Flattened bullet tips????

Y

yotecaller91

New member
Hey guys, I have a winchester model 70 in 280 that when i shoot it using lead tipped ammo the the tips of the bullets in the magazine come out flattened. I was wondering if this is because of recoil or something else? Also, will the flattened tips make the accuracy suffer?

Thanks
 
Yes from recoil-setback. Long range accuracy will suffer but less than a hundred yards or so does not make a lot of difference unless you are trying to print those tiny groups.
John
 
I only use two rounds when using lead tip bullets, one in the chamber and the top round in the magazine which will not flatten.

I'm not expecting Indian attacks when I'm deer hunting, so why fill the magazine full?
 
my tikka 270wsm w/ swift a-frames does the same thing in the magazine.It's disappointing after spending all that time and effort into makin' em pretty,but the deer don't seem to notice. my advice is if they shoot good who cares?
 
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Years ago the NRA did some testing and deliberately deformed bullet tips way more than what would normally happen in a hunting rifle. They could detect no effect on accuracy.
In a top benchrest rifle you might be able to measure a difference, but not much and they are all single shot anyway.

Jack
 
Jack,

Norma did the same thing a few years back. They, too, could detect no difference in accuracy even with some severely mauled tips.

FWIW, I did a bit of checking on my own, using 160 grain Partitions in my .270 Win, launched at 2840 fps (disclaimer...don't try this at home). This round recoils quite a bit more than any other I've ever fired in this chambering.

I noticed that the exposed lead tips of the rounds in the magazine were getting mashed pretty good.....which got me to worrying about bullet set back.

I loaded up another batch, measured from case head to ogive on one of the rounds, and loaded it into the magazine...then I fired 4 rounds with that one still remaining in the bottom of the mag. Upon inspection, the tip was pretty sorry looking, but subsequent measuring showed it hadn't set back even a single thousandths of an inch.

So...I decided the proof was in the pudding, and fired that one, too. It landed into the same 3/4" group the previous four shots had gone into.

The neck tension provided by my RCBS FL die is enough to keep setback from occuring...at least with my brass, anyway. I now no longer worry about mashed tips on hunting loads in the slightest.

Mike
 
I don't know if there's enough room in there or not, but could you possibly glue some thin rubber (like a piece of inner tube rubber or similar just to give a little "cushion") to the front magazine wall?

Might work, might not... but it might be worth a try if your OAL will allow it.

I know it's been proven that damaged bullet meplats have little to no effect on accuracy, but if you're like me, they sure do have an effect on your confidence in that bullet.
 
Flattened tips dont effect accuracy one bit from what I can tell from 100-1000 yards. I mainly use polymer tips, NBT's or AB's and they still get smashed and they still shoot great. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it...
 
After conducting my admittedly non-scientific test, I have all the confidence in the world in these bullets, even with mashed tips. I figure I'm just giving them a head-start on expanding.

FWIW, the rifle I shoot them in, an A-Bolt II Hunter, is one of the most accurate rifles I own, (not really picky about what ammo you feed it) and this particular load is the most consistently accurate handload I've put together for it. 3 shots is about all I can get out of it before barrel heat becomes an issue, but it'll usually put those three into 3/8" of an inch.

That surprised me, because the 160 grainer is generally considered too long for caliber to stabilize in the 10 twist common to most factory .270 Win barrels. But, mashed tips or not, it's proven to be a real performer for me. Performs on elk just as well as it does on paper.

Mike
 


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