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Over on TTAG’s Rumble channel we’ll be doing regular “The Truth About…” videos. I promise with better audio quality than the first one, The Truth About Hollow Points, embedded below. The Truth About…buying a silencer, GLOCKs, barrel length and accuracy, CCW holders, subsonic ammunition, the AR-15, machine gun ownership, etc. Don’t hesitate to email us or comment below with topic requests.

Episode 1: The Truth About Hollow Points. Looking for hollow point ammo to call your own? It’s at Brownells.

[On some mobile browsers the Rumble video embed may not work. Click HERE to watch the video if you see an error bar above.]

 

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55 COMMENTS

  1. When it comes to ammo right now…Beggars cannot be choosers. Some auction knucklehead had 20 rounds of defense 9 mm for BIN $150 + shipping. C’mon man.

    • As long as no one takes the bait he’ll be sitting on them right up until he either needs to use them or Joe bans internet commerce of ammo in any form.

      • Yea, then you’ll be begging for them in person…

        Ammo prices are not going to get cheaper people, nothing ever does. It’s been on the rise for a straight decade, or if you really want to get technical, since it’s invention. Aint economics fun?

        • Well, there’s inflation-expensive and then there’s Democrat-expensive.

          The former is inevitable in a fiat-money economy, but can be dealt with easily enough in the ordinary course of things. The latter is not inevitable, and can be 100% reversed, making ammo MUCH cheaper in the short run — but only by removing Democrats.

  2. We need to start forcing the main stream media to acknowledge the ordinary everyday citizens who protect their loved ones and others when the local law enforcement can’t or in rare cases won’t be there, or have no indication of what’s happening or going to happen. They can’t be everywhere and be responsible for every citizen all at once.
    This might be the thing to help reinforce the need for the 2nd.

    • After 4 years of slander, libel and election fraud from the democRat Party and their media cohorts followed by a much needed pipeline being shut down and thousands of jobs lost and a border wall construction shut down while a wall of US Troops was erected around the marxist white house everyone who voted against demoCrap should know by now that You And Yours And Your Rights Are Expendable.

      What gets the headlines is silliness like a march to remove Ted Cruz for traveling to Cancun like thousands do when serious weather is coming, etc. A Big Nothing Burger.

      The spoiled brat democRat Party squeals like stuck pigs over nothing and it’s all done to divert attention from their political dirt. Instead of so called pro gun rights people with the megaphones firing back at diversions it’s let’s keep talking about guns and ignore the approaching storm.
      What is not coming from any so called gun rights people is a constant demand for the democRat Party to be held Monetarily Liable for their long history of race based atrocities. Race based atrocities that include Gun Control. You can bet the farm if the democRat Party had the same goods on the Republican Party the call for Reparations would be deafening and unrelenting.

      One big problem is placid RINOs like mitch mcconnell et al always dropping to their knees and kissing the democRat Party ring. There is no calling the democRat Party out. Only time I hear someone exposing the racist history of the democRat Party is when Joe Pags gives a history lesson on his radio program. The racist history of the democRat Party is its Achilles Heel.

      The above it all pompous lily white joe biden did not hesitate to tell gullible history illiterate Black Americans that if they did not vote for him they are not Black.
      The biden line of sht was allowed to stand because No Republican fired back with…”A Black American belonging to the democRat Party makes as much sense as a Jew belonging to the nazi party. That’s the truth and that truth is Chiseled.

      • well, yes, but one could also argue the republican party is part of the problem. It’s not one side or the other in politics, and both these greedy power houses need to go. They are the farthest thing from centric and centric is what American politicians should be. You said it yourself, RINO’s are a problem, and 90% of republicans, are RINO’s.

        • he older the political party, the more corrupt said party is. This is true for all political parties.

      • “election fraud from the democRat Party“

        Don’t you ever get tired of lying?

        Either put up or shut up, post your so-called ‘evidence’ and the citations to support it, or accept reality as it is.

        Trump lost the election, and lost over 60 times in the United States judicial system, the end.

        • Yea, cuz those are such trustworthy things…

          There is evidence, you and your cronies just refuse to accept it.

