Barnes TTSX or Nosler Partition in 257 Wtby MAG ?

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folsoh

New member
I recently got a new rifle a range certified (the old MOA) Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 in 257 Weatherby Magnum. Actually my best friend and hunting buddy of 20 plus years and I bought one each with consecutive serial numbers. Kinda cool how that worked out its his pre retirement gift for when he retires this year.

So I reload and I cant decide if we should shoot the Barnes 100 grain TTSX bullet or the Nosler Partition in 100 or 115 grain bullets. In the Nosler I am edging towards the 115 grain due to its slightly high ballistic coefficient and they seem to slightly perform better on game reportedly due to the way partitions work when they strike game.

Any one use either? We both have several rifles in 30 cal but wanted something a little lighter in recoil as sadly we are getting older day by day lol. Plus we just wanted a new toy.

We mostly hunt whitetail deer and possibly some antelope is about all we get to hunt. I use a lot of Hornady and Seirra Bullets in most of my other rifles. I however read and talked with some folks who say they tried the ELD-x in 243 and now 257 with poor results meaning the animal was dead but their was no exit wounds and very little if any blood trials and the animals went way further than expected after the shot. SO I am looking for a good long range bullet that exits and the Nosler and Barnes bullets seem to be good from what I read.

My gun came from the factory being shot with weatherby ammo using the Barnes TTSX bullet in 80 grains. Its group was .67 sub MOA. I would like to shoot atleast a 100 grain of bullet even though some folks say with Barnes you can step down some in weight and get great results.

I will be using Hornady brass, Federal #215 GM primers and starting with H1000 to test them. Thanks for your time in reading this!!!!
 
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Hmmm, kind of a toss up there. I'm sure both will perform well on game.

I'd ask Linestretcher, as he shoots the 257WM.

All my experience in the quarter bore thus far is a custom 250 Savage, and a Ruger 77 MKII in 257 Roberts. Both of which do well with a wide range of bullets.
 
If you are getting .67" with the Barnes, I'd just leave it where it likes to be. The Noslers may be as good, but I don't think you will find much that is "better" and unless you are going elk hunting you'd never know.

You know that bullet shoots well so why change? 80 grains when it stops is all the deer or antelope bullet you'd ever need. Most Barnes X bullet retain close to 100% weight. That will be a very good tool for hunting deer or antelope.
 
I've had just as good results with the 100 grain Norma SP bullet that's loaded in the econo Wby ammo as I've had with 110 AccuBond as loaded by Nosler.
If your Vanguard is like mine (24" barrel), you're not getting published 257 Wby velocities from any ammo. My 24" barrel Vanguard is barely better than a 24" custom barrel 25/06 but kicks like a 30/06.
 
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