Klik,
I suspect you may be right right about the time between the bullet hitting and "the termination of circulation."
A couple of years ago my wife shot a medium-large mule deer buck standing broadside right behind the shoulder, with a 100-grain TTSX started at 3150 fps from a .257 Roberts. The range was slightly under 100 yards, as later determined by laser rangefinder. The buck started walking off, and when it stopped after maybe 40-50 yards Eileen shot again--but just as the buck collapsed, so the bullet went over the buck's back.
The first bullet had been perfectly placed behind the shoulder, centering both lungs. Yet there was more meat damage than I've ever seen from a monolithic that didn't hit anything except a rib, and we've shot a bunch of monolithic bullets into various animals over the years.
Odd things happen... my moose last year was fighting with another bull at less than 30 yards (maybe 25?) and I hit a little brush on the way in. The 168TSX from a 30-06 entered sideways in three pieces that traveled all the way through, exiting in three pieces just slightly above the spine through the top of the shoulders. Meat loss was excessive, but I would still prefer the circumstances over having done the same with a lead core bullet.
