Barnes lrx question

[pawhitetail]

I'm finally looking at heading to Colorado this coming fall with my son. Bucket list item for me to make it out west elk hunting and I told him if we're going to do it we better do it now. We're going to be taking 2 30-06s (1 for a back up)and my 300 wby. I use hornady spire points almost exclusively here for deer. I'm looking for an elk bullet. It'd be nice to use one bullet for all 3 guns. I know the nosler accubonds and partitions are highly regarded by alot of folks hunting elk but their supply has been kinda thin and their price has really gone up. With that being said I'm really looking at Barnes bullets. Particularly the 168gr ttsx or the 175 lrx. Is there any reason I should be looking at 1 vs the other? From what info I've found it looks like lrx expansion is minimum 1600fps vs the 168 ttsx at 1800fps which has me leaning to the lrx. I'm thinking the slower velocity of the 06' would still provide good expansion if a longer shot would be required. Any input or first hand experience would be appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[Caseknife]

I'd be looking at the 168 max for the '06. Could even go down to 150 TTSX for all three rifles. BC at .420 is not the best, but wouldn't matter much unless you plan on shooting beyond 500 yds or so, and then I would be watching velocity to stay above 2000 fps or so. I shoot 130 TTSX in a 300 WSM and it works great.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I'd be looking at the 168 max for the '06. Could even go down to 150 TTSX for all three rifles. BC at .420 is not the best, but wouldn't matter much unless you plan on shooting beyond 500 yds or so, and then I would be watching velocity to stay above 2000 fps or so. I shoot 130 TTSX in a 300 WSM and it works great.

This.

It’s a mono so send it hard and fast.

 

[Brad W]

I shoot the 175 LRX out of my ‘06. My brother shoots the 168 TTSX out of his. Groups are tight and terminal performance out to 420 yds has been excellent. No experience past that. You can’t go wrong either way.

 

[ccc23454]

These or i prefer the 200 ABs

 

[Nate Eller]

I think as long as the range is inside of 450 yards, they're going to be apples and apples. However, beyond that the higher bc of the LRX is going to give it more velocity and energy. For how I hunt, the 168 would be my pick, though I have not ever put a bullet into an elk, so take that advice with a grain of salt.

 

[LuketheDog]

I shoot the 127gr LRX in my 6.5 Creemoor with great results and the 100gr TTSX in my .257 Weatherby also with great results, get them there fast and they'll perform well.

 

[Aerosith]

I'm finally looking at heading to Colorado this coming fall with my son. Bucket list item for me to make it out west elk hunting and I told him if we're going to do it we better do it now. We're going to be taking 2 30-06s (1 for a back up)and my 300 wby. I use hornady spire points almost exclusively here for deer. I'm looking for an elk bullet. It'd be nice to use one bullet for all 3 guns. I know the nosler accubonds and partitions are highly regarded by alot of folks hunting elk but their supply has been kinda thin and their price has really gone up. With that being said I'm really looking at Barnes bullets. Particularly the 168gr ttsx or the 175 lrx. Is there any reason I should be looking at 1 vs the other? From what info I've found it looks like lrx expansion is minimum 1600fps vs the 168 ttsx at 1800fps which has me leaning to the lrx. I'm thinking the slower velocity of the 06' would still provide good expansion if a longer shot would be required. Any input or first hand experience would be appreciated. Thanks guys

I'm finally looking at heading to Colorado this coming fall with my son. Bucket list item for me to make it out west elk hunting and I told him if we're going to do it we better do it now. We're going to be taking 2 30-06s (1 for a back up)and my 300 wby. I use hornady spire points almost exclusively here for deer. I'm looking for an elk bullet. It'd be nice to use one bullet for all 3 guns. I know the nosler accubonds and partitions are highly regarded by alot of folks hunting elk but their supply has been kinda thin and their price has really gone up. With that being said I'm really looking at Barnes bullets. Particularly the 168gr ttsx or the 175 lrx. Is there any reason I should be looking at 1 vs the other? From what info I've found it looks like lrx expansion is minimum 1600fps vs the 168 ttsx at 1800fps which has me leaning to the lrx. I'm thinking the slower velocity of the 06' would still provide good expansion if a longer shot would be required. Any input or first hand experience would be appreciated. Thanks guys

I was actually in the same predicament 2023 hunting season.
I was shooting a 308 with a Barnes 168 ttsx at about 2670fps. Ended up taking a pronghorn in August with it @ 170yds and it was a heart shot, the bullet vaporized the heart and was a full pass through but the animal still ran 40 yds.
I was wanting something with a lower expansion velocity since I’m shooting a slower caliber, sounds like your situation.
Now in November I used my 308 with a Barnes 175 LRX running about 2650fps.
I was fortunate enough to take a bull with it at @270 yds and it dropped him on the spot unlike the pronghorn. It was not a full pass through but the bullet smoked both lungs and it sounded like the bullet hit a tree on impact. I'm now sticking with the LRX going forward!

