I'm not sure if this post should be in the Target Shooting or General forum but on balance I thought the pool of knowledge & experience of the contributors to the Collectable section might provide an answer to the following.

When a round nosed pellet is fired at the painted target plate of a bell target it leaves a central dot or spot but what's the explanation for this, why dosent the leading part of the pellets nose displace the paint at the centre of impact?

Is it because the paint is indeed initially displaced but the rest of the face of the pellet impacts the target before the paint has fully flowed away from the impact area & as the pellet is hollow based the greater mass of lead around the circumference collapses on the head but the lower central mass dosent hit the centre of impact so hard & therefore leaves the central dot?

Maybe Ive not explained this very well but is it something along those lines or am I way off? Just wonder what the explanation really is.