Posted on 05/13/2020 9:36:47 AM PDT by w1n1
Not all match-grade bullets are created equal, especially those featuring an aluminum tip - In the cold, dry air of the eastern Oregon desert, the Leupold Optics Academy hosts its shooting courses at an impressive rifle range, with targets at distances from 100 yards to 2,000 yards. The ever-changing winds, the constant mirage and the physical location of the targets make for some very interesting shooting, to say the least, and you'll want every advantage possible to make that steel ring.
There are many facets, but an accurate rifle, good glass and a proper cartridge/bullet combination will make the shooter's job much easier. Steel and paper targets are the playground of the match bullet, as they are not designed for any sort of terminal performance, and only concern themselves with their flight to the target.
Match bullets have gone through some serious changes over the years, with some older designs (read: Sierra MatchKing) still leaned upon heavily, and some of the new designs being absolute game-changers. One of the newer offerings that made an immediate impression on me – and was a definite advantage in those high desert conditions – was Hornady’s A-Tip Match.
DATING BACK TO 1947, when Joyce Hornady and Vernon Speer partnered to convert spent .22 rimfire casings into bullet jackets, the Hornady name has been equated with value, performance and innovation. Though Joyce is no longer with us, his son Steve and grandson Jason – as well as their excellent team of designers, engineers and ballisticians – have kept the products evolving, in both cartridge development and bullet development.
In recent years, Hornady has been responsible for the .375 and .416 Ruger, the .300 and .338 Ruger Compact Magnum, the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, and perhaps most famously, the 6.5 Creedmoor. Their projectiles are equally famous; think about the wonderful pair of DGX Bonded and DGS Solid bullets for dangerous game, the ELD-X hunting bullet and its brother, the ELD Match bullet, with their revolutionary Heat Shield tips, and most recently, the A-Tip Match.
In nearly all aspects of shooting, consistency equals accuracy, and that concept certainly holds true in the extreme long-range shooting world. When designing a match bullet, you'll want all the parameters of that bullet to be as consistent as possible, including the weight of the bullet, the concentricity (or uniformity), the outer dimensions, and perhaps most importantly, the tip or meplat of the bullet.
The bullet industry has long labored to keep the meplats of match bullets not only consistent throughout the construction phase, but also when resting in the magazine of a rifle. The hollow point design – employed for decades – is certainly sound, but you’ll find trimming tools designed for keeping the fine bullet noses consistent, in an effort to achieve a uniform ballistic coefficient value. It is a uniform BC (along with uniform muzzle velocities) that aids in long range accuracy, and projectiles have become increasingly complex in the effort to attain the uniformity desired to routinely hit targets to 1,000 yards and beyond. Read the rest of Hornady A-tip.
The horny what?
I haven’t used it yet but I did love the A-Max round. Sad to see they discontinued it except in a select few sizes. Glad to have bought those in bulk.
Hornady has been responsible for the .375 and .416 Ruger, the .300 and .338 Ruger Compact Magnum, the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, and perhaps most famously, the 6.5 Creedmoor.
The resulting bullet is still easily chambered in an AR-15, using the same length cartridge as the .308 means it works in the existing platforms for that popular rifle cartridge.
It's won tons of fans, and has moved out of being purely the round for competitive shooters to find lots of people using it for anything they might have used the .308 for 10 years ago. Self defense, hunting deer sized game, plinking. Lots of ammo is availble, and like the .17 HMR most gun manufacturers chamber for it. The only downside is that in competitive sports the quest for the better moustrap goes on. There are already younger, prettier girls at the Long Range Competitors ball, the 6mm bullet has found a lot of love recently. But the Creedmore is here to stay. I've even heard talk of the U.S. Army looking at using in in some places where they still use the .308 (er, 7.62 x 51 NATO for you metric fans) today. Success Grade: "A"
Ok, that's the ruling from the hanging judge. Don't know how the aluminum tip will work out. Could be great, could be a flash in the pan. Time will tell, just like it has with all these fancy new cartridges.
Cartridge popularity grows slowly. Here is the 2009 (and 2005 in bold after) RCBS list based on die sales. (Obviously the .17 HMR isn't ever going to show up on a relaoding die list)
#1 .223 Remington 3
#2 .45 ACP 7
#3 9mm Luger 17
#4 .40 S&W 21
#5 .308 Winchester 4
#6 .30-06 2
#7 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (roll crimp) 12
#8 .243 Winchester 5
#9 .270 Winchester 8
#10 .22-250 Remington 6
#11 .44 Magnum/.44 Special 10
#12 .300 Winchester Magnum 9
#13 7mm Remington Magnum 13
#14 .45 Colt 14
#15 .223 Remington (Small Base)
#16 .30-30 Winchester 20
#17 .204 Ruger 1
#18 .25-06 Remington 16
#19 .380 Auto
#20 7mm-08 Remington 22
#21 .45-70 15
#22 .300 Winchester Short Magnum 11
#23 .270 Winchester Short Magnum 19
#24 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (taper crimp)
#25 .300 Remington Ultra Magnum 23
I"ll keep looking for the 2019 version, but I doubt it's changed much. I am pretty sure only the Creedmore might be on it now, of the list of new Hornandy cartridges listed above. (And again, the .17 HMR isn't eligible and got an A+)
I used to run Hornady V Max and CCI Maxi Mags in my Keltec PMR 30. Great ammo.
While I may be a harsh grader, on my previous post, nobody else is doing as well at they are at introducing new calibers. Lapua had the .338. Ruger had the .20, but that was 20 years ago. Like I said, it's rare and slow to create a hit cartridge.
But of course part of being a true old gun crank is loving some weird forgotten cartridge or wildcat that is totally unpopular. (I've gone through several over the years). Currently I still have a strange fondness for the old .358 Norma Mag, and the .277 Wolverine wildcat. I used to champion the 10mm, but it's pretty mainstream now, so I can't earn gun-crank credo championing it anymore. I think I'm moving on to the .41 Mag (which opens up the wildcat .41 Special, and the .38-40 for cowboy stuff)...
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