Easy example:
.30 180 gr varmint bullet impacts at 2,000 fps and immediately shatters and fragments into a million little bits in the first three inches of flesh outside the scapula transferring 100% of its energy.
Or
.30 180 gr monolithic bullet impacts at 2,000 fps, expands to only 2x diameter, penetrates from one shoulder through the other and keeps going across the bean field having transferred only 15% of its energy to the deer.
Easy choice between those two examples.
The detail that you're missing is that *energy transfer* is not a wounding mechanism. Read in depth some of what Fackler et al have written and you'll understand what I'm saying. Tissue that is crushed, cut, torn, etc., forming the permanent cavity is the only effective damage done that will reliably cause incapacitation. The energy transfer/hydrostatic shock as a wounding mechanism theory has been soundly proven to be non-effective. With the exception of a couple tissue types, temporary stretch /hydrostatic shock is not a reliable wounding mechanism.
Not missing anything. Without energy transfer there is ***NO*** wounding, period. NONE. It is energy/momentum transfer that accelerates flesh and bone past the limits of its elasticity and causes wounding, whether by crushing, cutting, or tearing, etc., whether temporary or permanent. Although the mechanics of transfer and the wounding characteristics are very different, this is as true for arrows as it is for bullets. (The transfer mechanism for the arrow is simply far more efficient at delivering the required wounding energy to a particular and particularly small area, a scalpel�s razor edge versus a bludgeon.)
I agree 100% that the wounding has to be effective to be effective � 100% energy transfer is of little use if the wounding isn�t in the right place. The largest bull I�ve ever seen walking was shot in the hind quarter with a .243 Win but was still easily outdistancing the youth that shot it.
Your example is a good one and why I prefer bullets that provide reliable but controlled and limited expansion across as wide a range of impact velocities as possible. I don�t much care if a bullet transfers 100% of its energy in the target as long as it transfers ***enough*** in the right places. A bullet that blows up in the ham 3� after impact isn�t going to transfer ***any*** energy to the heart/lungs. The same blow-up bullet on a broadside will generally do a good job as long as it gets through the ribs.
