NCJ Number
248702
Date Published
July 1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This brief outlines the attributes of two general classes of police duty-pistol ammunition, hollow-point and ball, without favoring either type.
Abstract
Hollow-point ammunition is designed with a cavity centrally located on the forward end of the bullet, so as to cause the bullet to increase in diameter on impact with an object. Ball ammunition is designed with a tough metal covering or jacket over a central core material that is designed to remain intact on impact. Consequently, it does not expand on impact as does the hollow-point bullet. Compared to ball ammunition, hollow-point ammunition penetrates shorter distances in impacted objects; travels through an object less often; cannot penetrate various types of barriers, including body armor; imparts more energy and damage to an object ; ricochets less; is more effective at rapidly incapacitating a person; and is significantly more expensive. Compared to hollow-point ammunition, ball ammunition has greater penetration in people and barriers, including body armor; imparts less energy and damage to an object; ricochets more and with larger particles; feeds more reliably in semi-automatic weapons; is significantly less effective in rapidly incapacitating a person; and is significantly less expensive. These attributes of the two types of duty ammunition were obtained from and summarize the results of several studies performed by the FBI, various ammunition manufacturers, and other independent investigations.