6.5 mm 120 gr ttsx advice?

Alright folks I just purchased some of these today. Have never loaded Barnes tsx's before. Gonna start doing some load work up on them with some left over RL17. Any advice y'all wanna give out? It seems I've heard folks say they really like a jump. Do u usually start about .040"-.050" jump and work farther out. I was thinking about starting them at .20" and work up .2 grain increments until I feel I'm close to max. Does this sound alright, or should I just start .050" off the lands and work up to max from there?
It seems I've heard folks say pressure can spike fairly quickly with the all mono bullets, so that's why I was thinking about working up .2 grains at a time for safety sake. Any advice would be much appreciated, oh and this is in a 6.5 Creedmoor

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On monolithic bullets (as on bonded core bullets), I start at 0.100 inches off the lands. I have seldom seated the TSX closer than 0.070 inches to the lands since almost always 0.100 inches gives me good accuracy/velocity. The TSX is an excellent bullet; I've used many of them to harvest moose/elk since they were first marketed. They do give the best performance at higher velocities, so don't be afraid to push them up to the max.

Thanks dr mike! I plan on seeing what max is. Since it's around 90 degrees right now here I figured is find max, and it would be plenty safe for our winters. Hoping to get around 2900 fps give or take.


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Good luck. I've heard that's a very good 6.5 bullet.

Got some loaded up .070" off the lands. Have to say they are a good looking bullet anyways. When I finished I thought I had some blue cyclones just like Guy's haha


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Those do look great.

Trying something different with these. I loaded ten rounds in .2 grain increments. Saw it on a website where they just look for velocity flat spots, and load in the middle of that flat spot for a node. I have no idea if it will work or not, but figured I'd give it a shot. If it doesn't I'll go back to the OCW method.


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Those 120gr Barnes rolling along at 2900fps would be a very nasty package for the receipent of that wicked combo!
Expect animals to appear to have had the "rug jerked from underneath them! :lol:

Cleveland48":u4m14yca said:

Trying something different with these. I loaded ten rounds in .2 grain increments. Saw it on a website where they just look for velocity flat spots, and load in the middle of that flat spot for a node. I have no idea if it will work or not, but figured I'd give it a shot. If it doesn't I'll go back to the OCW method.


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So far, that method is working really well for me. I think if you do it fairly, it does give some great data. As soon as the weather/time permits I hope to finish up the Mashburn. As soon as I get a chance I'd like to take it out long. That should be the true test to see how it holds up.

And I am thinking I need to give a 120 ETip or TTSX a shot in my 264 Win Mag. That might be a scorcher..

Those 120's would be awful flat in the 264 mag no doubt.


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Cleveland48":1v1g54d1 said:

Those 120's would be awful flat in the 264 mag no doubt.


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For sure. That never breaks my heart...

I could see the barrel heating up VERY fast on my 26 Nosler shooting those.

Oh I'm sure it'd get hot quick. I almost got the 100 gr ones for speed, but I usually favor the mid to heavier grain bullets.


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How would they do at the slower 6.5x55 speeds? Would they expand enough?

I guess it depends on if it's a modern action, or older Mauser action. I've seen some stout loads with the modern actions, and careful loading. Most of my shots on deer are inside 100 yards so they are gonna be close to muzzle velocity, and should do fine. I have no idea how the Barnes expands once it drops into the 1800 fps and below range.


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It is a modern action. I bought a HOWA 1500 last year. I have 2 very accurate loads that will be great for pronghorn. I live in Colorado and the Barnes TTSX would be a great bullet for elk. I am a meat hunter so I only apply for cows or does.

My 6.5 Creedmoor is a Howa 1500 I enjoy it a lot. Been eyeballing another Howa in 6.5x55 with standard barrel for hunting. I figure the Barnes would be fine. This is my first time using them, but they do come highly recommended.


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Well ran my 10 round load test today, and I did find a flat spot in the velocity around 41.5 grains. Believe I'll try it there with jumps of .070,.090, and .100 and see how it does. Posting a pic of the velocity I got with these bullets and reloader 17. Not sure why the 10th rounds had a significant velocity over the others. Tell me what you think, and if 41.5 is the right spot.


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I've always had best luck seating Barnes TSX/TTSX at a depth where the bottom of the top band is even with the top of the neck or just slightly deeper


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I hear they definitely like a running start. Gonna try ten more loads tm with RL16


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