jolin,
Thanks for doing a search and seeing what other experience is out there.
I have never claimed any bullet is perfect, and much prefer the data from a number of animals. That was my main point.
How many times have we read "At what point in the animals death did the bullet fail"?
That 'head in the sand' response seems to be the norm whenever someone expresses a concern with their bullets terminal performance.
A bullet can fail and still bring game to bag.
Fragile bullets have been known to come apart before they even reach the target. With that given, I would state it is possible for a bullet to prematurely expand in contact with a big game animal.
Just my opinion, but I thought the coyote shot with the Barnes bullet brought very little to the discussion.
jolintaxidermy,
My guess is that the large entrance hole was not caused by the bullet expanding right there, but by bone being blown back out through the skin when the bullet did expand. This is based on seeing a LOT of VLD's used on big game, including shooting into bone, and doing a bunch of autopsies--NOT theory.
Since you weren't there, and your friend didn't really analyzed what happened, I would say my experience is more valid than the photo. I have seen MUCH larger entrance holes from Barnes TSX's, including one from a 140-grain .270 on a coyote--which did NOT "explode" on impact.
All a large entrance hole proves is that SOMETHING made a big hole where the bullet went in, not that the bullet blew up or over-expanded.
