Does a Lead tip melt?

[goodgrouper]

[ QUOTE ]
. We talked to the Hornaday Rep and showed him the targets, he said the excess speed of the Swift was melting the core and flying apart.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate to say it but that HOrnady rep is a rep (business type) and obviously not a technician (scientific type). The lead core did not "melt". It simply was torn apart by centrifugal force as a result of rpm's that were past it's design specs for the jacket to hold the bullet together. It takes several minutes for lead to melt-even in a lead furnace pot for casting bullets.

 

[BCDeerWild]

Pulled a bullet out of an animal that had the tip apparently melted off. That and the rifling marks were the only signs of it being fired thtough a rifle. The bullet came out of the hind qaurter of a moose and was a sierra Gameking 165 used in a 30-06. The tip looks the same as federals fusion bullets. It could have been from going though the hide but the jacket tip had no marks at all. The moose was far enough away that the bullet didn't have enough retained energy to expand on meat and stopped before it hit bone.