Why Hollow Points Don’t Expand
BY PGF
1 year, 7 months ago
If you’re shooting hollow point ammunition through the firearm designed for that ammo – including barrel length, shooting at the expected distance, at a target that fits the design purpose of the ammo, and you’re still not getting any expansion, why?
On March 13, 2023 at 11:33 pm, High Speed Rail Hub said:
Then they are FMJ at that point?
A big name brand with silver in the title rarely expands.
Recovered slugs from 9mm, .357, 45acp, from outdoors fence posts, trees, dirt mound.
The lawman favorite Speer always expanded.
FMJ from a .45 had a warp to them.
Yes, ammo was much cheaper back then to be using HP for practice.
There is no wasted practice with weapons, ever.
On March 14, 2023 at 2:38 pm, =TW= said:
So:
Hollow points may fail to expand, even when driven at sufficient velocities.
They may still penetrate adequately. Unless the bullet fails- fragments or sheds jacket.
Flat nose, wadcutter or SWC bullets might be alternatives worth consideration. These are unlikely to fail and should prove more effective than RN ball ammo.
On March 15, 2023 at 4:34 am, Ratus said:
@hub
I’m assuming you’re referring to Winchester Silvertip. I would refer you to Mr. Harrell himself about 2min into the posted video, this is a problem of inappropriate target.
Silvertips were commonly known to actually expand but delivered inadequate penetration. See the FBI ’86 Miami shooting.
As to the the Remington HTP JHPs they are a “legacy” design that never really worked outside of an ideal expansion media, ie water.
Here’s a couple of links to the luckygunner labs expansion tests:
https://www.luckygunner.com/45-acp-230-gr-jhp-remington-htp-subsonic-50-rounds#geltest
https://www.luckygunner.com/45-acp-185-gr-jhp-remington-htp-50-rounds#geltest
And a link to the main testing page:
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/
On March 15, 2023 at 6:15 am, Latigo Morgan said:
Maybe they’ll expand. Maybe they won’t.
I find I prefer penetration over expansion. “What ifs” related to over penetration are arguing something that is so statistically insignificant that a lightning strike is the higher probability.
On March 15, 2023 at 9:55 am, Houston said:
What latigo said. A pass through with good penetration has far less energy than the complete miss. Recent release of shootings by LEOs in Dallas, with data from 2003 to 2017, show a 35% hit rate overall in confrontations between one LEO and one individual.
I am leaning more to SWC, WC etc rather than pay the premium for “high tech” hollow points. You can shoot three or more for one doing that. Also, the SWC, SWCHP, WC doesn’t have to be moving at light speed to get the job done. What you can control better in shooting you can hit better with.
On March 15, 2023 at 10:26 pm, ClaudeA said:
Hi, I always find your analysis of firearm issues quite informative. Thanks for all the hard work that entails. Your comment about clothing doesn’t stop bullets triggered a memory I had from long ago in a inner city hospital ER, report of a shooting at a church. Wounded arrived, a man and his wife. He shot in the forearm, the bullet passing through his arm and hitting his wife in the chest. We removed her garments and the bullet was lodged into the folded over nylon webbing of her brassiere. She suffered a small bruise as a result. I didn’t know much about firearms then but hazard to say it was a .25 caliber jacketed bullet. A sad occurrence that ended happily, and with some humor.