Saleen322
Member
Seems like with negligible expansion you will won't transfer all of that energy to the target. What bullet types are the 357 you are comparing to, and from what platform are your velocities?
I tend to favor bullets that penetrate for large game hunting. You can do gel and barrier testing and while useful, it still leaves gaps. The largest gap is whether the bullet strikes large, heavy bone or just goes through soft tissue. If you hit a deer or bear on the shoulder bone, it takes strong bullet construction to get through it while still maintaining good mass to penetrate vital organs. The trade off is if you only hit soft tissue, the bullet just goes with little expansion. Dangerous game ammo often use "solids" for the same reasons. While these bullets are not as flashy as some newer hollow points that show dynamic results in gel tests, they are very reliable. I tend to believe what works well in hunting is also solid for self defense. Elmer Keith used the same principles to great effect for years. In any case, there are trade offs.
As I noted in the previous post, I just took Federal Ammunition published data for the 357 comparison velocities and energy.