My favorite modern era study of bullet effects is Mike LaGrange's work when he was shooting control in Zimbabwe for the Parks Department. His subsequent monograph
Ballistics in Perspective documents his experience shooting thousands of heads of game (6,000 elephant and uncounted numbers of smaller animals). He also conducted experiemts shooting boards and soap for penetration and wound diameter for softs and solids.
Mike writes (p.20): "Experience over the years has indicated that there is a significant difference between the effect of calibers below .300 to those above. A 7mm caliber weapon (equivalent to .280 of an inch), seems to have considerably less effect than a .308 Win even though it is as powerful in terms of energy produced."
He also says on p.a5: "As a rue of thumb, sectional desnity should never be reduced to improve velocity. Instead use a caliber with a larger capacity case and slow burning powder, as used in the larger magnums."
I like to shoot plains game with the .308 Win because I have also found it to be effective. I have been using 180 gr premium bullets in Africa, and have finally started to use the 150 to 165 gr bullets over here.
Remember it is cross-sectional area of the penetrating bullet, and the volume of the resulting wound channel that counts. Bigger cases can throw bigger bullets.
jim
Mike LaGrange, Ballistics in Perspective, 2nd Edition, 1990, ISBN 0-9624807-2-X
