Kinda off the path but, where those service loads tubulars? I think I heard somewhere that the British and jap loads tumbled. Just curious.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "tubular". Spitzer FMJ bullets will tend to swap ends after striking flesh, simply due to the centre of mass being toward the rear in flight and tending to get ahead of the point on the sharp deceleration in flesh. This was recognised very early, as was the effect on wounding potential, which led to some countries changing the design to push the COM even further to the rear to amplify the effect - Britain's Mk VII Ball load for the .303 being a case in point, with lightweight filler material inserted in the nose to push the COM back. Some bullets designs will also tend to break up as a result of the tumbling, amplifying the wounding potential even further.
The .30 Ball of 1906, and the S Ball for the 8x57 from which it was copied,are simple spitzer bullets, jacketed from the nose. They don't have a lightweight filler in the nose like the British Mk VII, nor do they have an air space or other mods to push the COM rearward. The M2 Ball is the same as the 1909 form of the .30 Ball load (there had been a couple of tweaks of the design between 1906 and 1909, including a cannelure introduced in 1909) save for having a gilding metal jacket instead of cupronickel.
FWIW US Ordnance had tested tubular bullets (of the Krnka-Hebler type) in the Krag, and a few in .45/70, back in about 1894, but I'm guessing that this wasn't what you had in mind.