          Only an idiot would get excited about this and defend the same party known for throwing out votes all throughout our history…

          How about you take your own advice and shut up miner. Go back to your trolling lol account now…

        • As noted prior, hundreds of citizens signed affidavits, under penalty of perjury, attesting to the election fraud they witnessed. They all liars? Still waiting for you to sign an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, stating there was no election fraud…

        • Yet they couldn’t come up with a legitimate REAL charge to impeach him with the first time, and tried to ILLEGALLY impeach him the second time. Oh yeah, the Democrats are reals upstanding folks. They supported slaverly, started the Civil War, denied blacks their civil rights, and have admitted to stealing elections and voter fraud going back decades at the very least. And now they want to take our guns away and turn us into a socialist paradise. Yeah, what a fine bunch of upstanding Americans.

  3. The truth is that hollow points do NOT always expand, for a variety of reasons. And when they don’t they act just like a fmj. The video should have pointed that out, and explained the common issues that can cause non-expansion.

  5. I’ll give 2 personal examples without naming brands, both 9mm and both recovered:

    1. 147grn JHP fired from around 10ft filled up with leather and clothing on contact and did not expand.

    2. 135grn JHP with polymer tip fired from around 35ft at an approx 10* angle at steel car door. Nose collapsed inwards, no expansion, bullet passed completely thru and came to rest inside the opposite door.

    Neither of these outcomes are uncommon. It should also be noted that jhp expansion is heavily dependent on the precise design of the projectile and the velocity at impact even in soft tissue. There are no guarantee’s of expansion in all circumstances, just as there are no guarantee’s with fmj or any other projectile predicted or expected performance. Just a few days ago, a LEO put 12 rounds in an attacker at close range, several were center mass chest hits, before the attacker went down. Which was a graphic demonstration that the target has a lot to say about the effectiveness or safety of any ammunition.

    • That is why the bigger the bullet, the bigger the hole which to a faster rate of blood loss which leads to the threat being stopped faster. All the improved expansion done to the 9mm has also been done to the .45acp HP, therefore, do not risk your life and go big or get buried.

  6. In using a 22LR for raccoon hunting the solids would knock them out of the tree , most times it would be a dog and coon fight. Using hollow points most hit the ground dead.
    I had a Corbon 115gr 9mm blow up when it it the head of a large coyote, I had to shoot it again. I’ve noticed that about the 9mm, seems everything needs shot twice.

  7. Well, you certainly hit all the marketing points in favor of hollow points. But let’s inject some truth into things here. First, the point of having to shoot somebody is to stop their bad behavior. If you are properly trained, you don’t just shoot somebody once, no matter what kind of ammo you are using. Twice, or even three times is the way to do it; or until they stop whatever bad behavior they’re doing. That means proper hits in the places that will do the most damage possible, like the torso and the head.

    Second, even using the best defense ammo available today, there is no guarantee that a hollow point will expand, and in a high percentage of case they don’t. They act just like FMJ because the cavity closes up instead of expanding. A good jacketed softpoint or even a plain lead bullet with a wide flat nose is more effective. We’ve been proving that in the game fields for decades.

    The FBI has stated many times over the years that collateral damage to bystanders is blown way out of proportion to the real thing when it comes to hitting somebody on a shoot through. Bystanders are far more likely to get hit by stray bullets from outright misses than they are from a shoot through incident. The incidence of misses is far higher than it should be as well, since police training in marksmanship leaves a lot to be desired across the nation. The average civilian is a better shot most cops because they spend more time at the range practicing than most cops do. I’ve shot against cops in combat match competition enough to know that is a stone cold fact, and that includes most of the federal boys as well.

    So, I don’t rely on HP bullets. I use a proper caliber that can throw a large enough and heavy enough bullet at a velocity that I can control, and I never shoot just once. Always at least twice, and never just to wound. Shoot to stop the fight, and if the bad guy dies, that’s his fault for starting the ruckus in the first place.

    • I am glad someone else tends to agree w/ me. While I am not anti-hp then tend to be overrated. In anything under 9mm para they are a no-go at least for me.

      Truncated cones and wadcutters (semi or full) tend to strike the balance best when it comes to penetration and expansion.

