CMA, I'm not saying you exagerated your results or even that they are untypical. You experience is a perfect example of what James B is saying about Sectional Density. If my math is correct the SD of your 12gauge slugs is less than .160 (I just picked a diameter of .60 out of thin air...the foster style would be bigger w/ a lower SD and if the platinum tips are sabots they will probably be less than .60) All those other rifle loads you listed have SD around .240 or greater. (again, if my math is correct) That old 45-70 , even with a 405gr load has a .275 SD!!! So not all "big n' slows" will give you your shotgun results.

HOWEVER, James: do you mean that bullets of lesser SD do a better job, or that you can get away with lower SD in the larger claibers? I've read some articles about how the theory of SD is useless so this has all those old articles running through the back of my mind again

CMA: BTW I've seen and had many such experience with slugs...so I'm not trying to discredit you at all.

Hunter4life81: See, I told you its a big can of worms. Haha, next we'll discuss hydrostatic shock, TKO, and other "Killing Power" scales.

There are scales and equations that favor the "big n' slow" and some that that favor the "fast n' light"...because their originators were usually biased towards one camp or the other. Bottom line.... you can get away with ALOT if you put that bullet where it belongs. Granted, this means accuracy AND the bullet's ability to get to the vitals.