A hollow-point bullet is a type of expanding bullet which expands on impact with a soft target, transferring more or all of the projectile's energy into the target over a shorter distance.
100-468: Hollow-point bullets are used for controlled penetration, where overpenetration could cause collateral damage (such as aboard an aircraft ). In target shooting , they are used for greater accuracy due to the larger meplat . They are more accurate and predictable compared to pointed bullets which, despite having a higher ballistic coefficient (BC), are more sensitive to bullet harmonic characteristics and wind deflection. Plastic-tipped bullets are
200-575: A hollow point deforming on impact while the base opened to seal the round in the barrel. It was introduced in 1898 for use against "savage foes", but fell quickly from favor due to concerns of breaching the Hague Convention's international laws on military ammunition, and was replaced in 1900 by re-issued Mk II pointed-bullet ammunition. Some sporting arms are also referred to as "stoppers" or "stopping rifles". These powerful arms are often used by game hunters (or their guides) for stopping
300-410: A soft target , the pressure created in the pit forces the material (usually lead ) around the inside edge to expand outwards, increasing the axial diameter of the projectile as it passes through. This process is commonly referred to as mushrooming , because the resulting shape, a widened, rounded nose on top of a cylindrical base, typically resembles a mushroom . The greater frontal surface area of
400-586: A British soldier had to fire four .303 Lee-Metford bullets into a Boxer before he stopped charging. U.S. Army officer Bowman McCalla reported that single rifle shots were not enough: multiple rifle shots were needed to halt a Boxer. Only machine guns were effective in immediately stopping the Boxers. In the Moro Rebellion , Moro Muslim Juramentados in suicide attacks continued to charge against American soldiers even after being shot. Panglima Hassan in
500-399: A broad range of velocities, expand upon impact at low velocity, tumble upon impact, fragment upon impact, or disintegrate upon impact. To control the expansion of a bullet, meplat design and materials are engineered. The meplat designs are: flat; round to pointed depending on the ogive; hollow pointed which can be large in diameter and shallow or narrow in diameter and deep and truncated which
600-406: A bullet sheds velocity—and crushes a narrower hole—as it penetrates deeper, so the bullet might be crushing a very small amount of tissue (simulating an "ice pick" injury) during its last two or three inches of travel, giving only between 9.5 to 12 inches (240 to 300 mm) of effective wide-area penetration. Also, skin is elastic and tough enough to cause a bullet to be retained in the body, even if
700-588: A bullet that expands and stops in its target. This led to the development of the soft-point bullet and later jacketed hollow-point bullets at the British arsenal in Dum Dum , near Calcutta around 1890. Designs included the .303" Mk III, IV & V and the .455" Mk III "Manstopper" cartridges. Although such bullet designs were quickly outlawed for use in warfare (in 1898, the Germans complained they breached
800-472: A bullet that passes through the target does not transfer all of its energy to the target. Lighter bullets tend to have less penetration in soft tissue and therefore are less likely to over-penetrate. Expanding bullets and other tip variations can increase the friction of the bullet through soft tissue, and/or allow internal ricochets off bone, therefore helping prevent over-penetration. Non-penetrating projectiles can also possess stopping power and give support to
900-431: A carbon content in the range of 0.30–1.70% by weight. Trace impurities of various other elements can significantly affect the quality of the resulting steel. Trace amounts of sulfur in particular make the steel red-short , that is, brittle and crumbly at high working temperatures. Low-alloy carbon steel, such as A36 grade, contains about 0.05% sulfur and melt around 1,426–1,538 °C (2,600–2,800 °F). Manganese
1000-446: A half diameter ogive designed meplat and hard, solid copper alloy material may crush only the tissue directly in front of the bullet. This type of bullet (monolithic-solid rifle bullet) is conducive to causing more temporary cavitation as the tissue flows around the bullet, resulting in a deep and narrow wound channel. A bullet constructed with a two diameter, hollow point ogive designed meplat and low- antimony lead -alloy core with
1100-414: A high-energy missile impact to an extremity. A high-frequency oscillating pressure wave with large amplitude and short duration was found in the brain after the extremity impact of a high-energy missile ..." Wang et al. observed significant damage in both the hypothalamus and hippocampus regions of the brain due to remote effects of the ballistic pressure wave. Emotional shock, terror, or surprise can cause
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#17327811511731200-543: A higher cost of production. The applications best suited for the high carbon steels is its use in the spring industry, farm industry, and in the production of wide range of high-strength wires. The following classification method is based on the American AISI/SAE standard . Other international standards including DIN (Germany), GB (China), BS/EN (UK), AFNOR (France), UNI (Italy), SS (Sweden) , UNE (Spain), JIS (Japan), ASTM standards, and others. Carbon steel
1300-440: A hollow point bullet to expand. Test results are generally given in terms of expanded diameter, penetration depth, and weight retention. Expanded diameter is an indication of the size of the wound cavity, penetration depth shows if vital organs could be reached by the bullet, and weight retention indicates how much of the bullet mass fragmented and separated from the main body of the bullet. How these factors are interpreted depends on
