I thought that "dum-dum" bullets came from an arsenal of the same name in India when (during the British occupation) they were too cash-strapped to be able to afford to put a copper jacket around the entire bullet... (?)
This from
rec.guns
For handguns, the hollowpoint bullet has become the leader in defensive ammunition. Early (1st generation) hollowpoint bullets were just lead slugs with a hole in them. They had problems feeding in autoloaders, didn't provide reliable expansion, and were not highly regarded. Newer (2nd generation) hollowpoints were designed out of softer materials, have smaller cavities to encourage feeding in autoloaders, and were somewhat more reliable at velocities above 1100 feet per second. The newest selection o f hollowpoints (3rd generation) are designed to be capable of expansion below the older thresholds by using a variety of features. For instance, the Federal Hydra-Shok has a post in the center of the hollow which keeps the cavity from becoming plugged. The ill-starred Black Talon, recently reintroduced as the SXT, used a combination of a hard jacket, soft core, and a sump drilled in the bottom of the cavity to release pressure and force expansion. Other designs, like the Federal Golden Sabre, the PMC Starfire, and the CCI Lawman/Gold Dot, make use of designs tailored to handgun velocities to assure performance.
There have been some claims that certain hollowpoints are "killer bullets", that they can "slice through police armor." The "armor-slicing" characteristics can be easily dismissed; the soft, expanding nature of these rounds actually makes them less likely to penetrate any kind of body armor, and they don't expand before striking the armor in any case. There are others who feel that hollowpoints do not belong in the hands of citizens who do not face life-or-death confrontations every day. They argue that police, who face violence more often, need these bullets to defend themselves, but that ordinary people don't need them at all. Such rationale has been used to pass laws in places like New Jersey, where possession of hollowpoint ammunition is illegal. Frankly, this implies that possession of these bullets is paramount to intent to kill. In reality, no handgun bullet is designed to kill and none can be expected to do so on demand. What hollowpoint bullets are designed to do is save lives.
This last statement bears elaboration. Hollowpoint bullets are designed to stop an attacker with the least number of shots fired. They are designed to transfer as much of the bullet's energy into impact and shock. Roundnose bullets, which may zip through tissue with minimal disruption may require the defender to shoot his attacker more times in order to get him to stop attacking. The attacker shot with roundnose bullets still bleeds, but he does not feel the same shocking, stopping impact that a hollowpoint bullet produces.
Why does this effect of hollowpoints save lives? First, the sooner an attacker is stopped in his attack, the less likely a defender is to be killed. If a shooting takes 15 seconds to stop an attacker, that could mean the attacker still has time to stab his victim to death or return fire with his own gun. Second, fewer bullets necessary to be fired, and the more of those which stay inside the attacker, present less hazard to bystanders. In an intense situation, not every bullet will hit the intended target, and of those that do, roundnosed bullets are more likely to travel through an attacker with enough energy left over to kill a bystander. Third, one or two hollowpoints used to stop an attack means an attacker with two to four holes to stop bleed ing and repair. Four or five roundnose bullets are likely to mean six to ten holes, each leaking blood out and air in. Hollowpoint bullets are more likely to result in a live attacker after surgery. This has been documented by several police departments who switched from standard roundnose lead ammo to higher- powered hollowpoints. Their results: fewer dead cops, fewer dead crooks, and fewer dead bystanders, including fellow cops.
It is your life on the line; police use these bullets because they are effective at stopping perpetrators, and you should too. Realize that any bullet can kill, and any time you point a gun at someone your intent is to stop, but the possibility of killing exists. Whether you are in one gunfight or twenty, you want the best chances that you can reasonably obtain. If you are concerned about liability from using "killer bullets" then select the same brand that the local police force uses. This way you can always point out that you were just using what the police consider best.
) ''one shot stop''!
