TESTED: Hornady 110gr A-Tip 6mm Bullets

One of my favorite things to do is testing components like bullets. In this story, we’ll take a hands-on look at Hornady’s new 110 grain A-Tip 6mm bullets. Both at the range, and in the “laboratory”. If you’re curious about these bullets, you’re in the right place!

Please Welcome Travis Fox

I recently enlisted the help of my friend Travis Fox to do some shooting and reloading for Ultimate Reloader, and this was our first completed project! Travis is a meticulous guy, and we’re planning more collaborations in the near future! Welcome Travis, I appreciate Travis’ contributions!

About Hornady’s 6mm .243 110 gr A-TIP Match Bullets

From the Hornady product page:

Years of research and testing by the Hornady Ballistic Development Group, combined with advanced manufacturing processes and quality control measures have led to the creation of the ultimate low drag, high performance match bullet.

TIP DESIGN
Aluminum tip is precision machined and longer than polymer tips which moves the center of gravity and enhances inflight stability.
Aeroballistically advanced tip design results in tighter groups and reduced drag variability.
Perfect blend of ogive, tip length, bearing surface and optimized boattail by caliber.

PERFORMANCE
Doppler radar verified low drag coefficient (high BC) bullets are forgiving of twist rate, seating depth and muzzle velocity.
Refined design of the AMP® bullet jacket offers industry leading uniformity and concentricity.

MANUFACTURING
Right off the press – sequentially packaged, one clone after another for the ultimate in consistent performance.
Minimal handling throughout the manufacturing process ensures consistency from bullet to bullet.
Packaged with a polishing bag to prepare bullets for loading (bullets aren’t bulk washed after manufacture).

Test Scenario 1: 6 Dasher

When it comes to accurate 6mm cartridges, 6 Dasher is a GREAT example of both “easy accuracy” and “easy tuning”. So Travis decided to run with it for the testing of these 100 grain A-Tip bullets.

Here’s the components that were selected:

Bullet: Hornady 110 grain A-Tip 6mm
Powder: Hodgdon Varget
Case: Alpha Munitions once fired
Primer: Federal 205 Small Rifle

Load data was sourced from the Accurate Shooter Forum, Precision Rifle Blog, and manufacturer’s data.

Here’s the rifle details: (full story HERE)

This testing produced some GREAT results, here’s the summary data from Travis’ shooting:

According to Travis, he “pulled” one of the shots on that last group, so with out that “flier” it would be in the .440″ range. Very impressive results! Here’s the target:

So if you’re looking for a bullet to run in your 6 Dasher (or similar) check out these 110 grain A-tips!

Test Scenario 2: 6mm Creedmoor

6mm Creedmoor is a very popular cartridge for applications like PRS competition, and hunting. So I thought I’d include it in our testing for the 110 grain A-Tip bullets.

Here’s the components that were selected:

Bullet: Hornady 110 grain A-Tip 6mm
Powder: Hodgdon H-4350
Case: Federal once-fired (from factory ammunition)
Primer: Federal 205 Small Rifle

Load data was sourced from the Accurate Shooter Forum, Precision Rifle Blog, and manufacturer’s data. I used my HOWA 1500 which I re-barreled in 6mm Creedmoor (full story HERE).

While I was able to get some good results, I didn’t see the string-to-string consistency I wanted. Both Travis and I noted some strange harmonics when shooting with the Magnetospeed Chronograph installed.

Here’s the best group from my testing with the HOWA (with chronograph attached):

The other groups with chronograph attached were sporadic, and not repeatable. So I decided to chamber up a barrel for another rifle (originally my 25 Creedmoor) to compare results.

Above: Chambering a Preferred barrel blank for 6mm Creedmoor on the Precision Matthews PM-1440GT Lathe using the True Bore Alignment System.

This time I did more testing for accuracy, this time without the chronograph attached. Here’s the summary:

Note that these results were observed *during break-in*. Pretty good stuff!

Again, 40.6 grains was looking good:

A subsequent shooting of this load yielded a slightly larger group (0.440″) for the same 5 shots at 100 yards. This could have been mirage as it was quite hot while I was shooting (near 100 degrees F). I’m thinking to shoot this load some more, and also look at slower powders (Ex: Winchester StaBALL 6.5) that could prove more consistent.

Lab Measurements

For these bullets, I performed my standard bullet lab tests: consistency for diameter, length, and weight using 20 sample bullets.

Raw Data

Here’s the raw data from the measurements taken: (click/tap to enlarge)

Summary Data

Here’s the stats for the data collected:

These results are *very good*. These are probably the most consistent bullets I’ve tested to date! It’s interesting to note that all of the A-Tip bullet SKUs I’ve tested have all had an SD on diameter of 0.0001″, and an ES on diameter of 0.0003″. That’s consistent consistency!

A-Tip bullets are exceptional, and the 110 grain 6mm A-Tip bullets are no exception!

Get them at Creedmoor Sports!

I just checked, as of the writing of this article, Creedmoor Sports has these bullets IN STOCK! Check it out:

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Thanks,
Gavin