Hmmm, interesting. I wonder what the results would look like if one measured the wound channel volume of ballistic gel using the same test. I also wonder what the results would look like if you shot 100 moose with each bullet.
I'm not saying that the .30-06 will always give a larger wound channel volume. It's certainly not an absolute, but my guess would be that the .308 would edge out the 6.5 bullet on average.
Jordan Smith;
Good day to you Jordan, I hope this finds you and yours well and keeping warm enough on the eastern slope of the Rockies.
What I've noticed in doing postmortem exams on deer/black bear/sheep - while I'm gutting them or while we cut them up in our garage - is that there is very little difference in tissue damage between a 6.5x55 using a 130gr/140gr bullet and a .30 caliber 165gr/180gr bullet.
I'll add there have been enough .277" kills thrown in that I'd put it or anything reasonably in between in the same group - as an educated hypothesis.
As I mentioned earlier, I'd built a 6.5 Swede for my late father and he passed it back to us before he died. Our eldest has claimed it now and between the two of them I'd say it's accounted for between 18 and 24 deer - I'd have to look in my hunting diary to be sure.
I used to hunt with an '06 and using one load with 180gr Hornady bullets I had of string of something like 16-18 one shot kills on deer and one sheep. My wife used a .308 and a .308 Norma and I also used my own .308 Norma and had a .300 WM for 10 years, so I'm no stranger to what a .308" bullet will do to deer/black bear/sheep sized animals.
Somewhere below the 6.5mm/130gr range there is a bit of a difference. For instance, on a couple deer shot with our youngest daughter's .250AI, the 100gr Hornady bullets left a bit less of a path through the carcass. Not much mind you and not enough to quit using it, but perhaps a wee bit less. Now a 117gr Hornady out of a .25-06 looked like a .277"/.308" standard amount of tissue damage.
Again, those observations are from deer/black bear/sheep either shot in my presence or cut up by me, so moose and elk, which are what the OP asked about may well be entirely different and there could be a slight difference show up.
Well that's just one guy's thoughts on the matter based on what we've seen shot and or what we've cut up, which is admittedly not a huge sample, but I'd say roughly 150 deer/black bear/sheep sized animals over the last couple decades anyway.
I hope you and yours have a good weekend Jordan. Stay warm and watch for those horseshoe shaped Chinook clouds to bring you a bit of relief.
Regards,
Dwayne
