the naked prophet
Member
I've been thinking about terminal ballistics and hollowpoints. For marginal calibers especially, there is a balance between expansion and penetration - too much expansion and it doesn't penetrate far enough to reliably hit a vital organ; too little expansion and even though it penetrates far enough it's less likely to nick that blood vessel or crush enough tissue to cause a disabling wound in the necessary time frame (ie. before you get shot).
So the quandary is that you need to increase wounding area, without slowing down the bullet so much that it won't penetrate deep enough.
As the bullet expands, it's frontal area increases, and with that also the chances of nicking a blood vessel or a vital organ as well as the drag on the bullet. But can you increase the "wounding effective" cross sectional area of the bullet without increasing the "aerodynamic effective" cross sectional area?
The idea was inspired by pictures of a 158 grain LSWCHP that had expanded in water (I saw it at www.hipowersandhandguns.com - I believe Mr. Camp is a moderator here). It was smooth, with a circular parachute or mushroom shape. Compare that to the shape of a Golden Saber or Gold Dot that has expanded but is more petal-shaped, with space between the petals.
What these bullet makers have done is increased the wounding diameter of the bullet, while reducing the drag on the expanded bullet. I don't know if this was their intent (consciously or unconsciously), or if that was only a byproduct of the "expansion through clothing" problem.
If you take that to its logical conclusion, what would be the best bullet design? Something that would expand rapidly upon impact, with a very wide spread of sharp aerodynamic petals (the reduced drag would allow it to penetrate deep enough while the very wide spread ensures the widest possible wound track)?
I have an idea in mind, but I'd like to hear other opinions first.
So the quandary is that you need to increase wounding area, without slowing down the bullet so much that it won't penetrate deep enough.
As the bullet expands, it's frontal area increases, and with that also the chances of nicking a blood vessel or a vital organ as well as the drag on the bullet. But can you increase the "wounding effective" cross sectional area of the bullet without increasing the "aerodynamic effective" cross sectional area?
The idea was inspired by pictures of a 158 grain LSWCHP that had expanded in water (I saw it at www.hipowersandhandguns.com - I believe Mr. Camp is a moderator here). It was smooth, with a circular parachute or mushroom shape. Compare that to the shape of a Golden Saber or Gold Dot that has expanded but is more petal-shaped, with space between the petals.
What these bullet makers have done is increased the wounding diameter of the bullet, while reducing the drag on the expanded bullet. I don't know if this was their intent (consciously or unconsciously), or if that was only a byproduct of the "expansion through clothing" problem.
If you take that to its logical conclusion, what would be the best bullet design? Something that would expand rapidly upon impact, with a very wide spread of sharp aerodynamic petals (the reduced drag would allow it to penetrate deep enough while the very wide spread ensures the widest possible wound track)?
I have an idea in mind, but I'd like to hear other opinions first.