Higher velocity, same bullet, more penetration...….unless the bullet blows up.
Sometimes slower bullet holds together better at closer distances. Faster bullet delivers more horsepower at all distances.
You need to understand how your bullet will perform at whatever velocity you are driving it. Pick the right one for the job.
That simply isn't true about penetration in all cases. I've tested that multiple times with my Marlin .45-70 and the results are consistent. I think it was Garrett that tested with handgun loads and found the same.
As I've mentioned before, a 300g hardcast @ 1167fps will penetrate and exit 11 water jugs while a 460g at 1812fps gets captured in jug number 9. The horsepower of the 460g bullet is much greater but is doesn't penetrate as far.
Not exactly the same bullet, but a .375"/220g Hornady FP @ 2230fps stopped in the 5th jug while a .375"/220g Sierra @ 2390fps stopped in the 4th jug.
The photos provided by prm and Brad pretty clearly shows that higher velocity is often detrimental to deeper penetration. Brad's photo shows reduced penetration for a lot of common lead core and bonded core bullets. prm's photos showed diminished penetration with increased velocity for a variety of standard lead core; premium lead core and mono; and bonded core bullets.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
