By Duane Thomas
It’s important to realize, when I say “hollowpoints for handloading,” I’m referring to loading pistol ammunition for accuracy, not handloading for self-defense. I’m a “handloads for practice/match use, factory ammo for carry” kinda guy.
With that out of the way, why might we choose to handload hollowpoints into our practice/match ammo? There is a theory going around that, all else being equal, same plating/coating/jacket thickness, same bullet weight, same powder type, same powder charge, a hollowpoint bullet will generally give better accuracy than a solid. This is because – and this becomes even more important the lighter the bullet – for a given bullet weight, a hollowpoint will have a considerably “fatter” ogive than a solid, since much of the bullet shape is taken up with empty air inside the hollow cavity. This gives more bearing surface to the bullet as it’s traveling down the bore. This should lead to greater accuracy. In 9mm for instance, 115-gr. 9mm bullets are notably “skinny” with little bearing surface. 115-gr. hollowpoints, if properly designed, aren’t.
I’m not saying running hollowpoints in your handloaded practice/match pistol ammo will absolutely give you better accuracy than, all else being equal, using solids. There are way too many variables at play to make such a blanket statement. I WILL say it’s definitely something worth trying.
