Polymer Tip
Also: Tipped Bullet · Polymer-Tipped
A plastic tip inserted in a bullet's nose that resists deformation and sharpens the meplat for a higher, more uniform ballistic coefficient.
A polymer tip is a molded plastic point fitted into the nose cavity of a spitzer bullet in place of an exposed lead tip or open hollow point. By giving the bullet a hard, sharply pointed nose, the tip effectively shrinks and standardizes the meplat, which lowers drag and raises the ballistic coefficient. Just as important, the molded tips are far more uniform than swaged lead points, so BC varies less from round to round.
Polymer tips also serve a terminal-performance role on hunting bullets, where the tip can act as a wedge that drives back into the core on impact to initiate expansion. Paired with a boat tail base, a tipped bullet packages both a clean nose and a streamlined tail, which is why the design is common in modern long-range hunting and match lines.