1400-412: A hollow point is not needed for reliable expansion and most rifle ammunition makes use of tapered jacket designs to achieve the mushrooming effect. At the lower handgun velocities, hollow point designs are generally the only design that will reliably expand. Modern hollow-point bullet designs use many different methods to provide controlled expansion, including: When a hollow-point hunting bullet strikes
1500-537: A hunting license if otherwise legal for the particular game. The law also requires all hollow point ammunition to be transported directly from the place of purchase to one's home or premises, or hunting area, or by members of a rifle or pistol club directly to a place of target practice, or directly to an authorized target range from the place of purchase or one's home or premises. The United States military uses open-tip ammunition in some sniper rifles due to its exceptional accuracy. W. Hays Parks , Colonel, USMC, Chief of
1600-402: A knock-out punch to the body, a football player "shaken up" as result of a hard tackle, or a hitter being struck by a fastball . Pain in general has an inhibitory and weakening effect on the body, causing a person under physical stress to take a seat or even collapse. The force put on the body by the temporary cavity is supersonic compression, like the lash of a whip. While the lash only affects
1700-463: A lamellar-pearlitic structure of iron carbide layers with α- ferrite (nearly pure iron) between. If it is hypereutectoid steel (more than 0.77 wt% C) then the structure is full pearlite with small grains (larger than the pearlite lamella) of cementite formed on the grain boundaries. A eutectoid steel (0.77% carbon) will have a pearlite structure throughout the grains with no cementite at the boundaries. The relative amounts of constituents are found using
1800-776: A much finer microstructure, which improves the toughness. As the carbon content percentage rises, steel has the ability to become harder and stronger through heat treating ; however, it becomes less ductile . Regardless of the heat treatment, a higher carbon content reduces weldability . In carbon steels, the higher carbon content lowers the melting point. Carbon steel is often divided into two main categories: low-carbon steel and high-carbon steel. It may also contain other elements, such as manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon, which can affect its properties. Carbon steel can be easily machined and welded, making it versatile for various applications. It can also be heat treated to improve its strength, hardness, and durability. Carbon steel
1900-560: A person is sufficiently enraged , determined, or intoxicated , they can simply shrug off the psychological effects of being shot. During the colonial era, when native tribesmen came into contact with firearms for the first time, there was no psychological conditioning that being shot could be fatal, and most colonial powers eventually sought to create more effective manstoppers. Therefore, such effects are not as reliable as physiological effects at stopping people. Animals will not faint or surrender if injured, though they may become frightened by
2000-484: A person or animal is to damage or disrupt their central nervous system (CNS) to the point of paralysis, unconsciousness, or death. Bullets can achieve this directly or indirectly. If a bullet causes sufficient damage to the brain or spinal cord, immediate loss of consciousness or paralysis, respectively, can result. However, these targets are relatively small and mobile, making them extremely difficult to hit even under optimal circumstances. Bullets can indirectly disrupt
2100-466: A person to faint , surrender, or flee when shot or shot at. There are many documented instances where people have instantly dropped unconscious when the bullet only hit an extremity, or even completely missed. Additionally, the muzzle blast and flash from many firearms are substantial and can cause disorientation, dazzling, and stunning effects. Flashbangs ( stun grenades ) and other less-lethal "distraction devices" rely exclusively on these effects. Pain
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#17327811511732200-473: A short line of tissue across the back of the victim, the temporary cavity affects a volume of tissue roughly the size and shape of a football . Giving further credence to this theory is the support from the aforementioned effects of drugs on incapacitation. Pain killers , alcohol , and PCP have all been known to decrease the effects of nociception and increase a person's resistance to incapacitation, all while having no effect on blood loss. Kinetic energy
2300-415: A suddenly charging animal, like a buffalo or an elephant . A bullet will destroy or damage any tissues which it penetrates, creating a wound channel. It will also cause nearby tissue to stretch and expand as it passes through tissue. These two effects are typically referred to as permanent cavity (the track left by the bullet as it penetrates flesh) and temporary cavity, which, as the name implies,
2400-437: A thin gilding metal jacket material will crush tissue in front and to the sides as the bullet expands. Due to the energy expended in bullet expansion, velocity is lost more quickly. This type of bullet (hollow-point hand gun bullet) is conducive to causing more permanent cavitation as the tissue is crushed and accelerated into other tissues by the bullet, causing a shorter and wider wound channel. The exception to this general rule
