Hollow point bullets are easy to recognize. They have a distinguishing indent, dip, or cup-like formation at the tip of the bullet.
Hollow points can be lead bullets that are jacketed in a harder metal or they can be made of a single material. The unique characteristic of hollow point bullets is they "mushroom" or "bloom" outward once they hit their target.
Some of the common types of full metal jacket bullets are: Hornady Critical Defense®, Remington Golden Sabre®, Cor®Bon, Speer® Gold Dot, Hornady XTP®, and Federal® HST.
Advantages of Hollow Point Bullets
Hollow point bullets were designed to expand once they hit their mark for two main reasons:
- Expansion helps prevent over-penetration (so they are less likely to shoot through a target)
- Expansion creates the energy needed to more easily incapacitate your target
Cautions When Using Hollow Point Bullets
Hollow point bullets were designed to "mushroom" as soon as they hit a soft target.
They were specifically designed to create a large wound cavity in order to incapacitate a target quickly.
Because of their potential lethal capabilities, use them with extreme caution.
Common Uses for Hollow Point Ammo
By design, hollow points were designed to inflict lethal damage.
They are frequently used for:
- self defense
- hunting
