Before I became a "diehard Barnes man" I shot several deer with 140FailSafes in one of my 7mags. Like everyone else, I NEVER recovered a bullet. The last deer I shot with that gun/ammo was a buck in south TX that was half a step from facing us dead on at 300yds. I hit him in the neck about 3/4 of the way up (just under the spinal chord) and the bullet traveled along clipping the bottom of each vertebrae of the spinal column for about 2' before exiting just in front of the off rear hip. Obviously he went down like he had been struck by lightning, but I know from bowhunting that the spinal column is a TOUGH bone column and is a true test of ANY bullet. And the exit hole on that buck wasn't much larger than the entrance in his neck. That tells me that there was little too no expansion. I get the same results with TSXs in my Warbird, even on heavy spinal column or double shoulder hits. With such heavy bone contact and little exit holes, there just can't be much expansion taking place.

But I think expansion is a bunch of bunk anyway. Penetration is key, a hole in the lungs/heart, central nervous system is a hole in vitals. Arrows don't kill by expansion, large dangerous game isn't killed by expansion when whacked with monolithic solids. So why should we worry or desire rapid expansion on non-dangerous big game?

I can fill my truck full of holes in about 85% of the body and it will keep on running. Put a well placed hole in the engine block, fuel tank/delivery system or the transmission/running gear and it aint gonna go to far. Same thing with animals!
RA