Soft tip: the SP and SPCE hunting cartridges from Sellier & Bellot – Similarities and differencese

Sellier & Bellot, an ammunition manufacturer based in Vlašim, Czech Republic, is known for cartridges of all kinds: from sporting loads for handguns and long guns, to loads for the military/LE market and hunting ammunition. For the latter, all4hunters.com has already tested various lines, such as the lead-free eXergy Blue. The SP (Soft Point) and SPCE (Soft Point Cutting Edge) series, among others, also include conventional loads. all4hunters.com has received test ammunition in the widely used .30-06 Springfield and .308 Winchester calibers and took a closer look at these cartridges.

Function + effect of Soft Point bullets

Basically, Soft Point bullets are those in which a soft metal core is surrounded by a harder metal jacket. The softer core protrudes a bit from the jacket toward the tip, so it is a partially jacketet bullet. The idea behind this is that upon impact with the game body, the bullet tip deforms and thus increases the cross-section. The result is a better ballistic effect on the target. The jacket, on the other hand, ensures reliably good ballistics during the bullet flight, as it improves bullet rotation through the barrel, for example. In the case of the SPCE variant, the so-called "cutting edge" is added. This fulfills two functions: on the one hand, it ensures a clean bullet entrance wound, but at the same time produces easy to follow blood trails. Secondly, it securely locks the jacket lead and core together. This also ensures a more reliable flight behavior of the bullet.

In detail: the Sellier & Bellot SP hunting cartridge

DThe SP cartridge from S&B is the classic partially jacketed hunting ammo. The jacket is made of a copper-zinc alloy. It is also offered in a wide range of calibers: from the small .22 Hornet to the large .45-70 Government. Our test cartridges came in .30-06 Springfield and .308 Winchester calibers. Here, it comes with a 180-grain bullet that accelerates to a muzzle energy of 825 and 748 meters per second, respectively, bringing an energy of 3982 and 3273 joules, respectively. At 100 meters, the remaining energy is 725 m/s and 3078 joules (654 m/s and 2501 joules for the .308).

Sellier & Bellot SP: overview of common hunting calibers

Detail: the SPCE hunting load from Seller & Bellot

The SPCE bullet is quite similar to the SP. However, as mentioned, it features an additional cut-through edge. In the .30-06 test caliber the bullet also has less of a round nose design as with the SP, as it tapers a bit more. There are also far fewer calibers available here. On the other hand, the selection of loads for the "classic" hunting cartridges is greater. There are two of them in .30-06 Springfield: one with a 150-grain bullet and one with a 180-grain bullet. The former is 900 meters per second at the muzzle with an energy of 3929 joules, while the heavier bullet reaches 805 meters per second at the muzzle, at 3791 joules.

Finally: SP and SPCE from Sellier & Bellot

S&B offers the SP and SPCE, two product lines of conventional bullets that have been proven thousands of times over. The choice between the two often also determines the caliber: if the hunter shoots a somewhat more exotic and correspondingly less common cartridge, often the only option is to fall back on the classic partially jacketed bullet. If, on the other hand, a more common cartridge is fired, the SPCE has a bullet with more technology and a possibly larger selection of load options.

For more information on Sellier & Bellot cartridges please visit the manufacturer's website. 

all4shooters.com has also already presented the Czech company. 

We also conducted an extensive accuracy test with the sport shooting rifle cartridges.