Do hollow point bullets have more stopping power than regular bullets?
The “stopping power” is actually energy transmitted to the body by the bullet. (85 foot pounds of energy is considered to be the minimum amount needed to stop a human) A fast moving light bullet tends to pass thru with out transferring enough energy to disrupt the body. A slow moving large bullet tends to transfer more energy. The purpose of a hollow point bullet, is to expand when it contacts tissue or other semi solids, that way it can transfer more energy. Modern hollow points expand better at slower velocities, giving them much greater “stopping power” than a standard full metal jacket bullet. BUT, only up to a point. if the fmj bullet is large enough and moving slow enough to begin with ( like the .45acp) then it normally has enough “stopping power” without a hollow point bullet. But, even though the FMJ .45acp does usually transfer enough energy to be a great manstopper, it can still over penetrate and endanger others, so the use of a good hollow point bullet is still mandated. S