2500-488: A type of ( rifle ) bullet meant to confer the aerodynamic advantage of the Spitzer bullet (for example, see very-low-drag bullet ) and the stopping power of hollow-point bullets. Solid lead bullets, when cast from a soft alloy, will often deform and provide some expansion if they hit the target at a high velocity. This, combined with the limited velocity and penetration attainable with muzzleloading firearms, meant there
2600-536: Is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: The term carbon steel may also be used in reference to steel which is not stainless steel ; in this use carbon steel may include alloy steels . High carbon steel has many different uses such as milling machines, cutting tools (such as chisels ) and high strength wires. These applications require
2700-400: Is a function of the bullet's mass and the square of its velocity. Generally speaking, it is the intention of the shooter to deliver an adequate amount of energy to the target via the projectiles. All else held equal, bullets that are light and fast tend to have more energy than those that are heavy and slow. Over-penetration is detrimental to stopping power in regards to energy. This is because
2800-405: Is a long narrow punched hole in the end of a monolithic-solid type bullet. The materials used to make bullets are: pure lead; alloyed lead for hardness; gilding metal jacket which is a copper alloy of nickel and zinc to promote higher velocities; pure copper; copper alloy of bronze with tungsten steel alloy inserts to promote weight. Some bullets are constructed by bonding the lead core to
2900-435: Is an environmentally friendly material, as it is easily recyclable and can be reused in various applications. It is energy-efficient to produce, as it requires less energy than other metals such as aluminium and copper. Mild steel (iron containing a small percentage of carbon, strong and tough but not readily tempered), also known as plain-carbon steel and low-carbon steel, is now the most common form of steel because its price
3000-438: Is another psychological factor, and can be enough to dissuade a person from continuing their actions. Temporary cavitation can emphasize the impact of a bullet, since the resulting tissue compression is identical to simple blunt force trauma. It is easier for someone to feel when they have been shot if there is considerable temporary cavitation, and this can contribute to either psychological factor of incapacitation. However, if
3100-399: Is broken down into four classes based on carbon content: Low-carbon steel has 0.05 to 0.15% carbon (plain carbon steel) content. Medium-carbon steel has approximately 0.3–0.5% carbon content. It balances ductility and strength and has good wear resistance. It is used for large parts, forging and automotive components. High-carbon steel has approximately 0.6 to 1.0% carbon content. It
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3200-408: Is if the bullet first had to enter and then exit an outstretched arm before impacting the torso. A bullet with low penetration might embed itself in the arm whereas a higher penetrating bullet would penetrate the arm then enter the thorax where it would have a chance of hitting a vital organ. Excessive penetration or overpenetration occurs when a bullet passes through its intended target and out of
3300-466: Is intended for military use are examples of this. Popular calibres used in the UK for vermin , fox and deer control are as follows: .223 Remington , .243 Winchester , .308 Winchester , .22-250 amongst others, all using hollow-point bullets. Many rimfire calibres also use expanding ammunition such as .22 Long Rifle , .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire and .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire . The United States
3400-414: Is non-expanding bullets which are long relative to their diameter. These tend to destabilize and yaw (tumble) soon after impact, increasing both temporary and permanent cavitation. Bullets are constructed to behave in different ways, depending on the intended target. Different bullets are constructed variously to: not expand upon impact, expand upon impact at high velocity, expand upon impact, expand across
3500-448: Is often added to improve the hardenability of low-carbon steels. These additions turn the material into a low-alloy steel by some definitions, but AISI 's definition of carbon steel allows up to 1.65% manganese by weight. There are two types of higher carbon steels which are high carbon steel and the ultra high carbon steel. The reason for the limited use of high carbon steel is that it has extremely poor ductility and weldability and has
3600-530: Is one of few major powers that did not agree to IV-3 of the Hague Convention of 1899 , and thus is able to openly admit to the use of this kind of ammunition in warfare, but the United States ratified the second (1907) Hague Convention IV-23, which says "To employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering", similar to IV-3 of the first Convention. For years the United States military respected this Convention and refrained from
3700-433: Is one of the most important factors when choosing a bullet (and that the number one factor is shot placement). If the bullet penetrates less than their guidelines, it is inadequate, and if it penetrates more, it is still satisfactory though not optimal. The FBI's penetration requirement is very similar at 12 to 18 inches (300 to 460 mm). A penetration depth of 12.5 to 14 inches (320 to 360 mm) may seem excessive, but
3800-605: Is only allowed to a Firearms certificate holder, it is illegal to hunt certain types of game with ammunition that does not expand. Most ammunition types, including hollow-point bullets, are only allowed to a section 1 firearms certificate (FAC) holder. The FAC holder must have the calibre in question as a valid allowance on their licence. A valid firearms certificate allows the holder to use ball, full metal jacket , hollow point and ballistic-tipped ammunition for range use and vermin control. A firearms certificate will only be issued to any individual who can provide good reason to
