Hey guys, I am a newbie here and have spent most of my time shooting shotguns, blackpowder, and .22's. I know very little about rifles or handguns but am trying to learn. My question could fit here or in the handgun forum. Basically what I am looking for is a description of any of the bullet designs and what they are good for. For example, Full metal jacket, boattail, nossler partition bullet, etc. Any style bullet u can think of, what features makes it that type and what it is typically good for. Thanks for the help guys.
Bullet Designs
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full metal jacket: it is just like it sounds. the bullet core is typically encased in a copper jacket so that there is no exposed lead.
nosler partition: a soft-pointed hunting bullet design for deep penetration. the 'partition' is kind of like a little wall in the back half of the bullet that prohibits this part of the bullet from expanding. the front of the bullet is free to expand as much as it can, even to the point of seperating itself from the rest of the bullet; the shank, however, will remain intact.
boat-tail: hunting or target bullet that has the base bevelled. this bevelling results in a more aerodynamic bullet than a flat base. boat tails tend to fly flatter, further, but you generally must shoot pretty long distances to get any sort of a ballistic advantage over the flat base. the major con to a boat tail is that, by design, they are more fragile than their flat base counterparts.
hornady v-max: lightly constructed bullet designed to expand (fragment) rapidly and violently on impact. these bullets are at their best on varmints. they are not a hunting bullet.
hornady a-max: similiar to a v-max except that it is designed for target shooting at long range.
nosler ballistic tip: these waters are murky, to say the least. some ballistic tips are designed for big game hunting, others are just like the v-max in that they are varmints-only.
sierra game-kings: bullet made by sierra that features a boat tail. some are soft point (exposed lead) and some are hollow point. in either case, game kings are big game hunting bullets.
sierra pro-hunter: same thing as the game king except it has a flat base.
sierra match king: target bullet. typified by a boat tail and hollow point.
somebody else's turn...
nosler partition: a soft-pointed hunting bullet design for deep penetration. the 'partition' is kind of like a little wall in the back half of the bullet that prohibits this part of the bullet from expanding. the front of the bullet is free to expand as much as it can, even to the point of seperating itself from the rest of the bullet; the shank, however, will remain intact.
boat-tail: hunting or target bullet that has the base bevelled. this bevelling results in a more aerodynamic bullet than a flat base. boat tails tend to fly flatter, further, but you generally must shoot pretty long distances to get any sort of a ballistic advantage over the flat base. the major con to a boat tail is that, by design, they are more fragile than their flat base counterparts.
hornady v-max: lightly constructed bullet designed to expand (fragment) rapidly and violently on impact. these bullets are at their best on varmints. they are not a hunting bullet.
hornady a-max: similiar to a v-max except that it is designed for target shooting at long range.
nosler ballistic tip: these waters are murky, to say the least. some ballistic tips are designed for big game hunting, others are just like the v-max in that they are varmints-only.
sierra game-kings: bullet made by sierra that features a boat tail. some are soft point (exposed lead) and some are hollow point. in either case, game kings are big game hunting bullets.
sierra pro-hunter: same thing as the game king except it has a flat base.
sierra match king: target bullet. typified by a boat tail and hollow point.
somebody else's turn...
BillL223
Member
I'm sure many others will jump in here as your question is complex and will gather several opinions. FMJ are basically pistol or rifle loads which are designed to pass through the target with no expansion. I believe these are required for military bullets. Boat tails usually refer to a target bullet and is used to improve the ballistic co-efficient (sp) which makes them shoot a little flatter, this design can also be used on hunting bullets. A "Partition" bullet is a hunting bullet designed to have some expansion but hold together and get reasonable penetration.
Thanks for the replies so far...def good stuff. Anyone else jump right in...
How about JHP-I think it means Jacketed Hollow point and what about soft point bullets I read about them. If I can think of any others I have heard of to make this more specific since it is a broad question i will post them. Thanks
How about JHP-I think it means Jacketed Hollow point and what about soft point bullets I read about them. If I can think of any others I have heard of to make this more specific since it is a broad question i will post them. Thanks
sumpnz
Member
FMJ: As noted previously this is mostly a military bullet, though nothing keeps the rest of us from using them legally. Designed for essentially no expansion per the requirements of the Hague Convention that ammo not be designed to cause unnecessary pain and suffering in opposing soldiers (a BS provision so far as I'm concerned). Many of these bullets however will tumble and fragment after impacting human bodies. Typical civilian uses are restricted to target shooting. These are not suitable for hunting.
Total Metal Jacket: Variant on FMJ. In most FMJs the base of the bullet is not covered by the jacket material - the base of the lead core is exposed. TMJ bullets have the jacket also covering the base. Designed, apparently, to reduce lead exposure (I'm personally sceptical on that count). Otherwise, performance is the same as FMJ.
Boattail: As already described it is a bevel at the base of the bullet. Designed to increase ballistic coefficient (BC). The higher the BC the better the bullet retains velocity downrange, thus giving faster and flatter trajectories. Effect is negligable in rifles at ranges under 300 yards.
Soft Point: The lead core of the bullet is exposed at the tip thus giving a the bullet the ability to expand upon impact. Very common and popular design for hunting deer and larger game. Variations include Spire Point and some ballistic tip bullets.
