Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 308 Winchester & 110 grain Mono

Thinking of the Barnes TTSX or Hornady CX in this weight for my Savage 99 carbine. Sounds like Ramshot Tac will work, any other powder suggestions that will give good accuracy at less than full throttle loads? Will be a short range black bear load.


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Posts like this leave me scratching my head. To each their own but a 110 mono at 3100-3200 fps would NOT be my choice for a short range bear load.

Seems like a better mouse trap to me.


This will be a hunting load, not a defensive situation. I see this bullet completely passing thru even a big bear with good expansion & lower recoil than my current 180 grain loading for this rifle.

What about the 130TTSX and some Tac?

I recently used this combination in Namibia. Velocity was 3190. At 200 yards it completely passed through a gemsbok.

Accuracy was stellar, one shot drops on both critters.

Some people just can't seem to wrap their head around the entire Barnes ttsx concept, no matter how many times it's explained to them.

Leaves me scratching my head.

I like the 130 Barnes in 300 Savage, kills cshit DRT. I bet it be good in 308’s, but 150 GameKings do me well, have a hard time changing from a bullet that kills well also.

Same.

I've had a few experiences with bullets that didn't result in quick, clean deaths.
Not into experimenting with expensive stuff that may not please me.

For normal range work, 150 to 180gr 308 bullets are like death and taxes.
Dozens of reasons why folks might stray off that path, good ones...for them.

New to me 308 project, that might get done. When it does itsgonna get something
new and exciting run through it. 150 BT. picked up some cheap.
Usually use 165s.😉

I wouldn’t intentionally use a .308 on big bears.

I am one who's always puzzled by those who have apparently never use a monolithic bullet of any kind on big game, yet apparently assume they won't penetrate any deeper than traditional cup-and-core bullets.

Eileen and I have been using monos of various brands on a wide variety of big game since the late 1990s, Eileen primarily the 100-grain Barnes TSX and then the 100-grain Tipped TSX after the TTSXs appeared in 2004. With that bullet in the .257 Roberts she's taken big game up through elk in size with no problems. Oh, and she's taken elk and similar-sized African big game with the .308 and 130-grain and 150-grain monolithics.

Am also perhaps even more astounded by those who assume the .300 Savage or .308 Winchester aren't enough for black bears.

TAC does work great with lighter bullets in the .308--and .300 Savage, getting around 2900-3000 fps with 125-grain bullets and no "pressure problems" in Savage 99s.

MD, any advantage with the 130 grain over the 110 in a tipped mono?

I'm assuming either one will blow right thru a black bear on a heart/lung shot with the velocities were talking about.

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How about a big fat SOFT NOSED, bullet of any make, weighing at least 150 grains.

How many elk have you shot with the 308 Win and mono's?

(Brad) How many elk have you shot with the 308 Win and mono's?



I thought the topic was bears ??? Out of my 73 elk kills, three, have been with mono"s. When those did not work for me I gave them away and went back the 180 gr. Nosler Partitions. The one and only bear I cared to kill was with an 06 with 180 gr Nosler PT. While I have a 308 that I have used on deer I prefer more energy for elk. I use the 160 AB in my 280 Ackley Imp, and 180 Partitions in my 300 WM. Oh! one more thing the majority of my elk kills have been with the 300 WM, with an average distance of about 300 yards.

I meant to ask, "how many bears have you shot with the 308 Win and mono's?"

I've probably loaded and shot as many if not more TTSX, LRX, Hammer and GMX bullets as anyone including you. Have you guided bear hunters for over 20 years, been in on well over 100 bear kills, and have taken a dozen yourself? I have in the state of Maine.

I've probably loaded and shot as many if not more TTSX, Hammer and GMX bullets as anyone including you. Have you guided bear hunters for over 20 years, been in on well over 100 bear kills, and have taken a dozen yourself? I have in the state of Maine.

I've probably loaded and shot as many if not more TTSX, Hammer and GMX bullets as anyone including you. I'm well aware that mono's are light grain per caliber and need to be driven fast. Have you guided bear hunters for over 20 years, been in on well over 100 bear kills, and have taken a dozen yourself? I have in the state of Maine and again I would not recommend that light of a bullet at short range for bear. I've seen more 1 shot and drop kills with 165 & 180 grain partitions than any other bullet.

Don't listen to the naysayers. I can assure you that a 110 grain mono in .30 caliber is plenty for black bear. Between the 110 grain Barnes Tac-TX, the 120 grain Tac-TX and the 110 grain Hornady GMX (now called CX), I've taken dozens of hogs -- and some were quite large. From a purely structural standpoint in terms of a hog's anatomy, if these bullet can do the job on a fully mature boar, they'll be fine on a black bear.

And yes, TAC will work, but don't overlook H4895, AA2495, Varget or SW Precision.

No, I have not "guided bear hunters for over 20 years, been in on well over 100 bear kills," but have taken them from Montana to Alaska. During that also witnessed quite a few others being taken with a wide variety of cartridges/loads--including 12-gauge slugs. I am not surprised the 165 and 180 Partitions have worked very well.

But am also am assuming the bears you and your hunters have taken were baited. If that's not correct, let me know. One of my long-time Montana friends grew up in Maine, where his father guided for black bears. His experience is that a good broadhead kills as quickly (or even quicker) than most bullets when put through the lungs. (Have also seen this personally with elk.)

Eileen and I have killed around 150 animals with various monolithics, and I've witnessed at least 100 taken by other hunters. Haven't quit using them due to "killing too slow."

Just about any bullet that penetrates and expands sufficiently placed though the shoulders and/or spine will drop them right there. In the past few months a guy on the Campfire tried to "prove" that cartridges bigger than the .375 H&H kill Cape buffalo far quicker. The example he provided, however, was two bulls, one shot behind the shoulders with a .375, which went around 75 yards before falling, and the other shot through the shoulders and spine with a .45+ caliber double rifle, which of course dropped right there.

I am glad Bobby chimed in. I knew he had experience with this particular bullet. I’ve shot bears with even less and not, had a problem. If you don’t think a 308 shooting a monolithic bullet as described won’t kill a black bear, you are missing something or paranoid or both.