3900-543: Is primarily a matter of shot location; most persons who are shot in the head are immediately incapacitated, and most who are shot in the extremities are not, regardless of the firearm or ammunition involved. Shotguns will usually incapacitate with one shot to the torso, but rifles and especially handguns are less reliable, particularly those which do not meet the FBI's penetration standard , such as .25ACP , .32 S&W , and rimfire models. More powerful handguns may or may not meet
4000-523: Is related to the physical properties and terminal behavior of the projectile ( bullet , shot , or slug ), the biology of the target, and the wound location, but the issue is complicated and not easily studied. Although higher- caliber ammunitions usually have greater muzzle energy and momentum and thus traditionally been widely associated with higher stopping power, the physics involved are multifactorial, with caliber, muzzle velocity , bullet mass , bullet shape and bullet material all contributing to
4100-437: Is relatively low while it provides material properties that are acceptable for many applications. Mild steel contains approximately 0.05–0.30% carbon making it malleable and ductile. Mild steel has a relatively low tensile strength, but it is cheap and easy to form. Surface hardness can be increased with carburization . The density of mild steel is approximately 7.85 g/cm (7,850 kg/m ; 0.284 lb/cu in) and
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4200-587: Is susceptible to rust and corrosion, especially in environments with high moisture levels and/or salt. It can be shielded from corrosion by coating it with paint, varnish, or other protective material. Alternatively, it can be made from a stainless steel alloy that contains chromium, which provides excellent corrosion resistance. Carbon steel can be alloyed with other elements to improve its properties, such as by adding chromium and/or nickel to improve its resistance to corrosion and oxidation or adding molybdenum to improve its strength and toughness at high temperatures. It
4300-459: Is the temporary (instantaneous) displacement caused as the bullet travels through flesh, and is many times larger than the actual diameter of the bullet. These phenomena are unrelated to low-pressure cavitation in liquids. The degree to which permanent and temporary cavitation occur is dependent on the mass, diameter , material, design and velocity of the bullet. This is because bullets crush tissue, and do not cut it. A bullet constructed with
4400-409: Is to change the mechanical properties of steel, usually ductility, hardness, yield strength, or impact resistance. Note that the electrical and thermal conductivity are only slightly altered. As with most strengthening techniques for steel, Young's modulus (elasticity) is unaffected. All treatments of steel trade ductility for increased strength and vice versa. Iron has a higher solubility for carbon in
4500-463: Is unlikely to cause anything more than a bruise . Some speculation states that nerve bundles can be damaged by temporary cavitation, creating a stun effect, but this has not been confirmed. One exception to this is when a very powerful temporary cavity intersects with the spine . In this case, the resulting blunt trauma can slam the vertebrae together hard enough to either sever the spinal cord, or damage it enough to knock out, stun, or paralyze
4600-406: Is very strong, used for springs, edged tools, and high-strength wires. Ultra-high-carbon steel has approximately 1.25–2.0% carbon content. Steels that can be tempered to great hardness. Used for special purposes such as (non-industrial-purpose) knives, axles, and punches . Most steels with more than 2.5% carbon content are made using powder metallurgy . The purpose of heat treating carbon steel
4700-533: The .357 Magnum round both have firm reputations as "manstoppers". Historically, one type of ammunition has had the specific tradename "Manstopper". Officially known as the Mk III cartridge , these were made to suit the British Webley .455 service revolver in the early 20th century. The ammunition used a 220- grain (14 g) cylindrical bullet with hemispherical depressions at both ends. The front acted as
4800-464: The 9×19mm Parabellum with a 147-grain (9.5 g) jacketed hollow point bullet at 962 feet (293 m) per second for use in situations where limited over-penetration of targets is necessary to reduce collateral damage . The state of New Jersey bans possession of hollow point bullets by civilians , except for ammunition possessed at one's own dwellings, premises, or other lands owned or possessed, or for, while and traveling to and from hunting with
4900-828: The Hassan uprising had to be shot dozens of times before he died. This forced the Americans to phase out .38 Long Colt revolvers and start using .45 Colt against the Moros. British troops used expanding bullets during various conflicts in the Northwest Frontier in India , and the Mahdist War in Sudan . The British government voted against a prohibition on their use at the Hague Convention of 1899, although
5000-464: The Laws of War ), they steadily gained ground among hunters due to the ability to control the expansion of the new high velocity cartridges. In modern ammunition, the use of hollow points is primarily limited to handgun ammunition, which tends to operate at much lower velocities than rifle ammunition (on the order of 1,000 feet per second (300 m/s) versus over 2,000 feet per second). At rifle velocities,
