Coyote Hunter, we're dancing around two sides of the same coin here. My example shows my point, though. Even though projectile 1 transferred 100% of its energy, that doesn't buy me ANYTHING on its own. Projectile 2 (identical energy up to impact) takes care of business with minimal energy transfer. That's the point of the statement that energy transfer is not a wounding mechanism. It does establish (among other factors) the *potential* of a projectile. Even with that given, it still isn't *doing* any wounding.
It is the transferred energy that accelerates and thus causes deformation (wounding) of the target. The amount of energy available, the amount and efficiency with which it is transferred and the time element for the transfer all play a role in determining the amount of deformation/wounding.
You say it is not the "wounding mechanism", basic physics says that without the energy transfer no wounding occurs.
My only concern is doing my best to make sure the deformation occurs in the right place. To that end I chose bullets that perform according to specific criteria that I believe increase the odds of a favorable outcome when things go south. Most any bullet will work when things go as planned.
I'm a little late to the party, but here goes: Speaking in terms of energy transfer, I'm with Coyote on this -- which is to say that I'm on the side of physical science.
According to the Law of Conservation of Energy, all energy within a closed system is constant -- it cannot be created or destroyed (only transferred). The reason that we don't hunt with FMJ spire points is not because they don't expand...that would be putting effect before cause. It's because they transfer very little energy to the surrounding tissue. Barring an impact with bone, they make pencil-thin entry and exit wounds. They lose so little energy, in fact, that they easily have sufficient remaining momentum to penetrate fully in almost every case.
Wounding is caused by energy transfer, and it cannot happen any other way. Now, how or where that wounding occurs -- and whether it's sufficient to cause quick death -- is another matter. I tend to put monometal bullets in the upper shoulder because I want to ensure that sufficient energy is transferred to the parts that matter. They still penetrate 9 times out of 10, and energy remaining in the bullet after it passed through the far side is of no use to me.
