I have no additional info on it yet, but my agency’s rep just announced this will soon be available from Federal. Unknown if it will be state contract or not in FL. It’s under the Federal Premium Vital Shock line, according to the rep.
For any body who has been living in a hole, the Trophy Bonded Tip is a refinement of the heralded Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. With the addition of a ballistic polymer tip, skiving at the soft point, nickel plating, and a true boat tail.
THIS is going to be interesting. No links yet. Anyone who can find some, please post them.
I doubt it. Same coating as on all of the other TBT rounds. They’ve had that for years and I’ve never heard of an issue. Though, most of those are through precision rifles and, therefore, lower round counts.
I thought they use nuckle plated cases to reduce friction and increase cycling ability. Wouldn’t Nickle plating do the same to reduce friction in the bore?
I’d imagine it would with a polymer tip, there is absolutely zero exposed lead. I asked about this same issue with soft points previously, long ago. I’m pretty sure DocGKR chimed in (yes we’re going that far back) and stated not all soft points are created equal in this regard. Something like a GoldDot/Fusion doesn’t have much exposed lead and is generally a non issue with those, where some other projectiles have much more exposed lead.
Thank you for posting that. I just sighted in my Tikka T3 Lite in .308 for the 165gr commercial version of the TBT.
Do you knew what the differences are? I know that the Federal 168gr Gold Medal Match is a hugely popular round for LEOs. My SWAT team uses it exclusively. Maybe just the shared bullet weight and a bit of extra BC over the 165?
Buford, after doing a little research, I found this, it seems it is similiar to the 165gr version but was made a little heavier as it’s performance matches the 168gr BTHP used by many police units.
“Among the 308 Win loads, Federal offers their 165-grain Tactical Bonded. Better yet, they now have the 168-grain Tactical® Bonded Tip™ bullet. For typical police engagement ranges, both loads works with Bullet Drop Compensator data or scope adjustments designed for the 168-grain Match BTHP. From Hornady, check out their 165-grain GMX TAP Barrier and their 165-grain Interbond® TAP Barrier.”