5100-738: The Young's modulus is 200 GPa (29 × 10 ^ psi). Low-carbon steels display yield-point runout where the material has two yield points . The first yield point (or upper yield point) is higher than the second and the yield drops dramatically after the upper yield point. If a low-carbon steel is only stressed to some point between the upper and lower yield point then the surface develops Lüder bands . Low-carbon steels contain less carbon than other steels and are easier to cold-form, making them easier to handle. Typical applications of low carbon steel are car parts, pipes, construction, and food cans. High-tensile steels are low-carbon, or steels at
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#17327811511735200-400: The austenite phase; therefore all heat treatments, except spheroidizing and process annealing, start by heating the steel to a temperature at which the austenitic phase can exist. The steel is then quenched (heat drawn out) at a moderate to low rate allowing carbon to diffuse out of the austenite forming iron-carbide (cementite) and leaving ferrite, or at a high rate, trapping the carbon within
5300-509: The ballistics . Despite much disagreement, the most popular theory of stopping power is that it is usually caused not by the force of the bullet but by the wounding effects of the bullet, which are typically a rapid loss of blood causing a circulatory failure , which leads to impaired motor function and/or unconsciousness . The "Big Hole School" and the principles of penetration and permanent tissue damage are in line with this way of thinking. The other prevailing theories focus more on
5400-469: The femur if it is narrowly missed by a bullet. Temporary cavitation can also cause the tearing of tissues if a very large amount of force is involved. The tensile strength of muscle ranges roughly from 1 to 4 MPa (145 to 580 lbf/in ), and minimal damage will result if the pressure exerted by the temporary cavitation is below this. Gelatin and other less elastic media have much lower tensile strengths, thus they exhibit more damage after being struck with
5500-524: The lever rule . The following is a list of the types of heat treatments possible: Case hardening processes harden only the exterior of the steel part, creating a hard, wear-resistant skin (the "case") but preserving a tough and ductile interior. Carbon steels are not very hardenable meaning they can not be hardened throughout thick sections. Alloy steels have a better hardenability, so they can be through-hardened and do not require case hardening. This property of carbon steel can be beneficial, because it gives
5600-412: The liver or lung will be similar, with the lung shot having the added effect of reducing blood oxygenation; these effects however are generally slower to arise than damage to the heart. A hole through the brain can cause instant unconsciousness and will likely kill the recipient. A hole through the spinal cord will instantly interrupt the nerve signals to and from some or all extremities, disabling
5700-671: The .45 ACP cartridge in what was to become the M1911A1 pistol, and the British adopted the .455 Webley caliber cartridge in the Webley Revolver . The larger cartridges were chosen largely due to the Big Hole Theory (a larger hole does more damage), but the common interpretation was that these were changes from a light, deeply penetrating bullet to a larger, heavier "manstopper" bullet. Carbon steel Carbon steel
5800-567: The Black Talon rounds was not significantly improved over other comparable high-performance hollow-point ammunition, the reverse taper jacket did provide reliable expansion under a wide range of conditions, and many police departments adopted the round. Winchester's "Black Talon" product name was eventually used against them. After the high-profile 1993 101 California Street shooting in San Francisco , media response against Winchester
5900-526: The CNS by damaging the cardiovascular system so that it can no longer provide enough oxygen to the brain to sustain consciousness. This can be the result of bleeding from a perforation of a large blood vessel or blood-bearing organ, or the result of damage to the lungs or airway. If blood flow is completely cut off from the brain, a human still has enough oxygenated blood in their brain for 10–15 seconds of wilful action, though with rapidly decreasing effectiveness as
6000-500: The JAG's International Law Branch, has argued that this ammunition is not prohibited by military convention in that the wounds that it produces are similar to full metal jacket ammunition in practice. In early 1992, Winchester introduced the " Black Talon ", a newly designed hollow-point handgun bullet which used a specially designed, reverse tapered jacket. The jacket was cut at the hollow to intentionally weaken it, and these cuts allowed
6100-590: The Sierra "Matchking" incorporate a cavity in the nose, called the meplat . This allows the manufacturer to maintain a greater consistency in tip shape and thus aerodynamic properties among bullets of the same design, at the expense of a slightly decreased ballistic coefficient and higher drag. The result is a slightly decreased overall accuracy between bullet trajectory and barrel direction, as well as an increased susceptibility to wind drift, but closer grouping of subsequent shots due to bullet consistency, often increasing
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#17327811511736200-434: The ability of a weapon – typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm – to cause a target (human or animal) to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon's ability to make the target cease action, regardless of whether or not death ultimately occurs. Which ammunition cartridges have the greatest stopping power is a much-debated topic. Stopping power
