300BO Hunting Loads

Hunting deer, whitetail deer. Not going to be chasing hogs with this load. Soooo.... does anyone have experience with a bullet in the 120-140 grain range that will give reliable expansion and good penetration at 300BO velocities? Ya know, give that DRT kinda performance? Don’t plan on stretching shots beyond 150 yards, and preferably staying at 100 yds or less. Should be able to get muzzle velocity out of my 16” barrel at around 2000fps or better.

One possibility I have looked at, the Barnes 130gr TTSX. Anyone have experience with that bullet out of 300BO ? Dang they pricey though.

I don't trust Barnes bullets to reliably expand at low impact velocities. JMHO.

I would look for bullets designed for impact velocities in the 1500-2000 FPS range.

I have killed a pile of hogs and several deer with the Barnes 110 grain TAC-TX, and a few deer with Nosler 125 grain Ballistic Tips. Most under 100 yards, drt.
both bullets very accurate. In a 16" barrel you can get the Barnes to 2400 fps and the Noslers to around 2150 fps. In a 9" barrel the Barnes at 2160fps and the Nosler 1960. handloads

I've been using the Nosler 110 gr Varmageddon over 18.5 gr H110 in a Ruger
American in 300BO. Have killed a bunch of hogs with it and will try it on deer if given the opportunity this year.

The 110 gr TAC was made for the 300 BO and will expand at lower velocities.

Good luck finding those bullets though.

Thanks for the replies, gents.

I get ya AU338MAG, thus my comment about reliable expansion at 300BO velocities. There are plenty of bullets out there in the 120 to140 grain range for 30 cal, but when you want reliable expansion at 1000 fps to 1500 fps, the list gets real short, real quick.

Not a fan of the Nosler BT on deer. I've killed plenty with it, but not a fan of its performance on deer. Same goes for the Varmageddon. Too thin skinned for my taste, but hey some folks love 'em. For me, I want better penetration and prefer two holes instead of just one. (allright you goobers....just don't go there!)

The Barnes TAC-TX sounds like a good option. Pricey little buggers though. As AU338MAG stated, that Barnes TAC-TX in 110 grain was designed for 300BO velocities....and it is out of stock pretty much everywhere. BUT, I noticed Barnes makes the TAC-TX in a 120 gr version. Surprised to find some of the 120 grain bullets in stock, and got a couple boxes on the way. Also picked up a box of 110 gr Hornady GMX and a box of the 125 gr Hornady GMX. The Hornady 125 gr SST were also out of stock everywhere.

So now, what powder.......H110? Win 296? IMR4227? Maybe Lil Gun?? What say ye, Aldeer experts?

The 120 grain Tac-Tx shoots very well also; I've just not killed anything with them yet. H110 is my go-to powder for the 300BO; 4227 works well also.

I'm not sure what bullet it was, but i shot 2 deer drt last year with some 125gr sig ammo. Both shots were @100yds. Of course, it's non-existent anymore. I've gotten some of the 125gr nosler ballistic tips that i'm getting a buddy to reload for me. Hopefully, my powder arrives in time for him to load me up some killin bullets and i'll see how they do.