Hollow Point: The tip of the bullet is open with no core material present until you get a ways back into the bullet. Typically used in varmint bullets as it is known for rapid, violent expansion and fragmentation. Varmints typically includes almost any animal from prarie dogs to squirrels and rabbits to foxes bobcats and coyotes. Penetration is usually low and hence is not appropriate for hunting deer and larger size game. Exception to this is the Barnes X-bullet. They are technically hollowpoints, but they are monolithic copper bullets (i.e. the are solid copper) and were specifiacally designed for very deep penetration as required for the hunting of large game like elk and moose.
Ballistic Tip: Variant on the Soft point in that a polycarobante (plastic) tip is used rather than allowing the lead core to form the tip. Also a variant on the Hollow point design, but uses the polycarbonate tip to imporve aerodynamics.
Bonded, Hot-Core, Core-Lokt: Terms used to describe the fact that the lead core is somehow bonded to the jacket material. This helps to prevent jacket/core seperation during expansion and helps to ensure deeper penetration.
Spitzer: A pointed bullet design originally developed I think by the Germans (the term comes from some German word I can't exactly remember or spell). Provides better BCs than the older round nose design. With a few exceptions (including the venerable .30-30) the spitzer design is almost universal in rifle bullets today.
Cannelure: A crimp groove in a rifle bullet.
semi jacketed; wadcutter; semi-wadcutter are terms best left to pistol freaks.
Total Metal Jacket: Variant on FMJ. In most FMJs the base of the bullet is not covered by the jacket material - the base of the lead core is exposed. TMJ bullets have the jacket also covering the base. Designed, apparently, to reduce lead exposure (I'm personally sceptical on that count). Otherwise, performance is the same as FMJ.
Boattail: As already described it is a bevel at the base of the bullet. Designed to increase ballistic coefficient (BC). The higher the BC the better the bullet retains velocity downrange, thus giving faster and flatter trajectories. Effect is negligable in rifles at ranges under 300 yards.
Soft Point: The lead core of the bullet is exposed at the tip thus giving a the bullet the ability to expand upon impact. Very common and popular design for hunting deer and larger game. Variations include Spire Point and some ballistic tip bullets.
Hollow Point: The tip of the bullet is open with no core material present until you get a ways back into the bullet. Typically used in varmint bullets as it is known for rapid, violent expansion and fragmentation. Varmints typically includes almost any animal from prarie dogs to squirrels and rabbits to foxes bobcats and coyotes. Penetration is usually low and hence is not appropriate for hunting deer and larger size game. Exception to this is the Barnes X-bullet. They are technically hollowpoints, but they are monolithic copper bullets (i.e. the are solid copper) and were specifiacally designed for very deep penetration as required for the hunting of large game like elk and moose.
Ballistic Tip: Variant on the Soft point in that a polycarobante (plastic) tip is used rather than allowing the lead core to form the tip. Also a variant on the Hollow point design, but uses the polycarbonate tip to imporve aerodynamics.
Bonded, Hot-Core, Core-Lokt: Terms used to describe the fact that the lead core is somehow bonded to the jacket material. This helps to prevent jacket/core seperation during expansion and helps to ensure deeper penetration.
Spitzer: A pointed bullet design originally developed I think by the Germans (the term comes from some German word I can't exactly remember or spell). Provides better BCs than the older round nose design. With a few exceptions (including the venerable .30-30) the spitzer design is almost universal in rifle bullets today.
Cannelure: A crimp groove in a rifle bullet.
semi jacketed; wadcutter; semi-wadcutter are terms best left to pistol freaks.
Zorro
Member
Spitzer Boattail: My prefered bullet design.
All my hunting is Plains, Desserts and Mountains every little bit of ballistic advantage I can get is worthwhile in these areas.
Spitzer Boattails also hold on to velocity and energy better than conventional bullets.
And the last advantage of boattail bullets is that they are really easy to seat in the case mouth when you reload.
All my hunting is Plains, Desserts and Mountains every little bit of ballistic advantage I can get is worthwhile in these areas.
Spitzer Boattails also hold on to velocity and energy better than conventional bullets.
And the last advantage of boattail bullets is that they are really easy to seat in the case mouth when you reload.
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30Cal
Member
Not all hollowpoints are designed for expansion. Match rifle bullets are usually HP's because that's the easiest way to make them uniformly consistant. What happens to the bullet after it hits something is not something that's taken into consideration when designing a match bullet.
I know the .308 175HPBTM bullet pretty much behaves like a FMJ when it hits something.
Spitzer has a ogive shape up front. Spire point has a straight conical nose.
There are also a bunch of FP (flat point) bullets out there geared towards rifles with tubular magazines (leveraction) where you don't want the tip of one bullet pounding on the primer of the next.
Finally, the AMax is a sort of VLD (very low drag). These are generally spitzer boattail bullets that are uncharacteristically long. Long makes the BC higher and they retain velocity better which can be seen at long range (600+yds).
I know the .308 175HPBTM bullet pretty much behaves like a FMJ when it hits something.
Spitzer has a ogive shape up front. Spire point has a straight conical nose.
There are also a bunch of FP (flat point) bullets out there geared towards rifles with tubular magazines (leveraction) where you don't want the tip of one bullet pounding on the primer of the next.
Finally, the AMax is a sort of VLD (very low drag). These are generally spitzer boattail bullets that are uncharacteristically long. Long makes the BC higher and they retain velocity better which can be seen at long range (600+yds).
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