softnose

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact, causing a large amount of damage; soft-nosed.

   “When I got the rifle I shot a coyote in a trap, to see what effect the soft nose bullet would have. He was struck back of shoulder, and a hole torn, where bullet entered, about 3½ inches in diameter.”

   “The soft nose bullet if it is fired and hitting any hard object, especially bone, it flattens and becomes distorted and is no longer round and has a tearing force with it.”

   “The softnose technique involved placing an inhibitor on a blaster, which allowed a laser to travel at slower speeds, actually penetrating the target. Initially developed for mining purposes, they were quickly adapted by some greedy weapons manufacturer.”

noun

1. (countable)A bullet of this kind; (uncountable) bullets of this kind collectively.

   “The soft nose when it strikes a hard substance, mushrooms, would leave ten times as large a hole as a hard nose bullet striking the same substance. A soft nose bullet would leave a ragged edge.”

   “And get a couple of boxes of .40 caliber Glasers, too. And about a dozen boxes of .30 caliber softnoses for my SKS. You need some cash for all that?”

   “The softnoses were just as quickly outlawed, for the obvious reason that these weapons were designed to kill, and not to incapacitate.”

   “On the upside, I guess the sniper keeps the kids home at night. They're at that age where they prefer tear-assing around town to spending time at home. Judy's 15, and that means all she thinks about is boys. Too bad for her none of her knights in shining armor have been willing to risk a .270 Winchester softnose between the eyes.”