6mm Hornady GMX and Barnes Tipped TSX Length

M

mac805

Member
This year I decided to try lead free bullets in my 243 for deer. I worked up loads with the Barnes 85 gr standard TSX and the Nosler 90 gr E-Tip. The TSX did not shoot well in my gun and fouled badly. The E-Tip shot well and performed pretty well on the two deer I took with it, but it is an extremely long bullet for the weight (I know all the lead free are, but this one especially) and is seated pretty deep in the case.

I want to play around with the lighter 80 gr tipped TSX and GMX. Before I spend close to $30 per box to try them, can anyone tell me what the overall bullet length of each is? I can't find it listed anywhere, and I thought someone who has any of either could measure one for me. I would really appreciate the help! Any reviews of either used on game would be great too.
 
I only have the 80ttsx the length is between 1.07-1.08 and shot under moa in my tikka. Working this load any farther got sidelined by the 85SGK which was just to accurate not to use it.TSX and E-tips would not shoot at all in my gun i mean "bad".If i can get the TTSX to group like the 85sgk i'll make the switch.
 
From my Fowler Sylvac calipers:

Barnes 80gr TTSX = ranged from 1.082"-1.093".

Nosler 90gr E-tip = ranged from 1.182"-1.186".

I don't have any GMX on hand to measure, sorry.
 
Thanks for the info on the TTSX guys. Can anyone speak to the copper fouling from the TTSX as compared to the original TSX? Both being solid copper, I would imagine they are similar which makes me lean towards trying the GMX first.

I agree on the 85 SGK. It is my go to bullet for coyotes, and I have taken a few deer with it. They are cheap and perform well, but I am still interested in going lead free for my deer ammo.
 
The tripple shock bullets copper foul very little in my rifles, have not tried the GMX yet.

I would guess that a 1-10 would be adequate for these coppper bullets, seating depth is critical for good accuracy.

With the TSX in my rifles, I start the seating dept off at .050 off the lands...have yet to find a load that would not group in very few rounds using compatable loading data from what that particular rifle likes with a standard cup and core bullet.

In my Rem 700 Stainless 243, the 85g tripple shock loved the following two loads:

39.5-40.2g of IMR 4064

45.5g of R#19 (faster load than the 4064 load)

Both of these loads were in the 1/2" three shot group area with the bullet seated .050 off the lands.

Shooting the 85g Tripple shocks, my rifle copper foulded about the same as my load with a Nosler 70g Ballistic tip, 47.0g of H4350 with a Win primer at 3600 fps. 85g Tripple shocks shoot and kill so well in my rifle, I'll not change. The 95g Partition in my rifles has killed many, many deer, and the 100g Hornady BTSP is also a whale of a bullet in the 243.

Work up to these loads if you try them in your rifle due to lot # of powder, individual rifle differences, Blaa, Blaa, Blaa......
 
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The gun is a Ruger M77 Hawkeye which I believe is a 1-9 twist if I remember correctly. It picks up a little copper regardless of the bullet, but seemed worse with the 85 gr TSX. I have been working mostly with H4350 which as I said shot the E-tips well. I still have some of the 85 gr TSX on hand and may have to work with them a little more. Even if they do foul a bit worse, I don't take more than a few shots a year at deer, so if I could find a good load it isn't a big deal. It's just a pain during load development.

The other reason for looking at the 80 gr options is that I am having a 6mm DTI AR built by DTECH and would like to be able to run the same bullets that I shoot for 243. The length of the bullets will be a real issue fitting in an AR mag.
 
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