Reader question, asked June 2026
Short answer: They’re very different materials. Wood is rigid and breaks apart. Tissue is soft, elastic and mostly water, so bullets expand, tumble and slow down in it in ways a board can’t show you.
The details
- Hollow points need a water-like material to expand. Wood or drywall can plug the cavity, so the bullet acts like a solid.
- That’s why testers use calibrated ballistic gelatin, which behaves roughly like muscle. The FBI standard is 12 to 18 inches of penetration.
- A round that goes through several boards tells you little about how it performs in a body. It does tell you that rounds can pass through walls.
- Always know your target and what’s behind it.
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