I think you may have to split the strings, but by using a modified Schwartzian Transform you can do it in a pretty efficient manner. Try something like this:

my @records = ('.66+5638+copper globe',
               '1.00+1396+the blocks',
               '.33+4055+hunt draw');

my @sorted = map { join '+', @$_ }
             sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] }
             map { [ split /\+/ ] } @records;
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