Just the "wallop" effect of that big ole bullet whacking something is better understood by witnessing it than trying to explain it, or having it explained.
DF
Does it "whack" stuff harder than a 12 gauge magnum slug ? I killed a lot of deer with various 12 gauge slugs and was never overly impressed. Particularly when weighed from a recoil vs effectiveness point of view. Same for heavy conicals out of my .50 cal muzzleloader. I got quicker kills on average from many smaller, faster bullets. Perhaps on bigger game the big punkin chuckers would be more impressive but for deer you can keep them.
Penetration is much better than the slugs due to hardness and diameter of the bullet, plus the nose shape. An LBT bullet, unless deformed, usually penetrates in a straight line.
Since I tend to lung shoot, I've not noticed a big difference between different bore diameters and with deer I've gotten more bang/flops with fast steppers but I did have one pile right up with a .30-30, so that's not a hard and fast rule. But generally, yes, I've noticed more reaction with fast bullets.
I've never had one of those hardcast BBs fail to shoot through at any angle through any animal I've shot with it, but I haven't shot any huge bears with it, just black bear and a couple of pigs. I would feel adequately armed for big bear, though.
