Why Flat nosed bullets?

[shooter1911]

A long time ago we (the gun shop/range where I worked) did some tests on phone books comparing .45 caliber 230 gr RN vs 230 gr truncated cone (flat point ) and flat point bullets cut a .45 caliber hole through the phone book as if it were put on a drill press while the RN bullets pushed through the paper but didn't really destroy much. Yes there was a hole,but you could push the paper back and read most of what was there while the flat point bullets the paper was gone, nothing was pushed, things were cut.

This is exactly why Col. Jeff Cooper touted flat nose bullets for 45s and the then new 40 caliber that he was helping develop. For some reason the concept never really took off in the 45. I guess it had something to do with the hard ball success in WW1, 2, and Nam which is hard to argue..

 

[BobC357]

All I know is that wad cutters and semi-wad cutters punch nice clean holes in paper targets without tearing around the edges.