I have seen a lot of answers, that are telling that it has more damage area and it fits in auto loaders better. I accept the second one, but not the first. Imagine a 9mm hits a vest and… nothing, probably a couple of broken bones, even though it has a larger damage area. Then the person takes their gun and shoots you. Your shots were probably useless. But if that 9mm was pointy it would, depending on the vest, penetrate it and hit the person, severely damaging the person. You’re now safe. That’s my scenario. So why are low caliber bullets not pointy?
In: Engineering
Besides what others said, if your goal is stopping someone you don’t want the bullet to be too piercing.
A piercing bullet will get straight trough someones body and keep flying afterwards, thus lot of kinetic energy is still in the bullet when it exits the body. Unless it hits a vital organ /brain, upper spine, major vessels, major airways) you won’t be immediately unconcious and thus able to respond.
A normal bullet will stop in your body, thus 100% of the kinetic energy of the bullet has been applied to your body. Hollow point bullets are actually designed exactly for this, the bullet opens up like a blooming flower on impact, making sure it doesn’t pierce trough.
Latest Answers