Not Good: U.S. Military Switching To Hollow Point Bullets

Fact checked
hollow point bullets

Many are very, very concerned that the United State’s army has announced that they are switching to hollow point bullets.  The news exploded at the Modular Handgun System Industry Day held in Picatinny, New Jersey on July 7, 2015.  The event was, in part, held to announce the replacement of not only the Beretta M9 handgun, but also the ammunition.  As soon as the announcement was made, a military lawyer got on stage and tried to explain why this is such a “great idea”.

According to TTAG [1]:

The U.S. did not agree to a ban on expanding ammo by international treaty. And the the Army’s prepared to defend the decision in the court of international law and opinion. His core argument: countries that will denounce the use of hollow-point use the hollow points for their police forces.

The Army said it will rely on FBI data to evaluate bids for the new ammunition. It also said that it knows it will get heat for the move, but claimed the administration supported the change at the highest levels at the Department of Defense. In other words, this is as close to a done deal as it can get without a signed contract.

The question is: what about rifle ammo? We’re looking into it. Watch this space.

Hollow point bullets are very lethal.  According to Wikipedia [2]:  “A hollow-point bullet is an expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip often intended to cause the bullet to expand upon entering a target in order to decrease penetration and disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target. It is also used for controlled penetration, where over-penetration could cause collateral damage (such as on an aircraft).

In target shooting, they are used for greater accuracy and reduction of smoke, fouling, and lead vapor exposure, as hollow point bullets have an enclosed base while traditional bullets have an exposed lead base. In self-defense, hollow points are designed to increase in diameter once within the target, thus maximizing tissue damage and blood loss or shock, and to remain inside the target, thereby transferring all of the kinetic energy to the target (whereas some fraction would remain in the bullet if it passed through instead).”

Sources:

[1] http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/07/robert-farago/breaking-u-s-army-switching-to-hollow-point-ammunition/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow-point_bullet

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

11 Comments

  1. ugh can we stop scare tactics on firearms? MIlitary and civilians should have access to hollow points. Dude it is not like it is dragon fire

  2. ugh can we stop scare tactics on firearms? MIlitary and civilians should have access to hollow points. Dude it is not like it is dragon fire

  3. I thought this was gonna be a horror story about a shortage of ammo due to their decision. He’ll it better for them to use hollow points than fmj for defense. Fmj for target.

  4. I thought this was gonna be a horror story about a shortage of ammo due to their decision. He’ll it better for them to use hollow points than fmj for defense. Fmj for target.

  5. The so called ‘many are concern’ thought the US signed the treaty banning hollow points when in reality the US didn’t. These rounds also limit collateral damage in close quarters too.

  6. The so called ‘many are concern’ thought the US signed the treaty banning hollow points when in reality the US didn’t. These rounds also limit collateral damage in close quarters too.

  7. Dude I’m a boring old civilian and my 9mm is loaded with hollow points. The whole point of a gun IS to be lethal, so why shouldn’t the military (you know, the folks whose job is to kill people) be more lethal. Hell, hollow points will kill quicker and more painlessly.

  8. Dude I’m a boring old civilian and my 9mm is loaded with hollow points. The whole point of a gun IS to be lethal, so why shouldn’t the military (you know, the folks whose job is to kill people) be more lethal. Hell, hollow points will kill quicker and more painlessly.

    • Hollowpoints won’t kill more painlessly, or even quicker – but they’ll make more wounds stop someone quick instead of killing slowly by infection. Only about 25% of gunshot wounds THROUGH THE HEART inflicted with handguns are lethal now – the big difference I see is that this is more likely to make someone fall over quickly, rather than allowing them to return fire while wounded. In a battlefield setting, the infection will be a primary lethal mechanism, and this won’t help with that any. It won’t meaningfully decrease the suffering of enemy casualties – but it’ll prevent them from causing friendly ones, which is a good thing on many levels.

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