When it comes to this discussion of 30 caliber being "more" of everything than 7mm and smaller stuff, I'm going to string along with JJ Hack,since i assume that's where he was headed without saying exactly so.
I did not have time to read everything in the thread.
I like and use 7mm's but think the reason they perform well is that the heavier bullet weights creep squarely into the middle 30 caliber range. You may end up with dead stuff with either but side by side and shot into enough animals, i think that a 30 caliber magnum with a 200 gr bullet is more gun than a 7mm shooting a 160 to 175 gr. Shoot enough animals with both and you will see more damage from the 30's,assuming bullet structure is the same. It simply has the advantage in bullet weight and expanded frontal area(cross section of expanded bullets).
I had some knowledgeable and very experienced trophy elk hunters tell me this back in the 1980's and made the observations many times myself using 300's on elk sized animals.
With heavy 30 caliber bullets at magnum velocities,these guys felt the 30 caliber magnums broke up heavy bone,penetrated more reliably,destroyed more tissue.
This does not mean I doubt the capabilities of 7mm magnums with good heavy bullets,since they work too, but I simply think the 30 caliber magnums with good 180-200 gr bullets are "more gun" based on what I've seen,assuming equally good bullets.
Before shooting real premium bullets I said lots of the same things you are saying... but I now realize I was very wrong.
Since I started shooting X bullets in most everything I have seen a huge difference in penetration and real World performance on critters. I have recovered almost none and those were from Riley's stuff rather than my own.
I have never recovered a single one in lightweight examples shot fast into big animals. At the same time I have yet to see a pass-through with an Accubond. I saw a broadside brown bear stop four of them two years ago. They were 375H&H driven.
I have put a bunch of the 270gr X in several iterations through brown bears without ever catching a single one and many of those were coming or going shots that went full length through the bears...
I believe those deep wound channels with a leak at each end are important to killing. Moreso than a bigger hole that stops before it reaches the other side.
Having shot more than a few critters now with the monos, I believe they changed the game...
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
