I'm not so sure bad guys have changed much. Back when all revolver rounds were RNL or RNFP, men wrangled horses, chopped wood, shoveled coal or carried railroad ties. They drank rotgut whiskey, warm beer and some used/abused the drugs of their day. They roved in predatory gangs, recognized no law, stayed on the run longer and perpetrated acts every it bit as sick as what you see today. Does anybody here think those SOB's were less tough/easier to stop than today's average man?
I think not. They still have the same anatomy.....
Take a look around you. See any size difference from 100 years ago? No? I see multitudes of people who outweigh the average early 20th century man by 100 lbs or more. Many with fat, and some with muscle. There is very likely to be considerably more flesh to penetrate.
...and the part of my post you did not quote, covers that.
Americans have, on average, gained about 30 pounds of weight and 4" of height since the Civil War. There have always been people substantially larger/heavier than average. The idea is to use something that will work on any of them. You punch one or two large, heavy pistol bullets
through the middle torso, between the navel and clavicular and within a couple inches of the centerline- and the results will be the same regardless.
Pistol wounds roughly equate punching a rod through the body and withdrawing it in milliseconds. You want a 3/8 rod or a 1/2" one? Round end or square? You want an 8" rod or a three-footer?
Obsession over trick bullets only confuses what post-mortem makes clear.
