Hornady A-Tip 6.5 135gr

[B23]

UPS dropped these off this afternoon and I had a chance to weigh and measure some.
They look nice, not that it matters a whole lot, and the packaging seems a little excessive and silly but I have to give Hornady credit on these new A-Tip bullets because these things are VERY consistent and uniform from bullet to bullet.

I randomly grabbed 10 from the two boxes of 135gr A-Tip bullets I have and weighed them. Weights ranged from 134.8 - 135.1 grains. Only one was 134.8gr all the others were 135 or 135.1 grains.

Base to ogive was extremely consistent and the best of any bullets I have ever measured.
Base to ogive was .7095 - .7100

OAL was very good as well and of the 20 I measured 19 of them were 1.3865 - 1.3870 with the odd one being 1.3880

For comparison I grabbed a Berger 140gr Hybrid Target(OAL 1.426), Hornady A-Tip 135(OAL 1.387), Hornady 140 A-Max(OAL 1.382)

 

[Kurz]

At approximately $75.00/100, they ought to be perfect given this price increase. The packaging is both ludicrous and excessive.

We have a few for testing but we certainly aren't going to keep many in our inventory. They will be by request only.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

The proof in price needs to show its worth on paper...…. just saying.

 

[Riesel]

I'm looking forward to your range report.

 

[boltfluter]

Very curious to see how this plays out. It is a good looking bullet. The target will be the true test.

Paul

 

[The boogalorian]

I'm looking forward to your range report.

Also waiting to see this.
I am interested.

 

[Forum Boss]

Are you saying the total spread for base to ogive was 0.0005, i.e. five ten-thousandths? That would be remarkable...

What tools are you using? With typical calipers holding a comparator, you'll see that spread (or more) for the same bullet measured multiple times.

 

[shoot4fun]

I will have some in hand for testing middle of next week. They require yet another seater stem for your Hornady dies at $12 but Redding says they have had it reported to them that the VLD seaters work well with the A-Tip.
I want to see just how they will perform in my 6.5PRC and 6 Creedmoor at the longer distances (1,000+ yards).
I'll give them some testing with an open mind but it is going to be tough for bullets priced higher than Vapor Trails or Bart's Gungnir/Hammer, which I consider the finest match grade bullets on the market.

 

[FrankG]

I've shot the 153's first as that's what I was able to get originally. First time out I only loaded up 20 rounds for my initial testing. They just hammered the targets. I shot those at 117 yards and out to 430 yards. At 430 yards my wedding ring covered 4 out of the 5 rounds. The 5 shot group didn't even measure 1.250". I still have the rest to load up and shoot.

I got some of the 135 ATIP's and shot those for accuracy/chronographing this past Saturday. Average velocity was 2807fps and I wasn't stepping on it either. Again just ragged holes on paper.

I'll be shooting them some more over the next week weather and time permitting.

And I'll throw in there I'm probably abusing them as well. My barrel is a 1-6.75 twist. So those 135's are coming out and spinning at 299,000rpm. No bullet failures either.

I've got 230gr. .30cal bullets on order for Dave and I for our rifles as well. Also have 6mm's on order to try as well.

No we didn't get free samples! We paid for them!

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[B23]

Are you saying the total spread for base to ogive was 0.0005, i.e. five ten-thousandths? That would be remarkable...

What tools are you using. With typical calipers holding a comparator, you'll see that spread (or more) for the same bullet measured multiple times.

Yes, Mitutoyo digital caliper and Hornady L-N-L comparator. Trust me, I completely understand you skepticism, and would be thinking the same thing had I not measured them myself, but these things are crazy consistent. Hornady claims these bullets are packaged sequentially as they come off the press to help keep them more consistent. Usually I don't buy into marketing fluff, but I have to give credit to Hornady on these new A-Tips.

 

[B23]

I've shot the 153's first as that's what I was able to get originally. First time out I only loaded up 20 rounds for my initial testing. They just hammered the targets. I shot those at 117 yards and out to 430 yards. At 430 yards my wedding ring covered 4 out of the 5 rounds. The 5 shot group didn't even measure 1.250". I still have the rest to load up and shoot.

I got some of the 135 ATIP's and shot those for accuracy/chronographing this past Saturday. Average velocity was 2807fps and I wasn't stepping on it either. Again just ragged holes on paper.

I'll be shooting them some more over the next week weather and time permitting.

And I'll throw in there I'm probably abusing them as well. My barrel is a 1-6.75 twist. So those 135's are coming out and spinning at 299,000rpm. No bullet failures either.

I've got 230gr. .30cal bullets on order for Dave and I for our rifles as well. Also have 6mm's on order to try as well.

No we didn't get free samples! We paid for them!

