What is the difference?

[Ohio Rusty]

Isn't a hollow point bullet just a ball ammo bullet with a hole drilled in the end? What is under that copper jacket of a ball ammo round,...... Lead? Just curious ....
Ohio Rusty

[Wayne Smith]

Depends on how it is made, Rusty. Generally Ball ammo is lead wrapped in gliding metal from the tip, leaving the base lead. Hollow point rifle ammo is typically lead wrapped from the base, leaving the tip open. Most hollow point pistol ammo is the same, wrap the lead from the base, leaving the tip lead, form a hollow point in the tip, usually by swaging.

I'm guessing a cast boolit is obvious???

[garandsrus]

Rusty,

I have heard people say that you should never hollow point a bullet that also has an exposed lead base, like military ball ammo. The reason is that it may be possible for the lead to get squirted out of the bullet jacket, leaving the jacket somewhere in the barrel. The next shot is the problem!

I don't know of anyone that has proven that this can (or does) happen, but to be on the safe side, it isn't recommended...

John

[9.3X62AL]

Ditto to Garandsrus. I am a great believer in Murphy's Law, and that it gets no plea bargains. Add also that in any firearms-related venture, Murphy is naively optimistic.

[dakotashooter2]

The jacket on "ball" ammo may be thicker and likely uniform in thickness throughout while the thickness of an HP jacket may vary from base to tip depending on what is expected of the bullet. Varmint bullets for which "explosive expansion and minimal penetrationis desired will have a thin jacket while big game bullet may have a heavier or tapered jacket to allow for a more controlled expansion and greater penetration.

[Blackwater]

Dakota's right, as are Al and Garands. Simply hollowpointing a bullet won't necessarily make a bullet expand well, since typical ball ammo has a pretty thick jacket so as to allow it to shoot through obstructions, and hopefully, kill the bad guy behind it. Thus, while the hollow point would be making the bullet try to expand, the thick jacket will be making it resist that same expansion, and in the end, it'll depend on the velocity of the bullet and the hardness of the core and thickness of the jacket, and the hardness of the jacket as well (some are mild steel vs. lead of any stripe), that will determine the outcome of what degree of expansion, if any, occurs with a hollow pointed ball round. The Chinky and Rusky HP stuff for the 7.62x39 doesn't expand very well, for instance, and I think it's probably because of those mild steel jackets. In other words, "it all depends on the velocity and just what particular bullet you're using, and what size and depth hollow point you're drilling into it.

It used to be great fun, when I was young, to see what kind of "improvements" I could make in some of my ammo, which was .22 LR almost entirely. As I grew bigger, I tried stuff with bigger calibers, mostly just for kicks and giggles, and just "to see," but if it ain't already hollowpointed, then I've come to the conclusion, for myself at least, that I ain't gonna' hollow point it .... maybe with the single exception of cast bullets for hunting only. Then .... maybe .... just maybe.