From solid copper designs to jacketed hollow-points, bullet technologies have continued to evolve over the years.
The question is, which of these bullet designs is best for self-defense?
One might wonder how does a bullet work?
These are engineered to open up and expand upon entering a target.
Most of these bullets employ sturdy jackets with petals designed to open up and create devastating wound channels.
The wider, expanded bullet causes more damage in the target, which in turn accelerates blood loss.
Faster blood loss means the attacker you were forced to shoot will stop his attack sooner.
Many of these designs still deliver excellent penetration and wounding.
The additional requirement for some law enforcement scenarios is a barrier-blind bullet that also penetrates auto glass or drywall.
Second, a projectile must be able to create a massive wound channel with devastating trauma.
load in 9mm leaves the muzzle at 1,150 fps with 364 ft.-lbs.
of energy and penetrates to 11 in bare gelatin.
The expanded bullet diameter is a whopping .88, with 100 percent weight retention.
The Flex Tip utilizes a polymer-filled cavity to prevent clogging in clothing, which in turn ensures consistent expansion.
Other bullets retain the hollow point but employ monometal construction.
Included in that list isNormas Monolithic Hollow Point(MHP) and Barnes TAC-XPD.
The result is an incredibly solid construction that performs well against barriers and is as tough as they come.
These bullets also offer incredible weight retention and devastating wound trauma.
Non-Expanding Projectiles
Several more recent additions to the defensive bullet category includeBlack Hills Honey Badgerand Inceptor ARX.
Neither bullet is meant to expand, but instead create a rotational force that produces impressive wound channels.
Unlike hollow-point bullets, theres nothing to clog a cavity and prevent expansion.
Black Hills Honey Badger utilizes a bullet designed by Lehigh Defense with a three-bladed tip that cant be clogged.
Not only do the Honey Badger bullets perform against barriers like clothing, they also dont overpenetrate.
Accurate and lethal, Honey Badger loads are available in everything from .380 Auto to .45-70 Government.
Inceptors ARX features an injection-molded bullet with three flutes and a blend of copper and polymer materials.
The bullet design is meant to deliver devastating kinetic energy, particularly on tissue by creating maximum hydraulic displacement.
This works through centrifugal motion, which in turn causes lateral force dispersion.
In other words, energy gets dumped rapidly around the bullet as it enters the target.
Conclusion
So there you have it … a good overview of todays top defensive handgun rounds.