6300-428: The brain of pigs and demonstrated that a significant pressure wave reaches the brain of pigs shot in the thigh. These scientists observed neural damage in the brain caused by the distant effects of the ballistic pressure wave originating in the thigh. The results of Suneson et al. were confirmed and expanded upon by a later experiment in dogs which "confirmed that distant effect exists in the central nervous system after
6400-454: The bullet had a relatively high velocity when it hit the skin. About 250 feet per second (76 m/s) velocity is required for an expanded hollow point bullet to puncture skin 50% of the time. The IWBA's and FBI's penetration guidelines are to ensure that the bullet can reach a vital structure from most angles, while retaining enough velocity to generate a large diameter hole through tissue. An extreme example where penetration would be important
6500-555: The bullet's kinetic energy with respect to position). The ballistic pressure wave is proportional to this retarding force (Courtney and Courtney), and this retarding force is also the origin of both temporary cavitation and prompt damage (CE Peters). Hydrostatic shock is a controversial theory of terminal ballistics that states a penetrating projectile (such as a bullet) can produce a sonic pressure wave that causes "remote neural damage", "subtle damage in neural tissues" and/or "rapid incapacitating effects" in living targets. Proponents of
6600-537: The bullet, increases penetration, and can help prevent it from leaving deposits of lead inside the bore . In controlled expansion bullets, the jacket and other internal design characteristics help to prevent the bullet from breaking apart; a fragmented bullet will not penetrate as far. Due to their design, hollow point bullets tend to be more accurate than other types of ammunition, as they are less affected by wind resistance and other factors that can affect trajectory. For bullets designed for target shooting, some such as
6700-476: The effect of temporary cavitation. The fragments sheared from the bullet cause many small permanent cavities around the main entry point. The main mass of the bullet can then cause a truly massive amount of tearing as the perforated tissue is stretched. Whether a person or animal will be incapacitated (i.e. "stopped") when shot, depends on a large number of factors, including physical, physiological, and psychological effects. The only way to immediately incapacitate
6800-628: The energy of the bullet and its effects on the nervous system , including hydrostatic shock and energy transfer , which is similar to kinetic energy deposit. The concept of stopping power appeared in the tail end of the 19th century when colonial troops (including American troops in the Philippines during the Moro Rebellion , and British soldiers during the New Zealand Wars ) at close quarters found that their pistols were not able to stop charging native tribesmen. This led to
6900-526: The energy transfer hypothesis. Notable examples of projectiles designed to deliver stopping power without target penetration are Flexible baton rounds (commonly known as "beanbag bullets") and the rubber bullet , types of reduced-lethality ammunition . The force exerted by a projectile upon tissue is equal to the bullet's local rate of kinetic energy loss, with distance d E k / d x {\displaystyle \mathrm {d} E_{k}/\mathrm {d} x} (the first derivative of
7000-420: The expanded bullet limits its depth of penetration into the target and causes more extensive tissue damage along the wound path. Many hollow-point bullets, especially those intended for use at high velocity in centerfire rifles, are jacketed , i.e., a portion of the lead-cored bullet is wrapped in a thin layer of harder metal, such as copper , brass , or mild steel . This jacket provides additional strength to
7100-444: The forward motion of an attacker and physically knock them backwards or downwards. It follows from the law of conservation of momentum that no "knockback" could ever exceed the recoil felt by the shooter, and therefore has no use as a weapon. The myth of "knockback" has been spread through its confusion with the phrase "stopping power" as well as by many films, which show bodies flying backward after being shot. The idea of knockback
7200-671: The intended use of the bullet, and there are no universally agreed-upon ideal metrics. The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibited the use in international warfare of bullets that easily expand or flatten in the body. It is a common misapprehension that hollow-point ammunition is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions , as the prohibition significantly predates those conventions. The Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams, along with weapons designed to aggravate injured soldiers or make their death inevitable. Despite
7300-636: The introduction or reintroduction of larger caliber weapons (such as the older .45 Colt and the newly developed .45 ACP ) capable of stopping opponents with a single round. During the Seymour Expedition in China, at one of the battles at Langfang , Chinese Boxers , armed with swords and spears, conducted a massed infantry charge against the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance , who were equipped with rifles. At point-blank range,
7400-452: The iron thus forming martensite. The rate at which the steel is cooled through the eutectoid temperature (about 727 °C or 1,341 °F) affects the rate at which carbon diffuses out of austenite and forms cementite. Generally speaking, cooling swiftly will leave iron carbide finely dispersed and produce a fine grained pearlite and cooling slowly will give a coarser pearlite. Cooling a hypoeutectoid steel (less than 0.77 wt% C) results in
