I thought lead is softer. Why is it considered better for ammunition?
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I’ll add to the Reddit Rabbit Hole –
It’s pretty rare for modern bullets to be pure lead, because as u/Phage0070 indicated gun barrels are slightly smaller than the bullets which forces the bullet to squeeze through as it goes. Lead is so soft is squishes well, but it also leaves behind a lot of debris and smudges in the barrel, called fouling. Finally, it creates airborne lead which is problematic for obvious reasons. To prevent these we started coating bullets with a harder metal, called “full metal jackets”, these technically have parts there are still exposed lead which are sometimes covered up in ammo called “Total metal jackets”.
As u/Sunhating101hateit points out, leads ability to “smoosh” or “mushroom” upon impact is desirable to impart as much energy on the target as possible vs just passing through. In the case of full metal jacket ammo you lose that smooshing because of the hard outer casing so you can also find “hollow point” ammo where the tip is deliberately exposed to the softer inner metal to allow for maximum expansion AND reducing fouling. These get into Geneva Convention awkwardness though, depending on how you interpret it. There is language that basically says you can’t use expanding ammunition or ammunition that deliberately causes massive internal injuries as technically you’re only supposed to remove soldiers from combat, not go out of your way to slaughter or terrify them. I’ve seen people argue both sides on hollow point military applications and I’m not an expert to weigh an opinion.
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