[Stinky Coyote]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

i think you mixing two subjects, energy transfer requires the bullet to expand with enough force to cause trauma to the animal ( which is why solids penetrate well but do little in the sense of shock to the animal unless they hit bone).
A big round bullet like the .44 mag 240.gr. Imparts a great deal of energy but unless it is constructed well will not penetrate nearly as far as a 6.5 bullet. Which due to it's design will penetrate much farther but will impart it's energy slower (we are talking micro seconds here). A big heavy over constructed bullet say from a 50 bmg may not even expand but due to it's mass will impart a large amount of energy into the target.

So for a visual let's pick on a poor little 2# gopher

the 44 mag will over penetrate and possibly kill the gopher ( which has not been my experience but.)( low velocity has a lot to due with the bullet not expanding)

the .243 with a 85 gr. Bullet will launch the above gopher several meters into the air and will over penetrate but will give a great show and with the proper bullet will even begin to expand. (velocity is your friend in this case)

the 50 will kill the gopher as well but not from bullet expansion but from pure mass and velocity to a certain extent.


Now if you use these same bullets on say an elk

the .44 may penetrate enough strictly because of mass but due to low velocity will probably not be the best choice on the north end of a south bound elk or even a perfect broad side shot. Due to slow velocity and over expansion.

The .243 round would work on a broad side shot but may due to velocity and bullet construction work more like a grenade then a good hunting round. As for a north to south shot with no bone the bullet would probably stop in the gut somewhere. Imparting a bunch of energy but not enough penetration

the .50 would work either north to south or east to west bound shot. But due to the construction of the bullet may or may not expand but because of the overall mass and velocity of the bullet the critter would probably not go to far.

So what does this tell you?

Mass is a great thing, long pointy bullets that spread mass/energy through out the critter are great (6.5) if partnered with proper velocities.

Short round musket ball bullets may do the same thing but there are much better choices especially if your shooting at longer ranges .(44)

big heavy bullets especially fired at velocity can and do a lot of damage and due to there overall mass may not even have to expand to create the same hole through an animal but they may not expand rapidly enough to actually cause trauma to the animal, so in fact are just big solids.(.50)

is this always true and gospel? Heck no, not even close but if you match your rifle/cartridge/bullet, keep the velocities reasonable and use the properly constructed bullet combination for the distance at which your going to harvest a game animal, then all is good.

In the end shoot what you feel will work, be open to advice and enjoy the day.

👍