My understanding is that it all depends of what kind of wildlife you are likely to encounter and the cartridge you use.
It seems to be a trade off....if you have more than enough power to get to the vitals, then an expanding bullet will create a bigger wound channel increasing the damage otherwise you should try to penetrate as much as you can...am I right?
In my particular case, the 2 dedicated wildlife protection handguns of my collection are a 10mm semi auto (a S&W 1006) and a 44 Mag revolver (S&W 29 with a 8 3/8 barrel)
I use Double Tap full power ammo for them.
Assuming my above theory is correct, an expanding bullet may work in 10mm against a cougar (where you would probably use FMJ or hard cast with a 9mm or a .40) but you should use hardcast or FMJ against a black bear.
For the 44 Mag, a heavy soft point may work on a small-medium size blackie but you would want all the penetration you could get (hardcast) against the bigger bears.
Are my assumptions correct??
Regards
It seems to be a trade off....if you have more than enough power to get to the vitals, then an expanding bullet will create a bigger wound channel increasing the damage otherwise you should try to penetrate as much as you can...am I right?
In my particular case, the 2 dedicated wildlife protection handguns of my collection are a 10mm semi auto (a S&W 1006) and a 44 Mag revolver (S&W 29 with a 8 3/8 barrel)
I use Double Tap full power ammo for them.
Assuming my above theory is correct, an expanding bullet may work in 10mm against a cougar (where you would probably use FMJ or hard cast with a 9mm or a .40) but you should use hardcast or FMJ against a black bear.
For the 44 Mag, a heavy soft point may work on a small-medium size blackie but you would want all the penetration you could get (hardcast) against the bigger bears.
Are my assumptions correct??
Regards
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