Brad,
I have a .30-caliber 165-grain Speer Hot-Cor in my collection of recovered bullets that's perfectly expanded, and retained 85% of its original weight.
It killed an average mature whitetail buck in 1977, in the hilly country of northeastern Montana. One my rifles back then was a Remington 760 .30-06 with a barrel that had been shortened to 20", and my handload got around 2800 fps. Jumped him in a brushy draw and missed with a first shot, because he jumped over a low bush and the bullet went under him. Pumped another round in the chamber and managed to put the bullet in the left rear of the ribcage as he neared the top of the draw. He started stumbling a little as he went over the top, and found him about 30 feet beyond. Found the Hot-Cor in his right shoulder during butchering.
Eventually came to prefer Hornady Spire Points (especially after the Interlock ring appeared), and Nosler Ballistic Tips, but killed a bunch of big game with Hot-Cors during those years, especially the 105 6mm from a .243 Winchester.
John
