Didn't see this the first time. Have you ever seen the bullets that come out of a muzzleloader? Big as your thumb and lots of lead. For elk, I shoot a 50 caliber muzzleloader and a 348 grain or 405 grain bullet. Don't think you can compare that to a 120 grain bullet coming out of a 25-06. Foot lbs of the two might look similar, but those valuesdon't mean a thing. Big slow bullet KILL VERY EFFECTIVELY. Don't look at foot lbs when you compare big/slow bullets. Look at the Taylor index: http://www.loadammo.com/Topics/July02.htm

Millions of buffalo died to a 45-70 (45 caliber/70 grains of black powder), and the loads we use today are more potent. Out to 150 yards, a blackpowder is a great elk killer, period!

Here is another example: Which would you want to be holding if the whitetail buck of a lifetime walked out at 100 yards, a 22-250 or a 30-30? 22-250 fires a 55 grain bullet and the 30-30 fires a 170. In a foot lbs chart, the 22-250 has just over 1250 ft/lbs and the 30-30 has around 1350 ft/lbs. Pretty close, but compare them on the Taylor chart and it gives a big advantage to the 30-30 as it should. I going to take the 30-30 in that matchup.

Ft/lbs always gives an advantage to small/fast bullets because it squares the velocity. It is simply a mathmatical formula that is a "tool" to compare bullets, but it doesn't give us all the answers.