ammo to group well at all. Have not tried anything from Nosler or other companies.
