Quote:
Originally Posted by sheephunter
Flint, if you actually read what I posted, you'd have seen that I said that there were basically two wound channels, a permanent caused by the bullet going through the flesh and a secondary, non-permanent that is a result of that "energy". While the two work together to shock the animal, in all but the most rare of cases, it's only the permanent wound channel that causes death. The non-permanent wound channel can cause a temporary disruption of organs, nervous system and such....a knock down factor of sorts but only in very rare cases does energy actually kill when a bullet strikes an animal.
Energy can also be used as part of the calculation in comparing penetration of equal bullets. Manufacturers really don't need to include the energy as energy in tables is a direct result of velocity and mass. Throw a one pound rock twice as fast as another one pound rock and it has twice as much energy. Energy is one of those over used and little understood terms when it comes to bullets. It was important in the days before controled expansion bullets but honestly has far less importance these days. Energy does not kill nor does it have a universal effect on the penetration of all bullets.
No need to be condescending, I'm just passing along what I've learned along the way. BTW, the 53 year old age card has little effect on this 50 year old....  |
I believe that energy has a bigger part in killing the animal than what you think you know. After harvesting 98 big game animals (non guided---in fact I have never been guided on a hunt) and guided many hunters from around the world over the past seven years, I believe that energy kills equally as the actual wound channel. Of course most hunters know that energy is measured by bullet diameter X bullet weight X bullet volocity X distance. Once there is impact from the bullet the animal receives a shock wave so immense (something that we couldn't imagine) that vital organs are tramatized to the extent of shutting down the entire nervous system. This paralizes the animal and it falls to the ground, hence the term knockdown power. Some animals fall, some fall regain their composure and flee, and others just flee and fall at a further distance. Why do some animals regain after falling and flee or just fleeing is not known. I can only speculate that some animals have a higher pain threshold than others. Bloodshot is caused by bullet shock and I have witnessed bloodshot soft tissue damage from one end of the animal to the other. (external and internal) To state a "temporary disruption" is rather a passive/mild way of discribing what little energy does to an animal.