Your ballistic tip is more likely to fragment on impact with any degree of solid object than a soft point round, including a clod of dirt...That's not to say that the fragments can't extend past the point of initial impact...But at that time, the smaller fragments will lose momentum much quicker and usually travel a shorter distance...
We used to carry soft pointed rounds in our police service revolvers and we did some experiments with ricochets for various purposes...When striking a hard flat surface, the round will usually 'bounce' about 12-18" from the surface and then continue in a straight line along that surface until losing momentum and gravity becomes more pronounced...
Ballistic tip bullets are designed, usually with thinner copper jackets and softer cores, to increase fragmentation on impact..They also shed their retained weight much quicker than most soft nosed rounds...
