ORIGINAL: HuntAway
Chapman,
Expansion, is one thing I have always wonderedabout with ML's. The best .30 cal bullet giving 2x expansion is .60 inch. Now a .490 ball is almost there to start with. Bore size conicals closer still and generally go straight through. I think the expansion thing is over rated in ML's as they start with a 1/2 inch hole and expand from there. 50 cal holes let a whole lot of air out.
Here's a pic of a PR DC after shooting it through a 5 gb pail lenghtwiseof packed earth like your test. It was partially embedded in a 2x6 behind the pail.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/HuntAway/BeforeAfter.jpg
HuntAway, I have wondered the same thing, how much expansion, how much penetration how should a bullet be designed over a velocity range. Wow, the expansion on that was over an inch, that is knock down power. And I know those bullets are accurate as heck. I got from this book that cast Bullets like the LBT cast that Cabelassellsare the best penetrating bullet for big game (elk, grizzly, etc) and you can load them in a sabot.
This chart that I read a few years ago impressed me, but I didn't have a clue what a cast bullet was made of or why it was so good:
http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/July03/TSD%20Wound%20Chart-MZ.xls
Further, fellows like Craig Boddignton shot a soft point 1st at a Cape Buffalo, but have a solid or cast bullet (flat point) for killing if the buffalo charges. I can't figure why a flat nose cast has all the killing power and penetration but apparently it is a killer. These thingsreally interest andintregeme. I find bullet selection and bullet theory really really missing in the hunting classes and my general huntingeducation. The book is really really interesting. Chap Gleason