plastic tip bullets

09 December 2015, 16:07

ztreh

plastic tip bullets

the following happened to me while hunting this season while using plastip bullets (accubonds)----shot a deer the middle of the week. hunted thur. and fri. with the following malfunction.--loaded thur. morning in the dark --hunted all day till dark and with the same for friday. got home and while cleaning my rifle found that the firing pin would not stay in firing position. the pin would follow forward when closing the bolt--thus i was hunting with a gun that would not fire for 2 days. came home found trouble--when removing receiver from stock a small WHITE piece of plastic fell to work bench. put gun together and it works fine. check your plastic tips for cracks when loading.

09 December 2015, 19:02

243winxb

Could the OAL of the loaded round be to long? The tip is hitting hard into the ramp on loading?

09 December 2015, 21:18

ZekeShikar

That is interesting and certainly worth noting.
Somehow your plastic tip got into your trigger/sear assembly and wouldn't allow the rifle to stay cocked.
That's weird but possible for sure.
Thanks for sharing,
Zeke

09 December 2015, 23:25

graybird

I recall there being some issues with the tips of AccuBonds made several years ago. Were the bullets you were using made from old stock? You could have gotten some of the faulty bullets.

10 December 2015, 00:50

Matt_Bluntzer

I typically do not respond to posts and like this forum for educational purposes. In this case I have to respond as I am concerned that this might be a safety issue that ztreh should be aware of. For those gunsmiths and people with greater knowledge than I please feel free to correct any of my concerns if they are wrong.
After reading the post warning bells went off in my head.
I shall state this as questions:
With this condition of the firing pin going to the "fired" position automatically can the rifle fire automatically when you close the bolt to hard?
Also In this condition can the rifle fire if you hit the butt of the rifle hard (causing the firing pin to hit the primer harder? (inertia of the firing pin)
You may wish to inspect the ammo you had chambered for light firing pin marks to see if the primer was contacted when you closed the bolt.
Please monitor your rifle and be double safe when you use it understanding these possible failure modes.
When Loading as always have the rifle pointed in a safe direction. After loading check if the firing pin has dropped.
I am looking forward to reading responses if these concerns are valid.

10 December 2015, 02:45

Grizzly Adams

Just went through my cartridge wallet, one of the bullets had lost it's plastic tip, Nosler .277, 140 grain. First time I've ever seen that.

Grizz

14 December 2015, 18:15

ztreh

well, from what I understand the plastic tips melt during flight so that may be something to think about. Hornady now covers their tip with another type of material. I personally am not shooting any manufactured bullet with a plastic tip, thus eliminating that problem.

14 December 2015, 19:09

youngoutdoors

I don't think that the plastic tips melt during flight. I have found the tips inside game before.

God Bless, Louis

14 December 2015, 19:18

Quintus

I also have found tips in game. I have had tips fall out of 2 Barnes TTSX bullets. I sent them pictures and they sent me 20 new bullets.

14 December 2015, 20:53

ZekeShikar

Hornady says the tip melts but they didn't say how much and I suspect it isn't that big of a deal.

I too have found many tips inside critters at a variety of ranges from Barnes, accubonds, ballistic tips and interbonds.

There is always a safety concern when the striker won't stay cocked but we don't know for a fact that the problem was caused by the bullet tip, only that it fell out when the metal was removed from the stock and now the trigger works.

Zeke

15 December 2015, 03:34

JGRaider

quote:
Originally posted by ztreh:
well, from what I understand the plastic tips melt during flight so that may be something to think about. Hornady now covers their tip with another type of material. I personally am not shooting any manufactured bullet with a plastic tip, thus eliminating that problem.

No offense, but that's ridiculous. graybird has it right, IMO. Nosler Accubonds are a fantastic hunting bullet IME.

16 December 2015, 04:57

416RigbyHunter

quote:
Originally posted by Matt_Bluntzer:
I typically do not respond to posts and like this forum for educational purposes. In this case I have to respond as I am concerned that this might be a safety issue that ztreh should be aware of. For those gunsmiths and people with greater knowledge than I please feel free to correct any of my concerns if they are wrong.
After reading the post warning bells went off in my head.
I shall state this as questions:
With this condition of the firing pin going to the "fired" position automatically can the rifle fire automatically when you close the bolt to hard?
Also In this condition can the rifle fire if you hit the butt of the rifle hard (causing the firing pin to hit the primer harder? (inertia of the firing pin)
You may wish to inspect the ammo you had chambered for light firing pin marks to see if the primer was contacted when you closed the bolt.
Please monitor your rifle and be double safe when you use it understanding these possible failure modes.
When Loading as always have the rifle pointed in a safe direction. After loading check if the firing pin has dropped.
I am looking forward to reading responses if these concerns are valid.

Your concerns are valid if the pin is resting on a chambered round, as in uncocked on a loaded round already in the chamber. Closing the bolt and the firing pin falling at the same time is not the same as the firing pin disengaging the sear by trigger movement, the inertia is not there to cause the primer to fire. You can test this yourself, take a primed UNLOADED case, chamber it, hold the trigger and close the bolt. The primer will have a slight indent, but it will not go off. The reason is due to the firing pin not retracting it's full distance as usual, and the firing pin spring pressure is resisted by the lugs and the cocking piece rotating as it closes, slowing everything down.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers.

17 December 2015, 00:11

Matt_Bluntzer

416 - what you are saying makes perfect sense.

A comment more in line with the initial post; I have never had any issues with a tip falling off or breaking in my reloads up to this point but have noticed a bit of deformation of tips that were in the magazine after recoil. This deformation is nothing that I worry about for the distances I am shooting when hunting. When Target shooting - I typically only load one at a time so again is not a factor.