Originally Posted by oldsmellhound

Usually higher speed = more expansion, but bullets can do strange things. I've heard about the "penciling through" phenomenon at high velocities quite a bit, especially with SST/Shockwaves. This may happen occasionally, but I have a different theory as to what occurs often.

This is based on using SST/Shockwaves a fair bit on deer for the past 5 years or so, and getting a feel for how this bullet performs. I believe that the bullet (especially the 250 grain version) is not optimally designed for very high speed impacts - i.e. using 3 pellet loads and shooting a deer at 40 yards. I theorize that what often happens is that the nose of the bullet fragments within the first couple inches of tissue and only part of the bullet (usually the base) penetrates all the way through the deer, leaving a small exit hole. Now if the shot placement is good, the deer is still dead, but there may be little to no blood trail. Deer can run a decent distance before they realize they are dead, and with no blood trail it can be hard to find them.

I have seen many reports of this - when the hunter slows his muzzle velocity down to 1800 - 1900 fps or so, the problems disappear. I've used the Shockwaves at around 1900 fps and they perform great. Now the 200 grain and the big 300 grain Shockwaves seem to have less of a problem with this - they can be pushed faster without as many problems. Though I did once have this problem with the 200 Shockwave- that got me started thinking. - Point blank range and 2100 fps - the bullet did exactly as I described - front half fragged badly and only a small piece fully penetrated - leaving a small exit hole. Deer was DOA, though.

I've also heard that the 250 grain Bonded SW's work well at high velocities, but I haven't used them.

I've also found that SW's (especially the 200 grainers that I normally use now) penetrate really well - that's one of the reasons I use them. I used to use XTP's, and I found that they expand really well but I didn't always get a pass-thru. This was also somewhat velocity-dependent - high velocities produced a lot of expansion, but the bullet rarely exited. Lower velocities (1800 fps or so MV) and I would get a pass-thru.