kraky,
Expansion starts with MOST expanding bullets the instant the bullet hits an animal's skin. It doesn't matter whether the bullet is plastic-tipped, softpoint or hollow-point--if the bullet's going to open up at all it starts on impact, and is usually fully expanded by the time it penetrates its own length.
The exception is a few "target" type bullets like the Berger VLD, with a long "hollow point" tip that's actually completely or nearly closed, with some air-space between the tip and the lead core. These normally puncture the skin without expanding, then as they penetrate a couple inches the thin, air-filled tip of the jacket collapses rather than "mushrooms," and the bullet expands.
Why would the plastic tips on Barnes bullets be "tougher" than on jacketed bullets?
