I have come to the conclusion that I want my game bullets (excluding small game/varmints) to have a muzzle velocity no greater than about 3000 fps. I would rather have a rifle with enough power and size to get the job done with conventional cup and core bullets, then to rely on bullets such as the Barnes', which I must concede, seem to perform wonderfully. The prominent thought here is that when you push the cup and core style bullets to a very high velocity, you risk fragmenting the bullet, ruining meat, and reducing desired penetration. So, to solve this, I simply increase my bullet weight in a given cartridge to meet my own personal standards.
Where I get hazy on the subject is MINIMUM impact velocities that allow proper epansion of a given bullet. I would think that this magic number would change, depending on bullet hardness, design, and construction. So, at what velocities would those of you with an intimate knwoledge of terminal ballistics, consider the minimum impact velocites for cup and core bullets? Partition style bullets? Mono-metals?
