Notice that the 170 Remington and 175 Silvertip both stopped in the second water jug even though they were 100 fps apart...that is because the bullets were both opening up rapidly. Both dump their energy early which is what you need in shooting lightly build Kritters.
The Sierra opened slower and was able to keep penetrating even though at the end it was about the same expanded size as the other two. As a result you loose all your energy on the off side of the target.
The Dallas Co. MEs office had a list of energy dumps for favored LE cartridges back in the 1970/80s. They put a chrono before and after a block of ballistic gelatin, recorded the velocity loss and then calculated the energy dump. There were a lot of rounds that would exit the block having dumped little into it where others of the same caliber and grain weight dumped a lot more.
There is a poster over on the S&W forums who shot over 20 deer while stationed in Alaska with a 6" 57 and the 210 SP....never lost a deer and I think no recovered bullets.
Pull the skin off a deer and look what is underneath...couple inches of meat, then ribs and then lungs...there isn't much more to a human.
The standard by which all defensive rounds are judged is the .357 Magnum 125 HP at 1400+- fps from a 4" barrel....it is a proven fight stopper. The sectional density of the 125/.357 is the same as the 170/.41 and 180/.44. Run a lightly constructed bullet in those calibers that will open up like the Silvertip or the Remington at 1400 fps and you will get the same results...that is why I think that the Remington 170 SCHP would have been the top self-defense round for the .41. The Silvertip has been proven to be an excellent stopper but if boosted to 1350 would easily equal the .357.
That said the Silvertip has modest recoil for a Magnum which allows followup shots...course with another 100 fps a followup shot might not be needed...
Bob