7500-557: The jacket to open into six petals upon impact. The thick jacket material kept the tips of the jacket from bending as easily as a normal thickness jacket. The slits that weakened the jacket left triangular shapes in the tip of the jacket, and these triangular sections of jacket would end up pointing out after expansion, leading to the "Talon" name. The bullets were coated with a black colored, paint-like lubricant called "Lubalox", and loaded into nickel-plated brass cases, which made them visually stand out from other ammunition. While performance of
7600-686: The jacket to promote higher weight retention upon impact, causing a larger and deeper wound channel. Some bullets have a web in the center of the bullet to limit the expansion of the bullet while promoting penetration. Some bullets have dual cores to promote penetration. Bullets that might be considered to have stopping power for dangerous large game animals are usually 11.63 mm (.458 caliber) and larger, including 12-gauge shotgun slugs. These bullets are monolithic-solids; full metal jacketed and tungsten steel insert. They are constructed to hold up during close range, high velocity impacts. These bullets are expected to impact and penetrate, and transfer energy to
7700-597: The loud noise and pain of being shot, so psychological mechanisms are generally less effective against non-humans. According to Dr. Martin Fackler and the International Wound Ballistics Association (IWBA), between 12.5 and 14 inches (320 and 360 mm) of penetration in calibrated tissue simulant is optimal performance for a bullet which is meant to be used defensively, against a human adversary. They also believe that penetration
7800-446: The lower end of the medium-carbon range, which have additional alloying ingredients in order to increase their strength, wear properties or specifically tensile strength . These alloying ingredients include chromium , molybdenum , silicon , manganese , nickel , and vanadium . Impurities such as phosphorus and sulfur have their maximum allowable content restricted. Carbon steels which can successfully undergo heat-treatment have
7900-545: The media criticism of the Black Talon line by removing it from the commercial market and only selling it to law enforcement distributors. Winchester has since discontinued the sale of the Black Talon entirely, although Winchester does manufacture nearly identical ammunition under new brand names, the Ranger T-Series and the Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1. Overpenetration Stopping power is
8000-401: The more energy transferred to the target, the greater the stopping power. It postulates that the pressure wave exerted on soft tissues by the bullet's temporary cavity hits the nervous system with a jolt of shock and pain and thereby forces incapacitation. Proponents of this theory contend that the incapacitation effect is similar to that seen in non-concussive blunt-force trauma events, such as
8100-453: The other side, with enough residual kinetic energy to continue flying as a stray projectile and risk causing unintended collateral damage to objects or persons beyond. This happens because the bullet has not released all its energy within the target, according to the energy transfer hypothesis. These hypotheses are a matter of some debate among scientists in the field: The energy transfer hypothesis states that for small arms in general,
8200-560: The police for the possession of firearms and their ammunition. Until recently all expanding ammunition fell under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 and was only allowed when conditions were entered onto an FAC by the police. This condition would allow expanding ammunition to be used for: Some ammunition types are still prohibited under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. Ammunition that explodes on impact or any ammunition that
8300-413: The popular .32-20 , .38-40 , and .44-40 calibers could also be fired in revolvers . With the advent of smokeless powder , velocities increased, and bullets got smaller, faster, and lighter. These new bullets (especially in rifles) needed to be jacketed to handle the conditions of firing. The new full metal jacket bullets tended to penetrate straight through a target causing less internal damage than
8400-473: The process. The effects of temporary cavitation are less well understood, due to a lack of a test material identical to living tissue. Studies on the effects of bullets typically are based on experiments using ballistic gelatin , in which temporary cavitation causes radial tears where the gelatin was stretched. Although such tears are visually engaging, some animal tissues (but not bone or liver) are more elastic than gelatin. In most cases, temporary cavitation
8500-477: The prohibition only applied to international warfare. In response to addressing stopping power issues, the Mozambique Drill was developed to maximize the likelihood of a target's quick incapacitation. "Manstopper" is an informal term used to refer to any combination of firearm and ammunition that can reliably incapacitate, or "stop", a human target immediately. For example, the .45 ACP round and
8600-458: The same amount of force. At typical handgun velocities, bullets will create temporary cavities with much less than 1 MPa of pressure, and thus are incapable of causing damage to elastic tissues that they do not directly contact. Rifle bullets that strike a major bone (such as a femur) can expend their entire energy into the surrounding tissue. The struck bone is commonly shattered at the point of impact. High velocity fragmentation can also increase
8700-432: The shooter's perceived accuracy. The manufacturing process of hollow-point bullets also produces a flat, uniformly shaped base on the bullet which is thought to increase accuracy by providing a more consistent piston surface for the expanding gases of the cartridge. Terminal ballistics testing of hollow point bullets are generally performed in ballistic gelatin , or some other medium intended to simulate tissue and cause
