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
Caliber has nothing to do with it.
There are tons of pointed tip bullet options for .17 to .25 caliber cartridges.
The design of a bullet is more dependent on its intended function and use. Aero plays a huge role too, as a variable relating to powder charge and bullet mass.
Next, over-penetration is a thing. You’re concerned with under-penetration, but a bullet that goes clean through a target without enough internal disruption is almost as useless.
Hunting bullets, for example, are designed to penetrate fur and hide and then mushroom to cause catastrophic internal bleeding for a quick and humane kill.
You ask, why low caliber bullets aren’t pointy… I present to you that all of the traditional “elephant gun” safari calibers (typically greater than .37”) use round nose bullets. These are guns designed for piercing the armor-like hides of elephants and rhinos. And they use round nose bullets.
In other words, this is a totally false premise with no standing in reality.
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