Favorite 100% copper bullets for 300 Win Mag handloads?

[samuel_284Win]

Hi fellow Hunttalkers,
I am researching an ideal 100% copper bullet for elk hunting in my 300 Win Mag and seeing that Hammer, Barnes, and Nosler are quite popular. What copper bullet and bullet weight have you settled on for the men and women with 300 Win Mags for your elk hunt round? Also desiring a 100% copper bullet to be more wildlife-friendly and to avoid possibly sending lead fragments through the meat grinder.
I am shooting a Howa 1500 with 24" barrel and Howa factory muzzle brake.

 

[TN2shot07]

I sold mine but I was shooting the 180 ttsx. If I was looking now I’d also give the 190 lrx a shot. Mine (Rem 700) didn’t shoot the etips as well. If you decide not to limit yourself to lead free accubonds and trophy bonded tips are also solid options.

 

[KingOfTagSoup]

I shoot a .30-06 not .300wm but I like a 150 gr Barnes TTSX in that cartridge. I haven't shot other brands. One thing to be cognizant of with copper bullets is impact velocity. They really need to impact at 2,000 fps or higher, which means you need to push them out the muzzle faster than most lead core bullets. Because they have such high weight retention you can actually shoot a lighter bullet faster and it will hold together. For .300 wm I'd say look at a 180 gr Barnes TTSX or 175 gr Barnes LRX which has a higher BC.

 

[MThuntr]

180gr Hammer with a danger hot load of RL26 running around 3300 fps. Other load data is available from Hammer for powders like H1000, H4350, and Magnum. Others like using a smaller bullet at faster speeds to take advantage of faster powders. All will work fine

Hard to ignore a 165 TTSX

 

[noharleyyet]

181 Hammer Hunters

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

181 Hammer Hunters

x2

Funny enough they group real tight with 180grn federal power-shok.

 

[jryoung]

If I had one, the 154HHT going 3,500fps would get a serious look from me.

 

[Elkmagnet]

168ttsx and 166 or 160 hammer hunter.

 

[AckleyHunter]

175 gr badlands bulldozer 2

 

[Lota lota]

Hi fellow Hunttalkers,
I am researching an ideal 100% copper bullet for elk hunting in my 300 Win Mag and seeing that Hammer, Barnes, and Nosler are quite popular. What copper bullet and bullet weight have you settled on for the men and women with 300 Win Mags for your elk hunt round? Also desiring a 100% copper bullet to be more wildlife-friendly and to avoid possibly sending lead fragments through the meat grinder.
I am shooting a Howa 1500 with 24" barrel and Howa factory muzzle brake.

I've had luck with the Hornady CX bullet...but I prefer lead in mine.

 

[6mm Remington]

168 gr. Nosler E-tip would be a go getter!

 

[MThuntr]

I've had luck with the Hornady CX bullet...but I prefer lead in mine.

I've not tried CX out of 300WinMag but the 120s absolutely kill out of 6.5 creedmoor. I bet a 165 or possibly a 180 CX would make short work of most critters

 

[Addicting]

Barnes 175 LRX is hard to beat

 

[Bryerific]

I’ve shot some stuff with both the 190 and 200 LRX handloaded pretty hot out of a 300WM. I bought the 200s when bullets were hard to find but I think they are a little slower than I’d like so I’d recommend the 190 LRX or lighter out of a win mag.

I was able to recover one 200gr LRX in a raghorn two years ago, but only after the bullet went through the front shoulder and exploded the distal end of the scapula, traveled through the length of the body, and poked through the rear quarter and lodged just under the rump hide. The shot was just over 350 yards as he was trotting towards me as a follow up shot.

Right now I’m back to a 200gr Accubond but when I mess around with copper again, it’ll probably be a 181 Hammer as I like the idea of avoiding lead and punching deep.

 

[tread]

168 ttsx has worked well for me.

 

[Qubo]

I’m currently shooting Hammer’s 166gr shock hammer in my 300wm. I love them. I have a personal limit of 400 yards and don’t even want to shoot that far. So after talking to the Hammer owner decided the lighter shock hammer was best for me. Shoot under MOA. Don’t remember the speed off the top of my head though.

I tried 168gr etips and couldn’t get them to group with my gun. So I’ve got 75-100 etips for sale if interested.

 

[turbobrick]

162 Absolute Hammer, been great out of a 300wm and a 300wsm.

 

[Zellhouse]

Have shot hand loaded Nosler products the for the last 30 years, tried the E-Tips & had problems getting them to group. Decided to give the Barnes TTSX in 180 grains a try. This test load was shot at 100 yards prior to final sight in at 2716 FPS. Grouping began to spread to just under 1" as velocity increased to 2800 FPS on the test loads. Hard to get better performance than this. Barnes bulets were readily available during ammo shortages & main reason for giving them a "try".

Used a Caldwell Rock Jr front rest with a rear bag from a bench rest at local gun local club as a shooting platfrom. Rifle was a 30 year old unmodified Model 70 with a muzzel break.

Tagged my Kaibab mule deer buck in Oct 2022 with this load. Wound channel was devastating. He was quartering towards me at 220 yards, entry was tight behind the front shoulder.

Anyway thought I'd share my experiences, as food for thought.

 

[belshawelk]

For me its a 180Gr Barns LRX

 

[D4570]

I have found Barnes are incredibly accurate. If you push them fast and keep them off the lands, you have to have a jump.
I could not find any kind of Barnes for two years. I switched to Hammer which is faster than Barnes with the same powder charge.
Example: in my 8mm RM 24" barrel loaded with RL 26 with a 200 gr TSX Barnes I got 3100 fps with hammer same load 200 gr Hammer hunter I get 3229 fps. Under an inch for both at 100.
The bad part there about twice the money.