Plastic-tipped bullet


Polymer-tipped bullets are a type of hollow-point bullet tipped with a polymer nose cone. Most tips are made of polyoxymethylene, although some manufacturers have used polyester urethane-methylenebis copolymer.

Description

The bullets consist of a fairly normal hollow-point bullet with the frontal cavity filled in by hard plastic, which is molded into a streamlined shape. Upon impact, the plastic drives into the hollow point and the bullet performs like a standard hollow-point, expanding to a larger diameter. These bullets possess the aerodynamics for longer, more accurate flights, and the in-target performance to ensure high lethality.

Usage

Traditionally, these bullets are intended for use in rifles and single-shot handguns, as pistols are not normally used at the great distances where the streamlined ballistic tip is advantageous. However, a few companies produce pistol ammunition with plastic-tipped hollow points where the plastic is molded into a more rounded tip. These designs are not created to increase the streamlining of the bullet but rather to improve ammunition feeding in semi-automatic pistols that are prone to jams with standard hollow point ammunition. Examples of such pistol ammunition include Cor-Bon/Glaser's "Glaser Pow'RBall" line and Extreme Shock's "NyTrilium Air Freedom" ammunition.

Name

"Ballistic Tip" is a registered trademark of Nosler, but numerous other companies produce similar projectiles, including Hornady and Sierra. Nosler uses a color code to indicate caliber on the polymer bullet tips, to make them easily distinguishable from each other:.224 orange,.257-blue, 6mm-purple, 6.5mm-tan,.270-yellow, 7mm-red,.30-green,.338-maroon and 8mm-dark blue.

Notable examples