HP's are way better killers with body shots on all manner of small game and varmints. Some HP's are way more effective than others too. Winchester Power Points and Remington Yellow Jackets for instance, have wide, deep HP's, expand fast and wide and are far better/quicker killers than the bulk pack Federals with the tiny, shallow HP's. On tougher game like squirrels or woodchucks, solids, whether standard or high velocity are poor/slow killers.
This matches my experience on rabbits, hares, feral cats and foxes. Winchester Power Point (the Australian-made, 40 gn version) is a particular favourite of mine. The bullets hit with a noticeable "thwop" and kill very well, even on body shots. I have also used Winchester Subsonic, which uses the same bullet, and they are nearly as good. Both have also proved very accurate in my rifles.
Solids work fine if you brain them, but otherwise haven't been much good for anything but plinking, practice or, with the good stuff, target competition. The bulk-pack Federal, and other ones like them with small hollow points, have been no better than solids in my experience. I have tried a fair few HV and SV solids, and a fair few other HV and SV HPs of similar form to the Federal bulk pack over the last few decades, and none has been anywhere near as effective as the Winchester Power Point or the very similar Remington Yellow Jacket..
