One of the things I learned at the Hide Cup 2019 is that my barrel is shot. I knew it was close, and had a new one on hand, but worried that changing right before the match would cause problems. Oh well. I'd already gotten a replacement barrel, and since the A-Tips had come out, I thought I'd try them and if I liked them, have that be the go-to bullet for this barrel. I've been using Berger AR Hybrid OTM Tactical 130s in the previous barrel.
The A-Tips come in a nice package:
Before starting load work up, I decided to take some measurements:
For purposes of searching, here's the data in text form:
AR Hybrid OTM (25 bullets):
Weight: 130 gn ave, ES 0.30 gn, SD 0.10 gn
Length: 1.316 in ave, ES 0.011 in, SD 0.003 in
BtoO: 0.719 in ave, ES 0.003 in , SD 0.001 in
A-Tip (25 bullets):
Weight: 135.05 gn ave, ES 0.20 gn, SD 0.07 gn
Length: 1.387 in ave, 0.002 ES, 0.001 SD
BtoO: 0.724 in ave, 0.002 ES, 0.000 SD
NB: I use three decimal places for linear measurements because most of our instruments are no better than that. The actual SD of the BtoO for the A-Tips was 0.0004...
First, the A-Tips are clearly super consistent. Not as consistent as Warners, which have no variance in any measurement my instruments can measure, but they're also a LOT less expensive.
The A-Tips are $0.75 vs $0.50 for the AR Hybrids. Using the mil wind formula, the AR Hybrids at 2850 give me a 6 MPH gun, as do the A-Tips, but the A-Tips have the 0.1 mil jump at 1000 yds, vs 700 for the AR Hybrids. That's pretty useful.
Hornady's load data gives me confidence I can get to 2850 with the A-Tips without problems, assuming I can achieve accuracy loading the A-Tips at 2.830 OAL like I do the AR Hybrids. They list max at 42.8 gn of RE-16 @ 2.815 OAL. I use averages like in the table above to get OAL from BtoO when I'm seating, so while I go by OAL, what I really use is BtoO.
The other considerations I have for this are availability of loaded ammo (AFAICT, Prime's new 130gn load is almost exactly my hand load with the same bullet apparently & it seems likely that Hornady will release a load based on the A-Tip), and then there's the 4DOF software and new Kestrel. If those make it so I don't have to true, I may switch to the A-Tip.
I'll do some experiments and report back.
The A-Tips come in a nice package:
Before starting load work up, I decided to take some measurements:
For purposes of searching, here's the data in text form:
AR Hybrid OTM (25 bullets):
Weight: 130 gn ave, ES 0.30 gn, SD 0.10 gn
Length: 1.316 in ave, ES 0.011 in, SD 0.003 in
BtoO: 0.719 in ave, ES 0.003 in , SD 0.001 in
A-Tip (25 bullets):
Weight: 135.05 gn ave, ES 0.20 gn, SD 0.07 gn
Length: 1.387 in ave, 0.002 ES, 0.001 SD
BtoO: 0.724 in ave, 0.002 ES, 0.000 SD
NB: I use three decimal places for linear measurements because most of our instruments are no better than that. The actual SD of the BtoO for the A-Tips was 0.0004...
First, the A-Tips are clearly super consistent. Not as consistent as Warners, which have no variance in any measurement my instruments can measure, but they're also a LOT less expensive.
The A-Tips are $0.75 vs $0.50 for the AR Hybrids. Using the mil wind formula, the AR Hybrids at 2850 give me a 6 MPH gun, as do the A-Tips, but the A-Tips have the 0.1 mil jump at 1000 yds, vs 700 for the AR Hybrids. That's pretty useful.
Hornady's load data gives me confidence I can get to 2850 with the A-Tips without problems, assuming I can achieve accuracy loading the A-Tips at 2.830 OAL like I do the AR Hybrids. They list max at 42.8 gn of RE-16 @ 2.815 OAL. I use averages like in the table above to get OAL from BtoO when I'm seating, so while I go by OAL, what I really use is BtoO.
The other considerations I have for this are availability of loaded ammo (AFAICT, Prime's new 130gn load is almost exactly my hand load with the same bullet apparently & it seems likely that Hornady will release a load based on the A-Tip), and then there's the 4DOF software and new Kestrel. If those make it so I don't have to true, I may switch to the A-Tip.
I'll do some experiments and report back.
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