Penetration is paramount.

by Jared, Thursday, May 18, 2017, 08:45 (2684 days ago) @ Bri A

The average 300 gr .45-70 bullet is basically a pure lead hollowpoint with a thin jacket. Most either fragment or flatten out to the size and shape of a 50 cent peice. None of which equates penetration. If a load will not consistently exit a deer on a double lung shot the bulllet is probably to soft. I have killed around a dozen deer and hogs with the 405 Remington or 400 gr Speer at 1800-2000 with no complaints. They penetrate great and still expand.

People like the energy dump theories but in reality velocity and bullet shape are what cause damage and tissue destruction. Anything below say 700 FPS makes a narrow wound Chanel with a small stretch cavity. So on those bullets that "dump" their energy in the first few inches have massive wound channels right at first quickly taper off to a small hole until the bullet stops.

On a larger harder to slow bullet the bullet expands at first making a larger cavity but doesn't have the rapid velocity loss that a lighter softer bullet would have. The now larger expanded bullet is traveling faster causing damage throughout the animal until it exits.

Personally I would rather have a coke can size wound all the way through an animal then a basketball size wound the first 1/3 then a pencil size the rest of the way. You will get some more spectacular kills with the latter, also some spectacular losses. With the former they may or may not drop at the shot but won't go far and you have two holes leaking blood thus causing more consistent results in the long run.