      And this has not been mentioned yet so I will now. Many semi-auto firearms (mostly hand guns) struggle with hp’s and flatnosed ammo . . . still in 2021 its a “thing” but it has gotten better than in decades past.

      While the vast majority of LEA’s use hp’s I am willing to bet money I can find at least one that does not, especially overseas. That claimed seemed to be a bit overstated.

  8. Hornady critical duty. I used to carry federal in muh .40, but since going SIG everything out of the safe is 9mm, so it’s HCD all day err day.

    Now for the pop-corn on all those “what if” warriors who have only shot paper their whole life.

    • Nothing wrong with either, I preferred critical defense as whenever I loading anything with a choice of ammo since penetration was not as big an issue (car doors windshields etc not a consideration outside of work) but so long as it feeds and gets deep enough the rest is just being on target and hoping q/c was on point to have things open as designed and reality doesn’t get in the way too much.

  9. I dare say there are a number of us who read these posts who have ‘seen the elephant’ as the saying goes. Having had occasion to have to defend myself, I learned long ago to ignore most of what passes for wisdom when it comes to gun use. I make my choices based on what actually works in the real world, not what some advertiser says on the back of of a gun magazine.

    Personally I wouldn’t be caught dead carrying a 9mm, or most of the guns sold that shoot it. If it don’t start with a 4 in the caliber, I avoid it. A number of my friends who relied on the 9 over the years, and lived to reflect on that choice, don’t use it any more. Go with handloads in .44 Spl, .45 Colt, or .45 ACP, or a mid-range .44 Mag and you won’t ever have reason to second guess your choice for defense.

    • John,

      How about .40 S&W since that has a “4” in it? A .40 caliber, 180 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity around 1,000 feet-per-second doesn’t seem to be a slouch by any stretch of the imagination.

      Full disclosure: I love .44 Magnum and that is my standard camping, hiking, and hunting self-defense caliber. It doesn’t blow wind up my skirt, though, for everyday carry. (Full-size .44 Magnum revolvers are simply too thick and too heavy to be practical for everyday carry.)

      • I regularly carried a .44 Mag Model 69 L frame loaded with mid-range loads, which is a 240 gr. RNFP at 1000 fps from the 4″ barrel. That gun is a 5 shot, L frame that is easy to carry all day long, very accurate with that load, and I could drop a couple of speed loaders into my pocket if I felt the need. A LOT of people are carrying that one (or the 2.5″ barrel version of it) with that same mid-range load. It is a very popular carry piece, and I guarantee that 240 gr load will f**k up your day!

        • John,

          “… I guarantee that 240 gr load will f**k up your day!”

          I have to agree with you. That sentiment aligns with one of my favorite proverbs, “There is no replacement for displacement.”

          In terms of self-defense against human attackers, I think a .44 Special load shooting something like a 200 grain full wadcutter around 1,000 feet-per-second would be incredibly effective. Alas I could not find such a load before the present ammunition panic, much less now.

        • It is hard to find properly loaded .44 Spl even when supplies are plentiful. Nobody loads it in anything but target loads to speak of. I have never fired a round of factory .44 Spl, and very few of .44 Mag. I prefer to load my own. Usually .44 Mag mid-range with 240 gr. RNFP lead, or 240/250 gr. SWC at 1000 fps in .44 Spl (Skeeter Skelton’s old duty load).

  11. The truth is penetration is king and most hollowpoints don’t penetrate deeply enough.

    Source FBI handgun wounding factors and effectiveness, 1986, the holy bible of terminal ballistics.

  12. False. Everybody knows that after it kills your body, the hollow point then kills your soul. Also, every time a hollow point is fired, one baby and two puppies die.

    • That’s why I load hollow point silver bullets. I don’t want to just kill the sould, I want to burn the soul beyond any possible recovery. Never know when you might meet a vampire, zombie, or werewolf. I also hand paint crosses on my bullets, and dip them in garlic and pork fat. That last is just in case I meet one of those Allahu Akbar guys.

  13. Googling laws is pretty easy. Come on guys…..Hollow point use/possession is LEGAL in NJ as long as they are not used in the commission of another crime.

