627PCFan
Member
Does anyone have any advice or experience with running Ballistic tips in Semi-Autos? Do they break off on loading or get gnarled or even jam? Im just planning in advance for an upcoming PTR91 buy 
Ballistic Tips in Semi Autos
- Thread starter 627PCFan
- Start date
- Status
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
They work perfectly fine in AR-15's and Ruger Mini-14's.
rc
rc
Grunt
Member
Seem to work just fine.
Sunray
Member
Work fine in M1 Rifles too.
judgedelta
Member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
- Messages
- 687
I've used them in my BAR '06. Function perfectly and expand likewise. I haven't handloaded any. Might have to have a custom seater.
Grunt
Member
Nope, I reload all of mine and no custom seater is needed. I just use the standard RCBS reloading dies.
Hardtarget
Member
I've shot plenty of Hornady V-max (55 gr) in my AR. Haven't seen any little red chips so far. They shoot very well too.
Mark
Mark
CarJunkieLS1
Member
The whole Tips that melt crap is a load of hogwash if you ask me. I've shot Ballistic Tip hunting bullets over 800yds and they were consistent and impacted well. The Hornady Amax to 1000 yards also and a 5 3/4" 5 shot group begs to differ about the whole tip melting causing inaccuracy, and inconsistent flight...clever marketing by Hornady if you ask me
artee
Member
Over 10 years I've used a lot of the .308 165 grain Hornady version (sold as a hunting bullet) in 2 M1's and they have worked fine with no 'blown' groups at 300 yards as you might suspect from a blown/mangled nose. Very few rounds have ever been extracted once chambered, but of those none showed tip damage.
This means nothing for a different rifle design.
Hornady's new info on plastic tips:
1) ALL brands show deformation from heat absorbed from the shock wave.
2) IF you examine their published data, it occurs WAY downtrack and farther than is ethical for hunting. It is a concern for long range target (over 600 yards) use.
This means nothing for a different rifle design.
Hornady's new info on plastic tips:
1) ALL brands show deformation from heat absorbed from the shock wave.
2) IF you examine their published data, it occurs WAY downtrack and farther than is ethical for hunting. It is a concern for long range target (over 600 yards) use.
Don357
Member
I used 150gn Hornady SST's in a CETME that I had with no problem. Accuracy was on par with 150gr fmj. I have a different CETME now and will find out how they work in it, but they are my go to hunting round for my Stevens bolt gun and my CETME.
briansmithwins
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2005
- Messages
- 4,631
The plastic tipped bullets have better aerodynamics, feed more reliably, and don't clog on so they open more consistently.
BSW
BSW
Driftertank
Member
I have a PTR91F. I also handload.
When i first started handloading, i made up a batch using some 150gr softpoints that a friend of mine had laying around, just to function test and form a baseline.
At the range, they functioned fine, but at 100 yards i got a very curious group...actually 2 groups, about 2 inches apart. Couldn't figure out why, until i chambered a round, then had to unchamber it (i dont recall why). I inspected the ejected round, and discovered a large flat spot on the side of the soft point where the tip had just grazed across the corner of the square breach face as it chambered, skiving a flat into the lead. I suspect it disrupted the balance and aerodynamics of the round enough to induce a spiral yaw and, depending on whether it fed from the left or right column, impact off center.
BTHPs stil showed slight damage to the tip from feeding, though significantly less than soft lead, and didn't exhibit the splitting group the JSPs had.
With this info in mind, i picked up some polymer-tipped rounds to try, reasoning that the tips would be more resilient during feeding, and therefore potentially more accurate. I loaded a dummy round and fed it through the action several times, and found no damage to the bullet tip.
So, ultimately i worked up a load with Hornady 165 SST's at 2500fps that gives me 1-1.5moa groups on average, while being an expanding hunting bullet that costs slightly less than 168 SMKs.
When i first started handloading, i made up a batch using some 150gr softpoints that a friend of mine had laying around, just to function test and form a baseline.
At the range, they functioned fine, but at 100 yards i got a very curious group...actually 2 groups, about 2 inches apart. Couldn't figure out why, until i chambered a round, then had to unchamber it (i dont recall why). I inspected the ejected round, and discovered a large flat spot on the side of the soft point where the tip had just grazed across the corner of the square breach face as it chambered, skiving a flat into the lead. I suspect it disrupted the balance and aerodynamics of the round enough to induce a spiral yaw and, depending on whether it fed from the left or right column, impact off center.
BTHPs stil showed slight damage to the tip from feeding, though significantly less than soft lead, and didn't exhibit the splitting group the JSPs had.
With this info in mind, i picked up some polymer-tipped rounds to try, reasoning that the tips would be more resilient during feeding, and therefore potentially more accurate. I loaded a dummy round and fed it through the action several times, and found no damage to the bullet tip.
So, ultimately i worked up a load with Hornady 165 SST's at 2500fps that gives me 1-1.5moa groups on average, while being an expanding hunting bullet that costs slightly less than 168 SMKs.
- Status
