Bob,
You sure have a nice series of dead critters to comprise a pretty good study...
The South Carolina study is the one I'm referencing. This was over a number of years at a hunting club, an assortment of shooters, rounds, distances, points of impact, angles of presentation, etc. In that scenario, on WT's the soft C&C bullets dropped them faster than the premiums.
I know you're a good shot and that's the BIG bottom line in your case...
Partitions, generally considered premium, are soft on the front like a C&C, NAB's performing along those lines. The mono's, to me, aren't the best for chest shooting WT's unless you're smoking'em out the barrel. They are great for crunching bones and killing hogs.
In my 26 Nosler, pushing the 120 gr. TTSX/E-Tip at 3,450 fps, it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm chest shooting or busting bones, tissue damage looks about the same as 140 gr. NPT's/NAB's at 3,200 fps out of the same gun.
The Carolina study was with more conventional rounds. To me, balancing bullet type/construction with the game being hunted and velocity is what keeps it interesting.
DF
