This has been an interesting topic so far, but when we went from what premium bullets guarantee to what constitutes killing power we at the moment got into some pretty controversial territory. Hard evidence is really difficult to come by for most of us because no two cases are ever exactly alike. Additionally, we bring our prejudices to whatever we see causing poor observations and faulty conclusions. All of us who have taken lots of game animals have seen deer and such hit with the same bullet from the same rifle in the same part of the body react in completely different ways. Also, we've seen an animal with a less than perfect hit go right down. Then at other times, we have shot the holly sh*t out of a buck only to have him refuse to stay down. Five years ago I shot a large bull elk with my .280AI at over 300yds. It was a classic broadside shot with the 160gr NPT hitting him a little high but right behind the shoulder, drilling both lungs. He went straight down and never regained his feet. A few weeks later, with the same rifle and load I took a shot at a nice buck antelope at about the same distance and I hit him with the same high lung shot. But, after the shot nothing was the same. That damned antelope ran almost half a mile. Now lets suppose those were the only two BG animals I'd ever shot and I based killing power of the bullet and or cartridge on those two experiences. I'd be in a real dilemma.
Last edited by super T; 05/25/15.
