I have an odd question refering to the energy loss from powerbelts.
From my first hand experience using 240gr hornady 44cal bullets in a full sabot and the 348gr power belts with the same 90gr of 777 out of my encore with very different results on deer shot with these loads.
Both kill the deer dead in about the same time,both do tremendous damage but the 348gr bullet going slower blows a hole in one side and out the other! Perhaps its just the added weight going slower that allows this to happen,whatever it is I like It!
One incident reporting is tough, and it might be hard to accept-- but it is essentially meaningless.
The Dr. Fackler report has been long published on my website with the knowledge of and direct permission from Martin Fackler, MD. All proper references and credits are included:
What's Wrong with the Wounding Ballistics Literature, and Why There are several factors that are discussed from the basis of empirical evidence from Dr. Fackler, himself an experienced battlefield surgeon. Those interested in such matters might as well read the entire content.
There are an estimated 30 MILLION deer in North America. Hunters tag some 5-6 million every year, so we must be doing something right. There are another 1.5 deer / vehicle accidents per year; I'd imagine the Buick / Bambi lethality percentage is quite high. We have another 1 million or so deer that are poached every year-- there are no official numbers on that, obviously. We have yet another unclaimed wounded / gutshot deer in North America that die due to wanton waste. There are more taken by depredation permits in certain areas.
Some 9- 10 million deer a year dying from causes other than 'natural.' Still the deer populations grow, as does the annual deer harvest most years. Every year, we intentionally kill over 6 million deer-- most rational people would call this more than a trival sampling, or simple phone survey. By now, we should certainly know what causes a deer to die. And, we do.
Unfortunately, it is not the one word answer that everyone seems to want. "Velocity kills. Energy kills. Expansion kills. Sectional density kills. Caliber kills." We really should know by now that there is no simplistic answer to a sophisticated question.
Anyone that has taken a first year biology course knows what the vital organs of a mammal are. Remove or destroy a vital organ, the animal quicky perishes.
From the medical autopsies on deer, the videotaped killing and subsequent medical autopsies on live deer, hogs, mules, goats, we do know a few things.
We know that no two wild animals are exactly alike. Animals are individuals, with wide variances in strength, health, and the will to live. What may instantly drop a certain deer may not do the same on a deer of similar size and shape.
Not only are all wild animals different, but no two wound cavities are identical. Same rifle, same range, same bullet, same shot placement-- yet, a different wounding profile. Always.
It should strike us as a bit silly when the tissue simulants we use are concocted to be the SAME, whether calibrated ballistic gelatin, soaked phone books, putty, soap, soil, water, and endless variants. None of them have circulation, respiration, or living tissue-- or even bones. It is never enough; have you made a "Ballistic Buffalo" yet?
Ballistic Buffalo No tissue simulant known yet can approximate the elastic characteristics of living tissue, or accomodate health, age, and will to survive into any precise equation.
We will continue to worship velocity, expansion, energy, section density and other fragmented parts of the equation as always. We should really know better.
Look at ALL the lethality formulas. Here is a collection of them from one load, a REAL LOAD, a load I hunt with on a regular basis. Can anyone tell me what game animals it is good for, and at what ranges? Yet, here are many of its "sometimes accepted" values:
Hatcher’s RSP = 120.4
A-Square Penetration Index = 41
A-Square Shock Power Index = 539
Tappan’s WAVE factor = 120.4
IPSC Power Factor = 665
Lott’s Estimated Effective Energy: EEE1=306 EEE2=1497
Taylor Knock-Out Value = 43.5
Fuller Index = 175
Wootter’s Lethality Index = 306
Arnold Arms Relative Performance Index = 96
Elmer Keith Knockdown Factor = 95 pounds / feet.
Parker Ackley’s Momentum = 66.5
All of these values are more sophisticated, some FAR more than just energy numbers. Yet, none of them are anything less than tremendously flawed-- for a couple of so very obvious reasons.
If you want to compare performance of bullets, they really do need to be remotely in the same weight range. A .452 300 gr. XTP vs. a 348 gr. PB is far more representative.
[/center]