tribal rock
Soft points and polymer tips have the opposite effects in real life that they do in the game. Polymer tips act more like hollow points, fragmenting and dumping their energy into the target quickly, while soft point lead bullets mushroom and penetrate more. I think this should be reflected in game, as soft points aren't used too often by players and I feel this game should strive a little more towards realism. Currently in game soft point bullets won't penetrate past 6 inches while polymer tips pass though most prey, which seems ridiculous after researching what polymer tips do.
At ranges of 300 yds and beyond, bullets will penetrate more but expand less. In soft points this means they act more like full metal jacket rounds, but in polymer tips their expansion is still significant due to acting like a hollow point, and their superior ballistics and the standard of increased penetration makes them ideal for long range hunting in mountainous terrain. This is what polymer tips are best for, as the effects of soft points and polymer tips are negligible at short range. This is also what polymer tips should be for in COTW, long range shooting and expansion, not penetration as if plastic is tougher than lead and brass.
In essence, soft points are generally good at both penetration and expansion but not great at long distances, while polymer tips fly flatter and will expand at any range. At minimum the effects should be flipped and penetration of the expanding ammo should be about 3/4 of the penetrating ammo. Either that or replace polymer tips with FMJ and increase soft point penetration, either is fine with me. More advanced and realistic ballistics would be good regardless of the choice they make.
PS: there are too many class 4-8 calibers, make the less destructive ones go down to class 3 (like .270 and maybe .308) and generally differentiate them by penetration and expansion characteristics. The caplock with minie balls should be ethical for class 9 game, too.
floral marsh