For myself I see fragmentation as an asset for some types of shooting and as a detriment for others. I want a bullet to break up if I shoot it into a varmint, or God forbid, if I have to defend my home from within it's walls. My AR and my AK are loaded with hollow point ammo except for my AR10, which is loaded with the same ammo I kill elk with. (But I live out in the country and I can shoot a 375H&H and not worry about hitting someone next door. The "next door" is 1.25 miles from me. ) But for varmint shooting I want bullets to break into course metal sand.
All my big-game rifles are loaded with ammo that gives me good expansion and full pentation. Bullet construction that gives me excellent performance from a 303 brit or 300 Savage will not do so well fired from my 300 magnum. Add to that the problem with different size game and radically different ranges and angles of impact.
So bullet construction can be over-thought, but in most cases it's not waist of time to think it over. The bullet is going to work well, or fail, depending on many factors, but the 3 that are most important are A, what speed is the bullet going at impact. B. What size is the target and C. what angles will you shoot that game from?
Some bullet like the Barnes TSX are simply great, unless the impact velocity is under 2000 FPS They are so-so from 2000 to about 1800 and much below 1800 they are basically a solid that won't pernitrate very straight. So fired from rifles that have high velocities they are one of the best all-around bullets you can get, but if I load them in my 300 Savage with a MV or about 2400- 2500 FPS the same bullet that's so good in my 300 mag now is only good to about 100-150 yards.
In my tight bored 303 Brit (.310" groove to groove) and both my 300 Savage rifles I actually prefer some cup and core bullets to Barnes. Because my 2400 to 2500 FPS rifles still give expansion to the ranges I can use those rifles with their iron sights. And let no one tell you different, a 303 or 300 Savage with a 180 grain bullet kills elk just fine out past 200 yards. They kill deer and antelope fine out to about 300. Maybe farther, but the longest kills I have made with mine were just a bit over 300 and the bullets exited and left big holes.
So the issue can become complex.
Matching the bullet to the conditions and the rifle is well worth the time you'd take to research it, but simply going to a tougher bullet is not always an answer to the correct question.
My current cartridges are:
222 Remington, loaded with 50 grain Hornady SX bullets
223s Loaded with 55 and 65 grain thin jacketed varmint bullets. (I do have some 60 grain Nosler Partitions loaded for deer and antelope, but so far I have not used many)
25-06 loaded with 120 grain Remington Core-Lokts made in the 1970s and some ammo loaded with 120 grain Nosler Partitions.
6.5X54M/S Loaded with 156 grain PPU round nose cup and core bullets. VERY good luck on deer and antelope with that bullet and perfect performance
6.8SPC Loaded with Remington 100 grain Soft Points
270 Winchesters Loaded with 130, 150 and 160 grain Partitions and also some with 150 grain Remington Round Nose Core-Lokts also made in the early 70s
30-30 Loaded with cup-and core 170 grain flat points, Remington, Speer and Sierra. All work just fine.
303 Brit. (I shoot .308 diameter bullet in this rifle and it's very accurate) 180 grain Remington Core-Lokts.
300 Savages M99 loaded with 150 grain Core-Lokts and I do have some 150 grain Partition for elk, but I reserve them for elk only) In my M81 Remington Auto I use 180 grain bullets, also cup and core.
308 Winchester. 150 grain Winchester Power Points (almost all gone now) and 165 grain Nosler Partitions for elk. For deer and antelope I have found the 150 grain Rem Core-Lokt perfectly OK.
30-06s 165 grain Nosler BT for deer and antelope and 165 grain Partitions for elk. In my Lever action M95 Browning I use 220 grain round nose for elk.
300 H&H 200 grain Nosler partition.
8X57 170 grain Hornady SST for deer and antelope. 200 grain Nosler Partitions for elk
35 Remington. 200 grain Remington Core-Lokts (will go to Sierras when the Core-Lokts are all gone)
358 Winchester 220 grain Speer FP and 225 Grian Nosler Partitions.
9.3X57s 250 grain Nosler Accubonds and 285 Grain PPU for elk, and for carrying with we have a lot of grizzlies, and 270 grain Speer Hot Core for deer and antelope.
9.3X62 286 Grain Hornady, 285 Gr PPU and 286 Grain Partitions.
9.3X74R 286 grain Nosler Partitions.
375H&H 270 grain Winchester Power Points and 300 grain Nosler Partitions.
404 Jeffery. 400 grain Norma soft points. Would be happy with Hornadys too, but have not found any.
