Dissolving plastic bullet tips?

['Boo]

I was under the impression that those plastic tips leave the barrel deformed (or melted). I’ve never used them, maybe I’m wrong…?

Marketing by Hornady started that rumour.

"Normal" plastic tipped bullets have been performing satisfactorily for over 60 years now.

 

[aardvaark]

I’ve recovered plastic tips in my meat from a Hornady bullet out of a 270W. The tips were broke off the shaft, and the tip wasn’t melted or otherwise deformed.

 

[Lastgun]

Marketing by Hornady started that rumour.

"Normal" plastic tipped bullets have been performing satisfactorily for over 60 years now.

Hornady sure has turned on the BS marketing in years of late...It is rocket science my arsenal.

I've recovered many long range misses on my range from 22-250 after the snow melts in spring...55 grain ballistic tips @ 3800 fps except for the rifling grooves they are in perfect shape including the plastic tip.

 

[Dukester]

Dropped a .257 Weatherby cartridge today while reloading and the plastic point of the 115 Ballistic Tip broke off when it hit the floor. I only had to walk to the garage door to try it out, I have a bench set up there for close range testing. The damaged bullet went into the same sub 1" group as the rest, for whatever that's worth.

I would have bet money on that result. Be fun to cleanly break a few tips off and walk em out to 3 or 4 hundred yards. Just for fun.

 

[Dogleg]

I would have bet money on that result. Be fun to cleanly break a few tips off and walk em out to 3 or 4 hundred yards. Just for fun.

I did something similar many years back. One of my early STWs had a washed throat but I could restore bughole accuracy by seating the 139 Interlocks long but they wouldn’t fit the magazine anymore. For fun I dragged the loaded cartridges tip first over a flat file and trimmed the lead tips off flush with the jackets, then they both shot and fit the 3.600” box. They did drop more at longer range, but it was a long time ago and the details are a bit fuzzy. Even those little lead tips make a difference, and they are tiny compared to the plastic ballistic tips. I rebarrelled the rifle, like I was going to do anyway so that was the snd of the bush league experiment.

The real lesson that took years to soak in, should have been that longer mag boxes are a thing, and standard length cartridges in Magnum length magazines are a great thing. But I digress.