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Jimro · November 1, 2012, 11:03 PM

Snuffy,

Spitzer soft points are different from spitzer FMJ's in how they react to tissue. Instead of staying together long enough to destabilize due to yaw the front starts opening up immediately, creating a mushroom effect where the center of gravity is moved forward (because the front of the bullet is coming backward) which allows the bullet to continue forward.

In an FMJ, the center of gravity remains in the rear, which is why it "flips" tail end forward in tissue.

You can see some good pictures over at Froggy's place: http://www.frfrogspad.com/terminal2.htm

Everything you never wanted to know about FMJ ammo from an AR-15: http://www.razoreye.net/mirror/ammo-...cle_Mirror.htm

Dr. Martin Fackler explains terminal ballistics: http://pw1.netcom.com/~dmacp/Fackler_review.html

One of the features behind hunting elephant with a 6.5 mm rifle was the round nose FMJ bullet used, the profile of the bullet kept the center of gravity close enough to the center that it used the high sectional density to push deep into the elephants brain. The old 318 Westley Richards cartridge had a "3 radius bullet" design that was also very good at straight line penetration on big game.

Here is a good article, about the old and discredited "energy dump" theory of terminal ballistics: http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs3.htm

Enjoy.

Jimro

November 1, 2012, 11:03 PM	#24
Jimro Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2006 Posts: 7,097	Snuffy, Spitzer soft points are different from spitzer FMJ's in how they react to tissue. Instead of staying together long enough to destabilize due to yaw the front starts opening up immediately, creating a mushroom effect where the center of gravity is moved forward (because the front of the bullet is coming backward) which allows the bullet to continue forward. In an FMJ, the center of gravity remains in the rear, which is why it "flips" tail end forward in tissue. You can see some good pictures over at Froggy's place: http://www.frfrogspad.com/terminal2.htm Everything you never wanted to know about FMJ ammo from an AR-15: http://www.razoreye.net/mirror/ammo-...cle_Mirror.htm Dr. Martin Fackler explains terminal ballistics: http://pw1.netcom.com/~dmacp/Fackler_review.html One of the features behind hunting elephant with a 6.5 mm rifle was the round nose FMJ bullet used, the profile of the bullet kept the center of gravity close enough to the center that it used the high sectional density to push deep into the elephants brain. The old 318 Westley Richards cartridge had a "3 radius bullet" design that was also very good at straight line penetration on big game. Here is a good article, about the old and discredited "energy dump" theory of terminal ballistics: http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs3.htm Enjoy. Jimro __________________ Machine guns are awesome until you have to carry one.