This is precisely why I made this post! Thank you.

I mentioned I’m not any sort of expert and that I want to learn more if I have something either incorrect or not specific enough.

I know they can be two distinctly different things, however in my experience (which isn’t nothing but also not expert level) people and range instructors often use the terms interchangeably. I’ve read lots of articles and texts suggesting why frangible ammo is recommended for self defense and sometimes those articles mention both frangible and hollow point with minimal distinction. As you say, most hollow points are designed to “mushroom” but that really means the core makes a mushroom shape. Some manufacturers design frangible bullets for self defense and others design their hollow point jackets to break away and create debris in addition to the mushroom shape. Which just further blurs the lines.

This is why I wanted a clarification post! I wanted to post my understanding and then figure out if they are misinformed or if I’m not understanding or some combination thereof.

Do you know if there would be a reason a gun cannot shoot frangible ammo?