Tipped bullets

[old leghumper]

Most shooters here have been trashing Hornady tipped bullets - so are Sierra and Nosler better, the same or worse. Inquiring simple mind needs to know!

 

[Big_Daddy]

My only experience with "tipped" bullets is with Hornady 53gr V-Max.
I use these exclusively for shooting Prairie Dogs and they have performed flawlessly for that task.
These are running at 3200fps.

I am new to this forum so I will have to go back and see what they are saying.
Obviously someone is having issues with them.

 

[Tommie]

Every brand has its detractors and fans.

 

[TAJ45]

Every brand has its detractors and fans.

And some are better substantiated than others. Read and decide. Maybe try a box for your app, eh?

 

[pirate ammo]

A 30 cal 168gr. A-Max will wipe out a pig at 50 yards for sure,do it all the time,,,it's all called different bullets for different applications.

 

[Damon555]

Since Hornady did away with the Amax name, renamed them ELD-M and raised the price $10 a box I'll be finding out very soon which bullets shoot better than my beloved 105 Amax.......I know the Sierra's are at the top of my list.

P.S. I'm not saying the new ELD's wont shoot....I'm just saying, to me, they aren't worth $10 a box more than the older versions.

 

[ebb]

Maybe after the hype job on the Creedmoor they thought that all they needed was a name change to get the extra $10??????

 

[Bill K]

Some will poo poo a new rope remember Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and others all make decent tipped bullets. One brand or weight may work better in your rifle, but you just have to try some and see.
I shoot some of each and the one's I use, on any of those brands, all shoot moa or better, with loads I have worked up.
Don't listen to some and just try the various bullet brands and some weights til you find the best for your use.

 

[lpreddick]

Bullets with plastic ballistic tips usually have higher ballistic coefficients, meaning they drop less than similar ones without. Vmax tipped bullets,and others are designed such that the tips activate bullet expansion after hitting the target.. Accuracy will vary as with any other bullet..

 

[Mark W]

I liked Hornady’s Amax line of bullets and shot a lot of them. I didn’t buy into the melting tip hoax. IMO, it was all a ploy to drop an affordable good performing product and replace it with a similar but higher priced product.

I have not and will not shoot any bullet in the ELD line so it doesn’t matter to me how they perform. I spend the extra money now to shoot more Sierra and Berger bullets.

 

[270guy]

Only problem I have had with tipped, were a box of Hornady Interbonds, for my .270. The tips were all pointing off to the side (not concentric). There were replaced, with a new box (from seller), no more problems. The 6.5mm ELDM 143gr, have been great. my 2cents.

 

[joe12180]

I tried Hornady bullets but I found that Sierras performed better in my rifles so I use Sierra.

 

[Damon555]

I'll spend the same amount now to shoot more Sierra and Berger bullets.

There ya go....fixed it for you!

 

[spaniel]

I've noticed no accuracy issues shooting tipped bullets. I took 3rd in a 2000yd match using ELD-Ms in a 338. Groups were nice all the way out there.

The only caveat I will add is that I do in fact believe there is some truth to Hornady bullets losing their jackets in long strings. I have my 243AI out shooting prairie dogs and had 3 of ~300 bullets hit way, way low...impacting 50-100 yards short of the target. Given I was regularly hitting the dogs from 500-600 yards the only reasonable explanation was some sort of bullet failure. It was a warm day and I was running the barrel warmer than I would shooting groups on the range. So I do believe people could experience this in F-Class matches. And 1% bullet failure is NOT acceptable in a match bullet. I never experienced this in any other setting, including F-Class matches with the same rifle.

I bought 1K 105gr AMAX when they were discontinued, so I have at least enough to burn out this barrel. I don't know what I will shoot in the next one, but I also have issues paying the price for the ELDs given the marketing switcharoo....

 

[dolek]

Most shooters here have been trashing Hornady tipped bullets - so are Sierra and Nosler better, the same or worse. Inquiring simple mind needs to know!

Same,all rifles are different ....it takes work to dial things in with any given set of components.

 

[dcali]

I think the bashing of the ATIP has more to do with the over the top silliness of the marketing than the actual bullets. I don’t know anyone who’s actually fired them. It doesn’t help that the price tag is in custom bullet territory (higher in some cases) and Hornady isn’t know for being a premium brand.

The concept is sound engineering-wise, but not without its issues. Time will tell if they’re any good and/or commercially successful.

 

[Evan]

I don't know where y'all are buying your Sierras and Bergers, but ELDs are substantially cheaper at every online store I shop.

I've said this before: If you compete, and drive and get a hotel, and pay entrance fees, and all the other expenses, why would you try to save 10 cents a shot when it could effect your score? It's less than 300 bucks saved on each barrel. You"ll spend more than that on food and gas and hotel for one event easily.

I use ELDs in all my guns. They shoot really well. I'm not competing though and if a bullet blows up in flight (has NEVER happened to me) there is no consequence. Just one less hole in the paper. I like and recommend them to everyone. If you compete take customs or maybe Bergers to the competitions. Don't waste your time and money on budget products in that situation.

 

[JimT]

I think the bashing of the ATIP has more to do with the over the top silliness of the marketing than the actual bullets. I don’t know anyone who’s actually fired them. It doesn’t help that the price tag is in custom bullet territory (higher in some cases) and Hornady isn’t know for being a premium brand.

The concept is sound engineering-wise, but not without its issues. Time will tell if they’re any good and/or commercially successful.

What silliness are you referring to?

 

[dcali]

What silliness are you referring to?

The main thing is the "sequential packaging", followed by "we don't clean them so you can get them perfect right out of the press, and here's a crown royal bag (in Hornady Red, naturally) so you can clean them yourself, because we know you want to do it carefully". Why you'd want a bag to clean sequentially packaged bullets is not explained - primarily because it's stupid, and that's if you buy the sequential packaging thing to begin with (I don't). They don't clean them because they can't clean them and provide sequential packaging at the same time. That's pretty obvious.

There's even a point in the video where they call the bullets "sexy". It's all sort of insulting to their customers' intelligence, if you ask me. That doesn't make them bad bullets, but it does make you scratch your head.

 

[jr600yd]

What Evan said. ^^^^

Another thing to consider is how accurate is accurate? Maybe in your rifle 3/8 - 1/2 - 3/4 in groups are considered really good groups. If your satisfied with this go for it.