match grade hpbt ?

[3006softpoint]

So I have some match grade bullets! They are Hornady hollow point Boat tail ! 3 questions #1 Why are match grade bullets hollow pointed? #2 Will they expand if used for big game? #3 If only used for matchs and shooting paper why not make them  match FMJ? I Would like to use them for preditor hunting & Whitetail deer, if they expand!

[chutesnreloads]

Match bullets are hollow point because the easiest way to make match grade bullets is with a very thin jacket with a hollowpoint.Will they expand on game?maybe yes,,,maybe no.If you compare the hollowpoint to a hollowpoint "hunting" bullet ,you'll see the match bullet's hole is much smaller.When it expands it will probably do so violently like a "varmint" bullet.With the tiny hole it may as easily act like a fmj.I've seen them act both ways and no longer use them on game.

[securitysix]

On top of what chutes said, there are also some match FMJ bullets out there.

As for expansion, I wouldn't count on it.  Most manufacturers recommend against using their match bullets for hunting because they are not designed to expand.  Will they?  Maybe, maybe not.

[1sourdough]

 I thought part of the reason for the HP was to move the center of gravity(mass) further aft. Anyway I have a few 223,243, & 308 match bullets. I have used the 223 bullets for accuracy testing. I did shoot a coyote with a 70(seirra) grn 243 hpbt-m bullet, it 'penciled' right through. I did get the coyote. I wouldn't be afraid of my 243 match bullets with coyotes but for the most part I'll go with a hunting bullet in the future.

[LaOtto222]

FMJ bullets have the jacket drawn from the nose to the base while match hollow points are drawn from the base to the nose. Generally the jackets drawn from the base to the nose are more accurate because the jacket thickness can be controlled better. FMJ bullets tend to have thicker jacket material too. Match bullets usually have thin jackets that take rifling well, but tend to blow up on game at short distances, longer distances, after the velocity drops off, some times they will work. Good Luck and Good Shooting

[Grumulkin]

1.  The "hollow point" is a residual of how the bullets are made.  There is, I understand, a small wire that goes through the hole while the bullet is being made and is removed afterward leaving the "hollow point." According to John Plaster, Sierra MatchKings are what U. S. Army snipers shoot, or at least shot at the time he was writing his book, and act more like solids than expanding bullets.  According to him, they tend to break into two main fragments after hitting flesh.

2.  Bullet expansion is way overrated.  If you put a big enough hole in a vital organ, the animal will die.  Granted, an expanding bullet may help the animal die faster but remember solids are used on the biggest most dangerous animals out there.  Also, there are those who use solid projectiles from muzzle loaders and even arrows that don't expand at all.

3.  If you want minimal hide damage, use a solid.  For instance, I used a 375 H&H Magnum using solids to take a couple of small animals (a Black Backed Jackal and an African Wildcat) with minimal hide damage.

4.  A Sierra MatchKing or similar would work fine on varmints.  They'll even work on deer if you put them in the right place.  In my opinion, accuracy trumps expansion but violent expansion of a bullet in the chest cavity will put an animal down much faster in general than simply putting a hole through the chest.  For brain shots, whether or not the bullets expands makes no difference.

[84Jim]

FMJ bullets have the jacket drawn from the nose to the base while match hollow points are drawn from the base to the nose

I've always been told that the base of a bullet must be very precise for good accuracy.  I assume that the base can be more precise if it is the part in the bottom of the die when the bullet is swaged.  Especially for boattails.  A hollow point allows a more precise tip as well, and is less prone to deformation than a bullet with exposed lead.

I wouldn't use match hollowpoints for big game hunting.  The match bullets generally have a tiny opening and generally don't expand well.  I'd sacrifice the small accuracy gain for a bullet designed to reliably expand.  I think many companies make comparable weight hollow points that are designed to expand, the Sierra 30 cal 165 HPBT for example, if you want a hollow point hunting bullet.

Jim

[Steve P]

The bullets my buddy swages for me uses J4 jackets from Berger.  These jackets are swaged from a piece of flat copper, drawn into a cup, and then swaged down to caliber.  The final step in the process forms the final length of the jacket and trims off the excess.  Most jackets we use are within .01 grain in weight.

We use a special die that forms the lead core that goes into the bullet.  Pure lead is extruded in wire form and cut to length.  We drop it in the form die and it is compressed to caliber.  Excess lead is actually extruded thru the side of the die and looks about like #5 pencil lead when it drops off.  These lead core weight exactly the same each time.  

The bullet jacket and core are dropped into the core seating die.  The core is seated into the jacket and is pressed out to fill the jacket and form the boattail (if using the boattail die) or flat base.  The seated core/jacket then goes into the point form die.  The point form die closes the jacket and makes the tip.  The size of core used will determine the bullet weight.

Each step in the process, the jacket, core, seated core, pointed bullet all have to come back out of the die.  The bullet jackets have a very fine lube on them.  Each die has a "punch" that pushes the core or jacket out of the die.  The nose forming die has a very fine pin that pushes the bullet out from the point.  This die is usually adjusted so the pin will just enter the hollow point and push against the softer lead to push the bullet out.  The softer lead is more forgiving than the copper jacket so less chance in bending the pin.

There is another die that can be used.  Most bullet makers do use it, most sportsmen don't fork out the extra dough to buy it.  The additional die closes up the hollow point of the bullet.  If there is excess lead, this makes the lead soft points.  If the bullet has one of the polymer tips, this is when the tip is put in.  My buddy and I, we can live with the slightly larger hollow point.

Our bullets are usually within .01-.02gr.  If you check with the bullet makers, whose bullets are made on more complex machines, their bullets are usually +/- .03 grains.  Sometimes +/- 3%.  It depends on their specifications.  

A bullet in flight has an "airstream" around it.  Pointier bullets cut the "air" better than flatter point bullets.  Once the bullet point gets down to a certain size per caliber (and I don't know what this is) point size does not make a lot of difference.  Base of the bullet also has an affect on the "airstream" during flight.  I am not an expert on this, but if you read some of the information from benchrest shooters, they know which distance by caliber where flat base bullets become less stable and where boattail bullets continue to be stabilized.

I have shot our swaged 6.5 142gr HPBT bullets against Speer, Sierra, and other bullets in competition.  My group sizes are right in there with the best of the best.  Berger VLD bullets in the PPCs do a little better, but design and stability is probably better too.

Lots of info in internet land on bullet manufacturing.  Richard Corbin at RCE Corp has been instrumental in helping us make our jacketed bullets cheaper than buying them and in most respects with better uniformity and accuracy.  Don't get compensated for time, but that is why they call it a "hobby".

Top photo is 6.5mm 120gr bullet made from 22 mag brass.  Note the flat tip.  This is hollow point.  Flat tip is approximately size of the pin in the point form die used to punch out the bullet.  Bottom photo is picture of different bullet ogives.  You can see as the ogive increases, the bullets will cut the air better.

Have fun!!

Steve