FAQ: Hollow point ammunition. Why well-informed, responsible, and safety-conscious gun carriers use them.

This topic tends to get brought up in EDC a bit, as many EDCers carry firearms on a daily basis.

I will try to omit politics (i.e. history, regional politics, caliber debate, stopping power) from this, as that will only serve as a tangent to the topic at hand.

I'll be focusing on conventional handgun ammunition, as that is what the great majority of people carry for self-protection.

When a law-abiding carrier has no other choice and is forced to draw and fire his/her sidearm, there should be but a single objective in mind. Eliminate the threat immediately, with no collateral damage.

Full metal jacket ammunition is one of the worst choices available for this purpose.

There are several reasons as to why. I will go over them in no particular order, as each scenario in real life will be different, so one cannot objectively place one problem's importance over another.

1. FMJs cause relatively narrow wound channels. Because they do not expand, the chances of hitting major arteries, vital organs, and quicker incapacitation by exsanguination is lowered.

2. FMJs tend to overpenetrate. This increases the chance of hitting innocent bystanders. Even if one is aware of the target's background, if there is a wall made of weak material such as drywall, there is a high chance of causing collateral damage to an innocent that may be standing behind mere concealment or poor cover.

3. FMJs have a higher tendency to ricochet against objects, due to their ability to overpenetrate while maintaining their shape and mass.

Hollow point ammunition addresses these issues by expanding when it hits its target.

1. Expanded bullets = greater surface area. This not only entails larger wound channels, but more energy of the projectile being expended in the primary target as well, which leads to the bullet's slowing down as it goes through the target.

2. The physics of this reduces the chance of the projectile overpenetrating its intended target, and in cases that it does overpenetrate, it has slowed down.

3. The misshapen form of an expanded bullet and the reduced velocities decrease chances of ricochet as well.

These two videos are great examples of the text above.

FMJ

JHP

Both are fired through the same medium (20% ballistic gelatin). Both projectiles are in the same caliber, are travelling at nearly the same speeds, and weigh the same.

TL;DR: Nobody that is responsible should carry FMJs for self-defense.

Edit: Semantics