 

[klampson]

Can’t go wrong with either a 168 TTSX or 175 LRX out of a 30-06. I like the 150 TTX as well, especially on deer. But for elk I usually go with a little heavier bullet. In reality any of these bullets will kill an elk if you do your part.

 

[belshawelk]

I dot reload but the LRX, IMO is the best out there. I use it in my .30 Nosler and my 6.5-300 Weatherby. Like BackofBeyond said, Send it fast. It will not break apart no matter what you hit.

 

[Redmt]

I've been using the 127 LRX in 6.5 Creedmoor for a few years. It's the best I've tried with everything being one and done. I developed a 175 LRX load for my .300 win mag and got sub moa groups very easily. I have not shot anything but paper with it yet.

 

[rideold]

I shoot the 168 TTSX out of my 30-06. No complaints.

 

[elkfanatic]

I've had excellent results with 175 lrx out of my 300 win mag. on elk. Easy to work up a load and plenty accurate . They claim to expand down to 1600 fps but personally I'd shoot for at least 1900-2000 fps at impact just to be safe. I have not shot the ttsx .

 

[buffybr]

I don't see the value in shooting the same bullet from 3 different rifles. Usually each rifle will like a certain bullet better than others. You could probably shoot the same load in your two .30-06s, but your .300 Wby is completely different.

I shot my first elk back when I still lived in Colorado and was going to College. I used a .30-40 Krag that I borrowed from my uncle, and shot whatever factory loaded bullets he had for that rifle.

The next year I bought my first centerfire rifle, a .30-06, and I loaded 150 gr Hornady Spire Point bullets for it for deer and 180 gr Sierra GameKing bullets for elk. Back then we just had one hunting season that was concurrent for both deer and elk. It was a PIA to re-sight my rifle every time I changed bullets, so in the next 10 years I killed some elk with my 150 gr bullets and some elk with my 180 gr bullets. They both worked!

I'm at a point in life now that I have more than one hunting rifle. My thinking now is to find the bullet/load that is most accurate in each rifle, and that is the bullet/load that I hunt with in that rifle. If I'm on a hunt for multiple animals, I'll use the rifle/bullet/load that is best suited for the largest of the animals that I will be hunting.

One of my quickest elk kills was the first year that I did a Montana Unlimited bighorn sheep hunt. The Wilderness area that I was hunting in was open for both elk and sheep. By day 3 I hadn't seen any sheep, and when a big 6x6 bull elk walked by me I couldn't resist and a 117 gr Sierra GameKing bullet from my .257 Ackley dropped him in his tracks.

In the late '70s I had my .30-06 re-chambered to .30 Gibbs, and for the next 20 or so years 180 gr Nosler Partitions from that rifle put a couple of Montana moose and an elk every year into my freezers. I also killed an elk with an arrow from my recurve bow, and another one with a 160 gr Accubond bullet from my 7 mm RM.

A few years ago I bought a .300 Weatherby for my primary elk rifle and with it I've killed bulls with 168 gr Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets, and I now just hunt with 180 gr TTSX bullets in it.

I say all of this to mean that it's not necessarily what bullet you shoot, its where you put the bullet in the animal. I've killed all of my elk with shots that were less than 350 yards.

On the topic of taking an extra "backup" rifle, I've been hunting big game animals since 1966 and have gone on at least 10 international hunts. I've never had a rifle fail me on a hunt. I did take 2 rifles on one African hunt, and since I can only carry one rifle at a time, the animals that I shot were with the rifle that I happened to be carrying at the time.

 

[AckleyHunter]

If you are handloading copper, you might want to look at the 150gr badlands bullet.

.308 150gr Bulldozer-2 - Badlands precision, LLC

Length: 1.385″ BC (G1): .515 BC (G7): .264 Twist: 1-11″ Price: 50/BOX

badlandsprecision.com

If you need factory ammo, the 180gr Norma Bondstrikes have been good for me. Quick kills, lots of meat damage though. They seem to be in stock most places.

 

[pawhitetail]

I was actually in the same predicament 2023 hunting season.
I was shooting a 308 with a Barnes 168 ttsx at about 2670fps. Ended up taking a pronghorn in August with it @ 170yds and it was a heart shot, the bullet vaporized the heart and was a full pass through but the animal still ran 40 yds.View attachment 312042
I was wanting something with a lower expansion velocity since I’m shooting a slower caliber, sounds like your situation.
Now in November I used my 308 with a Barnes 175 LRX running about 2650fps.
I was fortunate enough to take a bull with it at @270 yds and it dropped him on the spot unlike the pronghorn. It was not a full pass through but the bullet smoked both lungs and it sounded like the bullet hit a tree on impact. I'm now sticking with the LRX going forward!View attachment 312043

Congrats on a nice bull. Hopefully I can get lucky this year. It'll be my first elk hunt.

 

[pawhitetail]

I'm going to buy a box of the 175 lrx bullets to give a try. Seems like most things I've read accurate loads has been pretty easy to find. Thanks for the input guys. A

As far as taking a backup rifle yes I completely agree that I shouldn't need it but I'd rather have it and not need it then vice versa