ORIGINAL: Pglasgow
Increase thediameter by a factor of two, and we have 200 times the weapon. In that sense, relying on the use of roundball for elephant as a justification of weak momentums and velocities for deer isn't all that sound. The 1" RBis so much better than the .5" cal RBfor elephant for all the same reasons a385 grain conical is better than a .50 cal RB is for deer and even for all the same reasons that the .54 cal RB is better than the .45 cal RB for deer.
You still have to look at the factor of how much energy from the projectile is transferred to the animal, how it is transferredand how much is noteven utilizedwitha projectile that passes completely through an animal. If you read about the professional hunters of Africa, in the 19th century, you will find that most wrote that they preferred the large roundball, over a conical, for their rifles. Conicals were available to them but according to their writings, they still preferred the roundball becausethe large bore conicals hadtoo much recoil andhad a tendancy of passing clear through game without bringing it down as quickly as the roundball.