Deformed nose from recoil?

[mtlion]

When shooting a pointed soft nose bullet from my Ruger 300 WSM the remaining shells in the magazine slam forward resulting in deformed noses. There is about 1/8 inch gap between the nose of the bullet and the wall of the magazine.

Has anybody had this happen? What can I do? Do you think the same would happen if I were to shoot trophy bonded bullets?

 

[MKotur325]

I would venture to say that this can be a fairly common occurance. I've had 200gr Nosler AB's polymer tips deform after hitting the front of the magazine in my .325WSM. Not as significantly as lead tips, but still they can flatten some I just try to reshape them as best as I can.

Would something like a Trophy bonded or a swift A-Frame help; in theory, possibly. If you want to work up a new load with a different bullet. They will also be significantly lower BC to start with. A deformed tip will effect BC in ways that are difficult to predict. I figure that the majority of my hunting ranges with lead tipped bullets (450yds and in) is not going to be significant enough to see drastic performance differences IMHO. If I get tips that are severly deformed, I'll use them as fouling rounds after cleaning or use them to ring steel at the range.

Long story really short. Make the first shot count and forget about the rounds in the mag. If you need a follow up, use it. Within the first couple hundred yards I would not expect significantly different performance.

 

[mtlion]

I would venture to say that this can be a fairly common occurance. I've had 200gr Nosler AB's polymer tips deform after hitting the front of the magazine in my .325WSM. Not as significantly as lead tips, but still they can flatten some I just try to reshape them as best as I can.

Would something like a Trophy bonded or a swift A-Frame help; in theory, possibly. If you want to work up a new load with a different bullet. They will also be significantly lower BC to start with. A deformed tip will effect BC in ways that are difficult to predict. I figure that the majority of my hunting ranges with lead tipped bullets (450yds and in) is not going to be significant enough to see drastic performance differences IMHO. If I get tips that are severly deformed, I'll use them as fouling rounds after cleaning or use them to ring steel at the range.

Long story really short. Make the first shot count and forget about the rounds in the mag. If you need a follow up, use it. Within the first couple hundred yards I would not expect significantly different performance.

I have shot the deformed noses, even the ones that were badly flattened and see no difference on point of impact even on some longer follow up shots. It's just always bugged me and I wondered if a different bullet would help. They are so dang expensive you could really burn through some cash trying a few different ones out.

 

[Gunner46]

The deformation probably has very little effect on real hunting accuracy, unless that deformation includes the copper jacket. Bullets, at high speeds, create a tremendous amount of heat during flight due to air friction. There is enough heat generated to at least soften, or even melt the exposed lead of the tip. Along with the centrifugal forces encountered I have witnessed small caliber, very light bullets, pushed at extreme velocities, actually melt and disintegrate in middle air !

 

[MKotur325]

I have shot the deformed noses, even the ones that were badly flattened and see no difference on point of impact even on some longer follow up shots. It's just always bugged me and I wondered if a different bullet would help. They are so dang expensive you could really burn through some cash trying a few different ones out.

I wouldn't really worry about it. It's probably not worth the time to develop different loads with different slugs, much less the added expense.

 

[mtlion]

The deformation probably has very little effect on real hunting accuracy, unless that deformation includes the copper jacket. Bullets, at high speeds, create a tremendous amount of heat during flight due to air friction. There is enough heat generated to at least soften, or even melt the exposed lead of the tip. Along with the centrifugal forces encountered I have witnessed small caliber, very light bullets, pushed at extreme velocities, actually melt and disintegrate in middle air !

Nope just the lead not the copper jacket. Looks like no need to worry about it. I may try out some trophy bonds just for the heck of it.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[MKotur325]

TBBC's are an excellent bullet. may take a look at the A-Frame as well. They are more of a protected point as well. Think of it as a bonded protected point Partition.

 

[ccc23454]

seen it in other calibers, usually doesn't effect bullet flight, if soft lead tips just roll them back to a point on a hard surface( knife side works). if you want to resolve issue use a shorter bullet or keep your COL shorter and make sure cartridge is all the way aft in magazine. it really aint big issue but if it bugs you fix it, this is what the protected point partitions were created for...

 

[Ben Lamb]

As persnickety as I am about reloading, I don't worry about the nose getting a little beat up in the mag.

Never effected accuracy out to 300 yards. If you're shooting farther than that, might try just single loading.