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243 Win Tipped or Hollow point bullets - which is more accurate?

Broad question, I know. I am loading for a 243 Winchester and have been working with the Sierra 95gr HPBT Match king bullet. They also offer this bullet in 95gr Tipped BT Match king. Any reason to try one over the other, all other things being equal?

Sierra's website implies the tipped are superior for long range work. I am not working at long ranges, staying at 100 yards for now.
 
For 100 yards, I think it's safe to say that unpointed bullets are fine, and possibly preferable. Generally, it's at 600+ yards where you start thinking about it.

I don't think you will be able to tease out the difference in raw accuracy potential. Pointing (aka tippping) bullets, done properly, can lower the nose drag of the bullet. How much very much depends on the original design, and can range from basically nothing to fairly significant. It's a little edge in wind resistance that may or may not be worth it to you.

Essentially, bullet noses have an optimal shape for low drag, and it's not a flat meplat. It's a curve that winds up at a point - somthing closer to a round tip than a pointy one. Tipping, which generally means smashing the meplat into a cone shape, is just a way of approximating that optimal shape. It works, but it's a fairly delicate and precise operation. There are practical dangers, however - if you overdo it, you can ruin the bullets and you might not know it. You're putting a fairly high compressive force on the unsupported jacket, which can cause it to buckle, yield, or do other bad things.

I've not shot the factory pointed bullets from Sierra (or anyone, to be honest). Some shooters will tell you that they don't trust the factory to point them properly. I don't know if that's a valid fear or not. (Like I said, I haven't shot them).

I do know that you must sort carefully by length if you do it yourself and generally be very careful about not overdoing it. I know of some very good long range shooters who do it successfully, and some others who have had bad experiences or don't feel like it's worth the risk.

EDIT: I rambled on about pointing and just now realized that the question is about plastic tipped bullets (as opposed to factory pointed hollow points). Much of the same background applies. In theory, the plastic tip makes for a more stable, more accurate bullet because the weight is more compact. Drag should be improved because the point can be made in a more optimal shape. In reality, if you look around, most competitive shooters (short and long range) go with a regular hollow point. I have ideas as to why that is, but they're speculation so I'll skip it. (Basically manufacturing tolerances). In practice, you'll likely not notice the difference, and I would have no hesitation in using standard hollow point boattail match bullets, which are the gold standard match bullet across a variety of disciplines.
 
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I've been shooting the 243 Win for almost 50 years now and I've tried a lot of different bullets but my focus is on hunting not target shooting so the following may not be useful to you,,

Several that work exceptionally well for me with 9 to 10" twists are: Sierra 80 grain blitz, Nosler 70, 80 and 90 BT all with IMR 4064 and Varget for bullet 85 and under; IMR 4350 for bullet 85 and over.

But the absolute best, all around bullet I've ever used in the 243 Win is the 85 Sierra BTHP with any of the aforementioned powders. This bullet shoots like a match bullet and has excellent terminal performance. I've used it successful on varmints, predators, and white tail deer. If you keep the shots on deer broadside just slightly back of the shoulder my experience is that it will drop them almost in their tracks.
 
I've been shooting the 243 Win for almost 50 years now and I've tried a lot of different bullets but my focus is on hunting not target shooting so the following may not be useful to you,,

Several that work exceptionally well for me with 9 to 10" twists are: Sierra 80 grain blitz, Nosler 70, 80 and 90 BT all with IMR 4064 and Varget for bullet 85 and under; IMR 4350 for bullet 85 and over.

But the absolute best, all around bullet I've ever used in the 243 Win is the 85 Sierra BTHP with any of the aforementioned powders. This bullet shoots like a match bullet and has excellent terminal performance. I've used it successful on varmints, predators, and white tail deer. If you keep the shots on deer broadside just slightly back of the shoulder my experience is that it will drop them almost in their tracks.

This! The 85gr Sierra just plain shoots and is really easy to tune with just about any powder that's listed in the manual.
 
There is not a more accurate bullet made than a hollow point- if there was it would be in current use in benchrest from 100-1000yds
Don't get me wrong I respect you a ton. You really jumped out there with that though, witch makes me know that this comes from experience. I'll go with it all day long. Gary
 
I cant think of a competition from 100yd br, service rifle, 600/1000 br, f-class- anything using a centerfire that a hollow point doesnt win
Dusty I agree with you.... but you must remember that most of the short range crowd make their own bullets. The long range crowd would have no problem with other bullets if they could get them to stay together with long string counts. The accuracy is there, but not as durable in some cases. Many great shooters I know have shot tipped bullets and were blown away with the performance.
 
Dusty I agree with you.... but you must remember that most of the short range crowd make their own bullets. The long range crowd would have no problem with other bullets if they could get them to stay together with long string counts. The accuracy is there, but not as durable in some cases. Many great shooters I know have shot tipped bullets and were blown away with the performance.

I think this is a good point - plastic tipped bullets have great potential, but haven't been explored properly in a competitive context. Maybe it's too hard to make them to the standards that we're used to with traditional jacketed bullets. I know making them by hand would be more difficult and expensive than the typical way. But *in theory* it should be possible to make a very good benchrest grade plastic tipped round. Hornady's ATIP is the same concept. Not sure what's going on with those lately? Anyone using them successfully or is the price tag scaring people away?
 
I think this is a good point - plastic tipped bullets have great potential, but haven't been explored properly in a competitive context. Maybe it's too hard to make them to the standards that we're used to with traditional jacketed bullets. I know making them by hand would be more difficult and expensive than the typical way. But *in theory* it should be possible to make a very good benchrest grade plastic tipped round. Hornady's ATIP is the same concept. Not sure what's going on with those lately? Anyone using them successfully or is the price tag scaring people away?

I have loaded a few of the 110 gr. A-tips for my .243 A I. Shot tight but not as tight as the 107 gr. Sierra BTHP or the Berger 95 & 105 gr. Match bullets. This was blowing out new brass of course so will try again when the rain slacks off a bit.

Also, have some of the 176 gr. A tips loaded for my .308 but have not had a chance to shoot it yet.
 
I think this is a good point - plastic tipped bullets have great potential, but haven't been explored properly in a competitive context. Maybe it's too hard to make them to the standards that we're used to with traditional jacketed bullets. I know making them by hand would be more difficult and expensive than the typical way. But *in theory* it should be possible to make a very good benchrest grade plastic tipped round. Hornady's ATIP is the same concept. Not sure what's going on with those lately? Anyone using them successfully or is the price tag scaring people away?
Hornady has some good results on their website in the PRS world but I've really not seen anything in the benchrest world. In my area we have several worldclass shooters of which one has his own tunnel. All of them make their own bullets and a couple have contemplated the plastic or aluminum tip but would be a lot of work for maybe no gain. A couple of them loaded up 22PPC's with some 53 gr vmax and could not believe their eyes. The comeback I always here is that....I'm not driving 800-1,000 miles and spend a week with bullets that have never won a championship! I can't blame them!
For the local stuff and someone like me who does not travel and only shoots locally, I've shot some incredible groups with fairly good consistency so who knows....if anything right now could shine it would probably be A-tips which look good on novice level but shooting with big boys like Dusty said...different story!
 

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