Which one is more accurate ? Truncated Cone, Flat Nose or Round Nose in 9mm.

[shred]

You'd think so but many do, so there's likely a reason for it.  Berrys claims a BHN of 15 which is somewhere around Lyman #2 alloy.  Frontier's seem harder than that to me although I've not Rockwelled one.  The coated (Blue, Precision, & some others) are softer and regular jacketed bullets tend to use soft lead cores that swage out nicely when fired.

 

[ltdmstr]

Back in the day when I was building 1911s for bullseye, I tested them at an indoor range on a Ransom rest that was mounted to a steel base bolted to concrete floor.  Loads were done on a Star reloading press using Federal brass and primers, Bullseye powder and D&J 200g LSWC bullets, which were cast from H&G 68 molds.  Those guns all shot 1/2" or better for five shots at 25 yards.  I tried many other other combinations of powder, bullet weights, shapes, etc., and nothing else came close.

[Farmer]

On 3/2/2023 at 7:43 PM, shred said:

You'd think so but many do, so there's likely a reason for it.  Berrys claims a BHN of 15 which is somewhere around Lyman #2 alloy.  Frontier's seem harder than that to me although I've not Rockwelled one.  The coated (Blue, Precision, & some others) are softer and regular jacketed bullets tend to use soft lead cores that swage out nicely when fired.

 

I ran the bullets that I had. The coatings or platings were removed before testing  and several tests were done. This is what I came up with:

Extreme 200 SWC - 7.5 BHN

Berrys assorted- 14 - 14.5

Blue Bullets asstd. - 18 - 19

Precision Bullets asstd. - 12-13

Speer 10mm CPFN - 15

RMR MW Bare Base - 6

Plated 180 10mm bought from RMR -  11

Syntec 165g 10mm - 15

Un-known crummy plated 45 230g from the 90’s - 8 BHN. 

Was surprised with Blue Bullets being so hard but that explains some leading with .355 where others at .356 @ 12 BHN run fine. Probably also why BB seem to run faster than some others with the same powder charge.  The un-known could have possibly been early Rainer or Berry’s and they were some that I bought from Scharch industry’s. They were lumpy looking, poorly sized and didn’t shoot well until I ran them through a sizer. Better but not great. Maybe being so soft didn’t help either. 

 

[whatever71]

At 25 yds I loaded bullets that were deformed, cold cast, nasty looking along with using split brass and saw no difference.... Now at 50 yds there was a difference....   This was in 45acp

[mrclean77]

My loads are for USPSA shooting or range trips where my super science-y way of comparing loads is: double taps on a USPSA paper target and seeing which one I can shoot flatter with a few more As -AND- which feels more comfortable. 
 

Having explained how highly I value pure accuracy, I will say this: FP and JHP tend to lend me better accuracy CONSISTENTLY, but I think that’s sheerly due to them getting seated more consistently in my Dillon dies. My theory could be wrong…?

 

Faves are 124/5gr JHP for 9mm and 200gr FPs (plated) for 45ACP. The only exception I’ve noticed is the TC profile from BBI in 9mm - load, feed and shoot like a dream. 

[Alaskapopo]

Jhps are more accurate because of the closed base not sure the shape matters 

[RangerTrace]

5 hours ago, Alaskapopo said:

Jhps are more accurate because of the closed base not sure the shape matters 

I was always told they are more accurate because they are longer.

 

This is a 25 yard group from my GGI P320.  The 3 in the middle and the flyer at 12 were the last 4 shots after I'd made my adjustments to the Romero2.  It was zeroed for 147 JHP.  Took a couple clicks for these RMR 124 grain TC Match Winners over 4.2" N320 to 1.125".  Average velocity was 1030.

 

[Boydus]

The ONLY critical difference to me is what COAL I can achieve with a given profile. JHP's and TC's have to run short in my CZ TSO, so I generally favor RN. They also tend to be a bit cheaper. I've tried 15 different bullets (FMJ,JHP,TC included) and they were all capable of 6 MOA with the right powder and charge. Even the worst loads were 12 MOA which is way more than adequate for the IDPA or SC matches I shoot. I shoot CZ, Sig, Walthers, and Glocks  and feeding has never been an issue with any of them. Currently, I shoot PD 115 FMJ's over 4.1 grs of TG @ 1.120". Works perfect in everything I own.

[shred]

You can abuse the heck out of a bullet at the ranges and targets USPSA shooters shoot at and it'll be fine.

 

Years ago we'd drop them on concrete 20 times and hit a 50 yard popper to get the message across to noobs that thought everything in their reloading book was gospel.

 

A couple months ago I posted a test with drilled and scraped and mangled bullets and they all shot well enough at 25 yards.  

 

 

[usmc1974]

I'd say there's a lot of contributing factors to accuracy. The shooter the gun the quality of the reloader (Person doing the reloading) But for feeding, I like round nose. But that is just me.

[DougCarden]

Generally speaking the less mass in front of the base of the bullet when it leaves the barrel gives you better accuracy.  Truncated cones generally shoot more accurately at distance than round nose due to less mass in front of the base.  JHP bullets have all the mass at the rear of the bullet and that helps it stabilize better before it leaves the barrel.

When I was loading 50 yard ammo for Bianchi Shooters we tried all the bullets.  Our best accuracy was from 115jhp at around 1150-1180 with a medium speed powder.  You could get more accurate loads with slower powder but it did not work well with the time limits at Bianchi due to recoil.

I worked up a practice load in 9mm using a 122 coated lead TC sized .357 and titegoup.  3inches or less with mixed rollsized brass all day long at 50 yaards.   The cool part was my match load of Zero 115jhp VV340 FED match primer shot to the same POA POI with the only adjustment was two clicks windage at 50 yards, to account for the coated oversize bullet.

If you need any accuracy JHP is usually the best, followed by coated lead ( I like .002 over bore size) then Jacketed round nose.  The thin jacketed bullets and plated bullets usually don't shoot well at long distance. 

[HOGRIDER]

8 minutes ago, DougCarden said:

Generally speaking the less mass in front of the base of the bullet when it leaves the barrel gives you better accuracy.  Truncated cones generally shoot more accurately at distance than round nose due to less mass in front of the base.  JHP bullets have all the mass at the rear of the bullet and that helps it stabilize better before it leaves the barrel.

When I was loading 50 yard ammo for Bianchi Shooters we tried all the bullets.  Our best accuracy was from 115jhp at around 1150-1180 with a medium speed powder.  You could get more accurate loads with slower powder but it did not work well with the time limits at Bianchi due to recoil.

I worked up a practice load in 9mm using a 122 coated lead TC sized .357 and titegoup.  3inches or less with mixed rollsized brass all day long at 50 yaards.   The cool part was my match load of Zero 115jhp VV340 FED match primer shot to the same POA POI with the only adjustment was two clicks windage at 50 yards, to account for the coated oversize bullet.

If you need any accuracy JHP is usually the best, followed by coated lead ( I like .002 over bore size) then Jacketed round nose.  The thin jacketed bullets and plated bullets usually don't shoot well at long distance. 

@DougCarden

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

 

[DougCarden]

I am happy to share.  This site was so instrumental in my loading education and so many have shared their knowledge with me, so I enjoy passing it on as well.