I could never understand the contention that a wider bullet kills better than one of narrower diameter, within reason. After all, the difference between .308 and .264 is only a shade over 1/32of an inch.
As I type this, I'm looking at a greater kudu shoulder mount about ten feet away. I don't think I could even see a 1/32 of an inch mark on it. The depth of the chest looks to be about two feet. The difference between .308 and .264 is something like 0.2% of the chest diameter. How could that matter? If anyone knows, enlighten me.
BTW: A kudu is a little smaller than a bull elk. Then there's the oft-quoted Swedish study about shooting moose which concluded that there was no difference in effectiveness between the 6.5x55 and heavier calibers, if I am remembering the study right.
Indy the way I see it is it isn't simply the differences in diameter between the two calibers you cited;it's cross sectional area as well.I can't do the math but a 30 cal just has a larger surface area,and more bullet material to go to work for you.
And a lot of it has to do with bullet action as well in the form of expanded frontal area,which just destroys more vital tissue on its passage through the animal.The reason animals end up "dead" from either one is they both create "enough" tissue damage in vital areas to be lethal,but there can be a difference in how much damage each one does.
Take a look back in some threads on here....rcamuglia had good pictures of the lungs of his bull elk shot this year at about 250-300 yards(IIRC)with a 264WM and 140 Berger.....my knee jerk reaction looking at the pictures was that the wound channel looked rather small,and I have seen more damage done by certain 270 bullets,(and far more damage to the lungs of elk hit with 30 caliber 165 and 180 gr bullets I've used on them)yet the elk did not go far and died rather quickly.It doesn't take a very big hole in the lungs to kill any ungulate, but this does not mean there is no difference in the size wound channel they are capable of creating,or the amount of heavy bone they can pulp in the process as we go up in caliber,bullet weight,and velocity.
Compare that to some of the photos of other animals hit with 210 30 caliber Bergers and note the size of some of those exits...or as one simple example,(if you could have been there with me)a large whitetail I killed at about 350 yards in Sask with a 165 Bitterroot from a 300 Win Mag...the combination of high velocity and expanded frontal area(likely around .65 caliber,maybe more and Bitterroots do not fragment)blew a fist sized hole in his offside and threw blood and internals all over the snow beyond him.It looked like a trainwreck,and I have opened elk up and seen the same things.
I have never used a 6.5 of any type but have used 25's and 277 calibers on plenty of animals(both close enough);I have never seen bullet paths through animals with those that rivaled anything in 30 caliber fired from a 300 magnum....big enough to do the job and kill efficiently,yes,but across the board,they have never been as destructive in animal flesh.
You're right that these differences can sometimes seem small..when it comes to magnum capacity cases, I'm a 7mm fan myself but that is mostly a recoil related issue,plus the fact that the heaviest 7mm bullets stick you in the middle range of 30 caliber bullets(160-180 gr); but there are a lot of experienced hunters on here who advocate 30 caliber and I can see where they are coming from.....IMO bullet design,construction,and expansion characteristics can close some of these gaps(the reason I've always felt that the only thing that sets the 7mm magnums a notch above anything smaller is with the heaviest 7mm bullets),but I never kid myself over which is more potent and the 30 simply trumps in that regard.
And yet, I have 7mm Bitterroots here recovered from game that are expanded to .60 caliber,some a bit more,and they exceed the frontal area of some 30 caliber Partitions I've also recovered....the lines can get fuzzy sometimes.