[dk17hmr]

Unfortunately for her she stood up first. Walked into the middle of a bedded herd. Off hand shot at about 60 yards with the 6.8 bolt gun and the 110gr TTSX load I worked up earlier this week.

I was hoping for a calf but I was shooting the first one to stand up either way.... Thankfully it was a calf as I already have an extra large cow elk and a mule deer buck in the freezer.

Exit hole was the size of a 50 cent piece. 2660fps at the muzzle. She made it about 15 yards spraying blood before coughing up her lungs.

 

[erdyalx]

Congratulations

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Xman]

Congrats, dk! What is the twist rate on your 6.8 bolt action?

 

[dk17hmr]

Congrats, dk! What is the twist rate on your 6.8 bolt action?

It's a Ruger Hawkeye 1:10 twist. I can seat out to 2.420 pretty easily. My wife bought it for me as a wedding gift and I have never really been happy with the accuracy so haven't done much with it. But last week I decided to do some ladder testing with Reloader 10x and the 110gr TTSX. 28.6gr of 10x gave me these results at 100. This rifle is generally a 2" shooter.

For a close range hunting rifle I'm plenty happy with those results. I have some 130s I was testing as well but CFE223 didn't seem like the right powder.... Especially now that our temps are close to freezing.

 

[Xman]

Copper bullets need faster twist rates to expand and open up. The reason your 110 TTSX did well on that elk was the 1:10 twist. The 110 TTSX doesn't open up much when shot with a 1:11 twist that most 6.8s have.

I did a lot of work with loading130 grain bullets long in the 6.8mm SPC and ultimately went back to 0.277" bullets designed for the 6.8mm. I found LVR to be a good powder for the 130s. Even with the 130's better BCs, they couldn't make up for the velocity advantage the 95 to 120 grain 6.8mm designed bullets. Plus the 130s had banana trajectories beyond 250 yards. If your loading long with the increased case capacity, H322 provides good performance and excellent temperature sensitivity with 110 grain bullets.

It's great to find a bullet and powder combination that does well. If you want to expand your options, you might try the 120 MKZ.

 

[dk17hmr]

I have been looking at CBB for awhile just havent ordered them yet. My 11.3" Wilson really does well with 90gr Gold Dots so I probably won't mess with that and the Ruger even though I have had it for 10 years is a fairly new project.....it was neglected for that long and just sat in the safe.

Im switching to monolithic bullets in most of my rifles I use for l killing big things, unless I'm already using bonded.

The 130s were a cheap experiment once I finish the box of 50 I bought unless something dramatic happens in the accuracy department I'll probably write them off. Sample size of one with the TTSX at close range but if it does that every time I'd be plenty happy with the performance.... And that rifle is an absolute joy to carry in the mountains

 

[tofan]

It's a Ruger Hawkeye 1:10 twist. I can seat out to 2.420 pretty easily. My wife bought it for me as a wedding gift and I have never really been happy with the accuracy so haven't done much with it. But last week I decided to do some ladder testing with Reloader 10x and the 110gr TTSX. 28.6gr of 10x gave me these results at 100. This rifle is generally a 2" shooter.

View attachment 74324 View attachment 74325

For a close range hunting rifle I'm plenty happy with those results. I have some 130s I was testing as well but CFE223 didn't seem like the right powder.... Especially now that our temps are close to freezing.

You should try out the AA1680, thats why I use for my 6.8, but I used 25 grains for the 110GR TSX. Mine is getting shot from a Ruger Mini 6.8, but man, maybe 1/10 is the sweet spot, I don't know, but the accuracy matches yours, or is even better using the Remington UMC Factory 115 grain and the Barnes handloads. I do not have a chronograph, but I believe my numbers are close to yours with the 18.5" barrel.

Thank you for sharing, what a great Elk, I can't wait to crush one with my Ruger Mini 6.8!

 

[Ratdog68]

That's gonna be some GOOD eating right there. Congrats.

 

[dk17hmr]

That's gonna be some GOOD eating right there. Congrats.

I butchered and packaged it today, it's going to be a good one. The large cow I shot in October about filled the freezer, this one was just large enough to top it off. I don't mind giving away meat but I am happy she wasn't much bigger. They are a fair amount of work, everyone is willing to take meat off your hands but not many people are willing to help pack it out, butcher, and wrap/vac bag it.