Why Hollow Points Fly Straight

by
at Hornady Manufacturing Co. posted on January 10, 2017
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
hp-1.jpg

The starting point for an accurate bullet is the jacket concentricity. You have to have a bullet that has a very concentric jacket. If it gets over .001” it will definitely show up on the target. Generally speaking, spending a lot of time trying to get jackets under .0005” is not going to get you much because this will be covered up by a lot of other things.

From a pure physics standpoint, a hollow point does have some advantages for trying to achieve greater accuracy. A lot of bullets are “over stabilized” in the common barrel twist rates that are used in competition. When a bullet is over-stabilized it will take it longer to “go to sleep” or stabilize, following any disturbance at the point of muzzle exit. Hollow point bullets literally have no lead in a significant portion of the jacket at the front of the bullet. This results in a bullet that is longer for a given bullet weight than, say, a soft point bullet with lead all the way to the nose. The result of the longer bullet for the same weight, coupled with the hollow cavity in the nose, is a bullet with a more rearward center of gravity and a slightly lower stability.

The bottom line is the bullet goes to sleep quicker and you achieve better accuracy. You can go too far with this, however, and get a bullet that will fly point first but never go to sleep, never stop yawing, and it will shoot all over the paper.

Latest

Dkrealavidmasterseries Rifles 1
Dkrealavidmasterseries Rifles 1

Koenig Covers Rifles in Real Avid’s Five-Part Range Ready Video Series

Doug Koenig headlines Real Avid’s five-part Range Ready Rifle video series, covering optic mounting, zeroing, rifle optimization, field preparation and post-range maintenance.

Federal’s New Cosmic Clay Target Load Glows Under Black Light

Federal’s new Cosmic 12-gauge target load pairs a UV-fluorescent Podium wad with glowing hull printing, giving black-light clays shooters something to watch downrange.

Remington Adds Two New Loads To Premier Nitro Sporting Clays Line

Remington’s two new Premier Nitro Sporting Clays loads round out the 12-gauge 1-ounce offerings, adding No. 8 shot to a load previously available only in No. 7.5.

New: Comp-Tac International V2 Competition Holster

Comp-Tac’s International V2 thins the Kydex shell of its longstanding competition holster, deepens the optic cut and includes belt, paddle and drop-offset mounts at no extra cost.

Macie Page Wins Third Straight Ladies Helice World Championship

Team B&P shooter Macie Page wins third consecutive Ladies Helice world title in Braga, Portugal.

Gallery: The 2026 NRA National Championships in 16 Photos

Photos from the 2026 NRA National Pistol, Smallbore and High Power Championships, where Jon Shue won a fourth straight title and Mike O’Connor made NRA Lones Wigger Iron Man Trophy history.

Interests



Get the best of Shooting Sports USA delivered to your inbox.