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  1. #31
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Quote Originally Posted by ramius35 View Post

    I believe the function of the blue tip is to force the cavity expansion of the hollow point bullet.
    This is one bit of advertising blurb that I've read/heard several times with tipped bullets by different manufacturers but still struggle to believe. Will a soft tip made from some sort of plastic really initiate expansion in a much harder solid copper or copper jacketed lead bullet?

    At best I suspect that the bullet loses the plastic tip immediately on impact hence the tip has no influence on the bullet's terminal performance, however I would argue that the cavity vacated by the plastic tip would initiate expansion.

    At worst, the tip might even come off in flight.

    I can see that a tip harder than the bullet could initiate expansion, by behaving like a wedge driven into the nose of the bullet.

    If the tip stays on during flight it should help the BC but I suspect even that difference would be quite small.

    What do other people think?

  2. #32
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Well, a solid copper bullet hitting water does expand, fully, and water is significantly softer than copper... :P

    I believe they slip in the plastic tip to that it fills the hollow point fully, which could aid expansion when it's compressed into the hollow tip of the bullet. Just my take on it though. I have no idea if it works or not. A high-speed video into some water or gel would be great to see.

    EDIT: I Googled a bit. Seems the tip just breaks off on impact:

  3. #33
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    It goes like this, the nose of the original TSX was designed so that controlled expansion happened.
    The tip of the TTSX was not designed to aid expansion as such, it was first and foremost designed to increase the BC of the bullet. In order to fit the tip of course they had to re-design the nose cavity. The direct statement from Barnes says “the tip and re-engineered nose cavity provides even faster expansion”. They contradict this slightly in another section by saying “The addition of the polymer tip initiates rapid expansion and improves ballistics at extended distances”.

    Now, no tip is going to aid expansion in a normal copper bullet, no way no how. It’s the design of the nose, or nose cavity which determines the expansion profile.
    So it goes like this, pull the tip from the TTSX and shoot it into ballistics gel, it will still expand perfectly. But the gist is to view to bullet construction as a whole, the tip is there to improve ballistics, the nose cavity is designed around the tip to initiate expansion. The tip itself means nothing, and the nose cavity is a must in order to accommodate the tip. The fact that the TTSX also creates perfect four petals indicate that the nose design is still the initiating factor, not the plastic tip.

    You get many other monolithic manufacturers where after impact the nose deforms randomly, this I believe is not a very good design choice, random and performance does not go together well, that is why I stick to Barnes for now.

  4. #34
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Quote Originally Posted by Toxxyc View Post

    Well, a solid copper bullet hitting water does expand, fully, and water is significantly softer than copper... :P
    That's because the water isn't travelling with the bullet. In the case of the plastic tip, it is travelling with the bullet. ;-)

  5. #35
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    It goes like this, the nose of the original TSX was designed so that controlled expansion happened.
    The tip of the TTSX was not designed to aid expansion as such, it was first and foremost designed to increase the BC of the bullet. In order to fit the tip of course they had to re-design the nose cavity. The direct statement from Barnes says “the tip and re-engineered nose cavity provides even faster expansion”. They contradict this slightly in another section by saying “The addition of the polymer tip initiates rapid expansion and improves ballistics at extended distances”.

    Now, no tip is going to aid expansion in a normal copper bullet, no way no how. It’s the design of the nose, or nose cavity which determines the expansion profile.
    So it goes like this, pull the tip from the TTSX and shoot it into ballistics gel, it will still expand perfectly. But the gist is to view to bullet construction as a whole, the tip is there to improve ballistics, the nose cavity is designed around the tip to initiate expansion. The tip itself means nothing, and the nose cavity is a must in order to accommodate the tip. The fact that the TTSX also creates perfect four petals indicate that the nose design is still the initiating factor, not the plastic tip.

    You get many other monolithic manufacturers where after impact the nose deforms randomly, this I believe is not a very good design choice, random and performance does not go together well, that is why I stick to Barnes for now.
    As I thought then. Thanks for better description than I gave.

  6. #36
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BBCT View Post
    That's because the water isn't travelling with the bullet. In the case of the plastic tip, it is travelling with the bullet. ;-)
    That plastic tip stops very quickly when the bullet hits something...

  7. #37
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Quote Originally Posted by Pirate View Post
    That plastic tip stops very quickly when the bullet hits something...
    This. Impact on the tip is the same. If a car hits you at 60km/h while you're standing against a wall, it's the same impact as if you were tied to the front of the car and it hits the wall at 60km/h.

  8. #38
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    Default Re: Barnes TSX or TTSX

    Quote Originally Posted by Toxxyc View Post
    This. Impact on the tip is the same. If a car hits you at 60km/h while you're standing against a wall, it's the same impact as if you were tied to the front of the car and it hits the wall at 60km/h.
    Yes, tip will be completely destroyed in both cases, as would you if strapped to the front of the car. But the tip still won't initiate expansion of the bullet, just like you wont initiate the damage to the car or the wall. The wall and the car will damage one another because of impact speed and the fact that you (in the middle) are much softer than either the wall or the car.

  9. #39
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BBCT View Post
    Yes, tip will be completely destroyed in both cases, as would you if strapped to the front of the car. But the tip still won't initiate expansion of the bullet, just like you wont initiate the damage to the car or the wall. The wall and the car will damage one another because of impact speed and the fact that you (in the middle) are much softer than either the wall or the car.
    By that argument the impact medium should also not cause damage to the bullet, because it is much softer than the bullet. Reality is different when things collide at 1000s of fps.

    The key concept is INITIATION if the expansion. On the TSX, the open nose cavity fills with "fluid" at very high pressure, which starts the expansion. The more it expands, the more area there is for the fluid to act against, creating a positive feedback loop.

    On the TTSX (and other tipped bullets) the theory is that the plastic tip gets pushed "into" the cavity, thereby just starting (initiating) the expansion. From there the "fluid" takes over. Theory is that the tip provides faster initial deformation of the bullet.

    ETA: of course, having the tip also help a lot with providing a high BC. I don't know the if the TTSX has a larger nose cavity than the TSX bit if it does, it would've had a worse BC. Adding the tip then avoids having to trade BC for more rapid expansion, as it is beneficial to both.

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