8800-420: The standard, or may even overpenetrate, depending on what ammunition is used. Fully jacketed bullets penetrate deeply without much expansion, while soft or hollow point bullets create a wider, shallower wound channel. Pre-fragmented bullets such as Glaser Safety Slugs and MagSafe ammunition are designed to fragment into birdshot on impact with the target. This fragmentation is intended to create more trauma to
8900-403: The surrounding tissues and vital organs through the entire length of a game animal's body if need be. The stopping power of firearms when used against humans is a more complex subject, in part because many persons voluntarily cease hostile actions when shot; they either flee, surrender, or fall immediately. This is sometimes referred to as "psychological incapacitation". Physical incapacitation
9000-400: The target and in many cases also resulting in death (as the nerve signals to and from the heart and lungs are interrupted by a shot high in the chest or to the neck). By contrast, a hole through an arm or leg which hits only muscle will cause a great deal of pain but is unlikely to be fatal, unless one of the large blood vessels ( femoral or brachial arteries, for example) is also severed in
9100-510: The target, and also to reduce collateral damage caused from ricocheting or overpenetrating of the target and the surrounding environments such as walls. Fragmenting rounds have been shown to be unlikely to obtain deep penetration necessary to disrupt vital organs located at the back of a hostile human. Permanent and temporary cavitation cause very different biological effects. A hole through the heart will cause loss of pumping efficiency, loss of blood, and eventual cardiac arrest . A hole through
9200-468: The target. For instance, in the shootout between eight FBI agents and two bank robbers in the 1986 FBI Miami shootout , Special Agent Gordon McNeill was struck in the neck by a high-velocity .223 bullet fired by Michael Platt. While the bullet did not directly contact the spine, and the wound incurred was not ultimately fatal, the temporary cavitation was sufficient to render SA McNeill paralyzed for several hours. Temporary cavitation may similarly fracture
9300-425: The theory contend that damage to the brain from hydrostatic shock from a shot to the chest occurs in humans with most rifle cartridges and some higher-velocity handgun cartridges. Hydrostatic shock is not the shock from the temporary cavity itself, but rather the sonic pressure wave that radiates away from its edges through static soft tissue. The idea of "knockback" implies that a bullet can have enough force to stop
9400-441: The thorax and extremities. These papers document remote wounding effects for both rifle and pistol levels of energy transfer. Recent work by Courtney and Courtney provides compelling support for the role of a ballistic pressure wave in creating remote neural effects leading to incapacitation and injury. This work builds upon the earlier works of Suneson et al. where the researchers implanted high-speed pressure transducers into
9500-683: The use of expanding ammunition, and even made special FMJ .22LR ammunition for use in High Standard pistols that were issued to the OSS agents and the Savage Model 24 .22/.410 combination guns issued in the E series of air crew survival kits. After announcing consideration of using hollow point ammunition for side arms , with a possible start date of 2018, the United States Army began production of M1153 special purpose ammunition for
9600-586: The victim begins to lose consciousness. Unless a bullet directly damages or disrupts the central nervous system, a person or animal will not be instantly and completely incapacitated by physiological damage. However, bullets can cause other disabling injuries that prevent specific actions (a person shot in the femur cannot run) and the physiological pain response from severe injuries will temporarily disable most individuals. Several scientific papers reveal ballistic pressure wave effects on wounding and incapacitation, including central nervous system injuries from hits to
9700-464: The widespread ban on military use, hollow-point bullets are one of the most common types of bullets used by civilians and police , which is due largely to the reduced risk of bystanders being hit by over-penetrating or ricocheted bullets , and the increased speed of incapacitation. In many jurisdictions , even ones such as the United Kingdom , where expanding and any other kind of ammunition
9800-500: Was first widely expounded in ballistics discussions during American involvement in Philippine insurrections and, simultaneously, in British conflicts in its colonial empire, when front-line reports stated that the .38 Long Colt caliber revolvers carried by U.S. and British soldiers were incapable of bringing down a charging warrior. Thus, in the early 1900s, the U.S. reverted to the .45 Colt in single action revolvers, and later adopted
9900-414: Was little need for extra expansion. The first hollow-point bullets were marketed in the late 19th century as express bullets and were hollowed out to reduce the bullet's mass and provide higher velocities. In addition to providing increased velocities, the hollow also turned out to provide significant expansion, especially when the bullets were cast in a soft lead alloy . Originally intended for rifles,
10000-528: Was swift. "This bullet kills you better", says one report; "its six razorlike claws unfold on impact, expanding to nearly three times the bullet's diameter". A concern was raised by the president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) that the sharp edges of the jacket could cut medical personnel's skin and risk spread of disease. An ACEP spokesman later said he was not aware of any evidence to support this claim. Winchester responded to
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