Penetration and Wound Ballistics

This is an extremely advanced section. The pages found here contain in depth concepts as well as detailed calculators on bullet penetration and wound ballistics

Careful Penetration understanding, combined with equally profound knowledge of Bullet material constants like lead, Copper or Brass would lead to certain Recommendations which bullets should be used on certain Targets, whether small or large, soft or big, to put the ,,Best Bullet" question to some Rest. Each Bullet has its own Merits on certain Targets, but misses them on quite different Targets. To choose the right Bullet with appropriate Speed for the given Target it the Art.

While important, penetration is not the be all nor end all of a bullet's terminal performance - period. You need enough so that the bullet will get to where intended - but not too much so that it exits and wastes all its energy somewhere else. In my opinion,

No.1 in importance is shot placement. I've made this very clear in my book, 'The Perfect Shot' No animal will survive for more than a few minutes with the top of its heart or the big 'plumbing' which is situated there ruptured, together with its lungs ( which surround that area ) punctured, collapsing and filling with blood.

No. 2 is caliber . There is just no getting away from the fact that 'bigger is better'. This equates to more hitting 'punch', greater hydrostatic shock release and a larger permanent wound channel size. The bigger the hole, the more rapid the onset of the inevitable - period ( provided the hole is in the right place that is )

No. 3 is bullet construction/type/weight/sectional density . Appropriately heavy expanding bullets being the ones of choice for most situations simply because of the better wound channels they create. In this day and age, solids are in reality only needed for elephants and awkward angle 'backing shots'. All the rest can be taken with the 'right' expanding bullets like the Barnes X bullet for buffalo. Lion & leopard are different. They require a more fragile bullet for greater 'shock' release, as to easily 'switch off' the felines highly tuned nervous system

Forth would come penetration, but it must be realized that all these factors are interrelated and must be considered collectively. Penetration is but one piece in the whole confusing puzzle. It serves no purpose in my book to compare different caliber's on penetration alone, especially as all the solids compared will shoot right through a bull buff from the side-on position.
Another important factor is 'shootablity' for want of a better word. The 9,3 works so well because it is 'shooter friendly' as well as being 'adequate' ballistically. This all equates once again to shot placement and we're back where we started !!