"but at close range, i've had issues with the bullet moving too fast and not allowing for expansion."
I see this comment surprisingly often, and I never understand it. It would seem intuitive that the faster a given bullet is traveling, the more resistance it will encounter (increases with the square of velocity, IIRC), and hence the FASTER it will expand.
A given bullet should expand faster at higher velocity, oorrect? And "pencilling thru because it is going too fast" just shouldn't happen. Right?
Ok, you experts, what say you?
southtexas: No expert here,and I agree with you.....but you hear this comment a lot and I suspect what happens is that with some bullets the guilding metal jackets are brittle,and unable to withstand the impact of high velocity and maintain the broader frontal area we associate with "good" expansion. The brittle jacket material shatters,or breaks off,along with the core material(not pure lead),leaving a wadcutter effect that zips on through...leaving the impression there was no "expansion";there wasn't...there was disintegration.Not the same thing.
We got "lucky" once and recovered a 130 Hornady fired from a 270 Weatherby into a Colorado muley;it had sheared off right at the cannelure,leaving just a 270 cal wadcutter. I have a funny feeling this sometimes happens with BarnesX bullets,too.
Jacket and core material is important;guilding metal tends to be brittle;ditto anitmony cores.This is the reason TBBC's lost their good reputation when Federal took them over because they abandoned Jack Carter's original recipe of pure lead,and pure copper,and went to more brittle jackets and cores to facilitate manufacturing.JMHO