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

Frank, do you have any indication of how these A-Tip bullets will perform, do there appear to pencil straight through things like a FMJ or ????

What will you be shooting the 230's in and do you think a 10tw at 3250+ fps will be fast enough for the 230 A-Tip? I know my 10tw 30-338 Lap Imp will be way to slow for the 250's but I'm optimistic a 10tw may work with the 230's.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[Riesel]

How do these compare with other high end match bullets? or even the blue collar bullets like SMK , ELD Match and RDF's? Would you say they were worth the money?
I would appreciate feedback from any other shooters with experience using the A-Tip.

Thanks
Robert

 

[FrankG]

Frank, do you have any indication of how these A-Tip bullets will perform, do there appear to pencil straight through things like a FMJ or ????

What will you be shooting the 230's in and do you think a 10tw at 3250+ fps will be fast enough for the 230 A-Tip? I know my 10tw 30-338 Lap Imp will be way to slow for the 250's but I'm optimistic a 10tw may work with the 230's.

Thanks,
Bryan

Hey Bryan, Perform in regards to a FMJ as far as what? Not sure what your asking there. How they will perform on game? If so not a clue! I've only shot them thru paper and on steel targets to date.

The 230's will fly in a 10 twist. I've got a 1-9 twist in .300PRC on my F class gun and I'll shoot them thru that. I've only been shooting the 225 ELD's and the 230SMK thru it to date. Both shoot excellent. Nothing to complain about. I'm running them at 2900fps.

The 250's need a 1-8.5 twist. Dam! Gotta make another barrel! Actually it's done. Just gotta make time fit it up.

 

[B23]

Hey Bryan, Perform in regards to a FMJ as far as what? Not sure what your asking there. How they will perform on game? If so not a clue! I've only shot them thru paper and on steel targets to date.

Was just curious, at those distances, were they boring straight through, leaving much of an indentation, or just splashing with minimal amount of a indentation on the steel targets you were shooting?

Also, did they seem to prefer being close, real close, jump, lot of jump ???

Thank you!

 

[FrankG]

Was just curious, at those distances, were they boring straight through, leaving much of an indentation, or just splashing with minimal amount of a indentation on the steel targets you were shooting?

Also, did they seem to prefer being close, real close, jump, lot of jump ???

Thank you!

O.K. On paper the holes seem nice and clean and round/even. Nothing weird.

On steel targets at the one range I didn’t get to check out how the impacts looked.

At home on my steel plate and that is at 430 yards. Just nice big impacts/splashes like the 140gr bullets and the 150smk that I’ve shot. No they didn’t put like a crater or a deep dent in the plate at all. The plate is either 1/2” or 5/8” thick and I have it on a slight angle to deflect the bullet down towards the ground. So the bullets other than chipping the paint off it’s not going to hurt it. I’ll see if I saved a picture of the one group with my wedding ring for reference on my computer at work and post the picture tomorrow.

 

[FrankG]

I’m running them .010” off the lands. I started there with both the 153 and the 135’s. Nice consistent and like I said they just hammer. So didn’t see a reason to try a different seating depth at all.

 

[venatic]

I have done very minimal testing with the 135 ATip out to 654 yards.
Shot them in 6.5 SAUM and the g7 BC of.321 seems close and all groups at all distances so far have hovered around .3-.4 MOA

 

[B23]

I’m running them .010” off the lands. I started there with both the 153 and the 135’s. Nice consistent and like I said they just hammer. So didn’t see a reason to try a different seating depth at all.

Thank you, much appreciated!

 

[Texas10]

Santa just dropped off 200 for me to test in a 6.5 CM. I've got the new stem, and Hornaday loading manual insert. My only questions are to jump or not to jump and what powder to use. RL 16, 17, 23 or H4350? The velocity spread over the 4 is 75 FPS at max charge, an amount easily exceeded by typical lot variation, IMOP.

RL 17 is temp sensitive. 16 is un-obtainium it seems. I have H4350, but is it the best? Or best just because its in my drawer.

I was kind of thinking RL19.

This will be shot out of a bolt gun with 26 in barrel at 300 yds and UNDER.

Any opinions?

FORUM BOSS: FYI, Powder Valley and Midsouth both have Alliant Reloder 16 IN-STOCK in both 1-lb and 8-lb sizes. SEE:

https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/product/alliant-reloder-16/

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/search?SearchTerm=Reloder+16

REQUEST: Please publish your results with the 135gr A-Tips. Many people are asking about them. What is your barrel's twist RATE?

 

[B23]

With regard to velocity, I'll bet RL26 will be top dog, but unless you already have some, it's unobtainium as well. H4350 is some pretty temp stable stuff and I hear/read a lot about how well it shoots in the 6.5 CM so of the powders you mentioned, H4350 would be my first choice.