Expansion and Test Firing Results of hollow point bullets

Pictures of your expanded bullets and comments submitted are welcomed and will periodically be added to this area. This is of interest to many and helps with pin design selection. Please include velocity, pin style, test media type and alloy information.

George D.496hollow point bullet expansion results by George D.Lyman 224438 Bullet and fragments.. These pieces are what's found after shooting a water jug about 200 feet away at around 2300 FPS. (ww alloy) Cast bullets are the perfect small varmint bullet! Fred J.497hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Lyman factory "Devastator" nose pin. Too soft an alloy at this speed with the large cavity. Fred J.498hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Improved weight retention over bullet at 1225 FPS velocity. The 1000 FPS range works well with the cup point. Fred J.499hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Devastator mold with replacement cup point pin. Improved retained weight over the original pin design with a softer alloy at the same impact speed. Fred J.500hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack testing. Note that the bullet has controlled petaling from the faceted pin design. Huge expansion with bullet retaining most of its weight. It is hard to get a 9mm HP nose thick enough for proper feeding and yet expand like this with a traditional HP design Fred J.501hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Impact velocity of softer alloys at around 1000 fps is the cup point happy place! Fred J.502hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Moderate weight loss due to large nose opening with soft alloy. With a harder alloy this pin profile would better match this velocity. Fred J.503hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Nose fragmented and lost. A rounded pin tip can reduce this tendency. Fred J.504hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Notice how softer alloy with smaller pin tip alloys material to flow rather than shear off upon impact. This pin profile would perform somewhat better at a little lower velocity. Fred J.505hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Hybrid cup point / hollow point shed much of the nose but retained most of the bullet weight. Too fast for alloy used. Fred J.506hollow point bullet expansion results by Fred J.Wet pack test. Controlled expansion with very soft alloy at a moderate speed. This is an excellent hunting bullet profile. Wet pack testing showed about 18" penetration. Good pig bullet with 50-100 FPS more velocity. Ed Harris507hollow point bullet expansion results by Ed HarrisPile of bullets left over from Ed's water testing of soft alloy expansion with different pin profiles. (8-10 bhn alloys) www.hollowpointmold.com522hollow point bullet expansion results by www.hollowpointmold.comHP bullets and data provided by Brad W. HP pin is a cup point with a radius tip. www.hollowpointmold.com675hollow point bullet expansion results by www.hollowpointmold.comExample of the explosive fragmentation of the cast 22 hollow points, all the pieces shown were found still inside the gallon jug. Round fired was a Lyman 225107 loaded in a 22 Remington Jet from a 10" Contender pistol at about 2200 FPS.