    “N.J.S.A 2C:39-3f(1) limits the possession of hollow nose ammunition. However, there is a general exception that allows for the purchase of this ammunition but restricts the possession of it to specified locations. This exception provides that:

    (2) Nothing is sub section f (1) shall be construed to prevent a person from keeping such ammunition at his dwelling, premises or other land owned or possessed by him, or from carrying such ammunition from the place of purchase to said dwelling or land . . . [N.J.S.A 26:39-3g (2)].

    Thus a person may purchase this ammunition and keep it within the confines of his property. Sub section f (1) further exempts from the prohibited possession of hollow nose ammunition “persons engaged in activities pursuant to N.J.S.A 2C:39-6f. . . .”
    N.J.S.A 26:39-3f. (1).”

    • You should go work for the liberal media with those twisted facts.

      Go watch the video again, unless English isn’t your first language, the presenter stated, “hollowpoints are illegal in NJ and cities like San francisco….”. That is a falsehood as proved by the legal code I pasted.

      I stated nothing about “Very restrictive about who can carry”. But again I can see that could be confusing to you as your reading/listening comprehension appear to be severely lacking.

  18. Good words… crappy graphics. This would have been great for newbie education (which I assume was the goal) if you ACTUALLY showed FMJs in comparison to HPs and examples to match the narrative. Instead it was just bulk still photos of HPs. Good intent and Jeremy is a good speaker but the graphics not well thought out.

  19. As someone famously said, “A 9mm may or may not expand, but a .45 sure as hell won’t shrink!”

    Furthermore, some of us live in states that ban hollowpoint ammo or restrict it to range use (hoillowpoints aren’t allowed for home defense or CCW here in the PRNJ, only for punching holes in paper, And nobody gets CCW permits in NJ except cops anyway, so that’s a moot point, but if you’re lucky enough to win a CCW permit in the which-powerful-politician-do-you-know lottery, you have to use FMJ)

  21. A DuckDuckGo dot come search for “history of banned dumdum bullets”:
    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=history+of+banned+dumdum+bullets&atb=v77-1&ia=web

    No story about expanding bullets is complete without at least mentioning the 1899 Hague Declaration concerning Expanding Bullets… the British first made expanding bullets in Dum Dum India, so expanding bullets were often originally referred to as “dumdum bullets” as per where they were made.
    http://www.weaponslaw.org/instruments/1899-hague-declaration
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet

    And no story on expanding ammo would be complete without explaining how FMJ .38’s were failing to stop the crazed drugged up natives the British were fighting, so under the constraints of no expanding “dumdum” bullets being allowed for the military, the larger diameter .45 quickly arose as the superior and much preferred round for putting attacking enemies down. When you are stuck with FMJ’s, bigger is better, and this also explains why experts speak of the improvements of .38’s and 9mm’s in stopping a threat, i.e. Hollow Point expanding “dumdum” versions are much more effective than their FMJ versions for all the reasons outlined in the video.

    Any story on Hollow Points versus FMJ’s should probably include the “dumdum” / 1899 Hague Declaration history and how the .45 originally surpassed the .38 in military loads, where the use of expanding HP’s were / are banned…

    Just sayin’. 🙂

  22. It should also be mentioned that during the Philippine Insurrection, when US Army troops were fighting against the Moro tribes, they ran into the same anemic performance levels of .38 cal ammunition with the .38 Long Colt. That was the official US handgun round at the time, having superceded the .45 Colt SAA with the Colt Double Action. The Moro tribesmen had a nasty habit of chewing narcotic leaves before going into battle, and the .38 just didn’t have the juice to stop them. Much like today when somebody gets wired on PCP.

    The Army solve that problem by dusting off thousands of Colt SAA revolvers in storage and sending to the troops. The .45 Colt cartridge put the Moros down quite easily. The Army adopted the M1909 Colt revolver in .45 Colt in 1909 largely as a result of the Philippine action. Of course, the Browning 1911 in .45 ACP was adopted in 1911 to replace the revolver.

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  25. After my usual unscientific testing of various ammo in my 3 1/2″ barrel .380 I settled on loading it with 95gr blunt nose FMJ. Not likely over penetration will be a problem in my location.
    00 buck in 12 gauge is my primary.

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