oh yeah, bigger AND faster is a big difference. i don't limit myself to hardcasts and i find them to NOT be the bast choice all the time. i don't find the 5% bigger to be worth much of anything and i've never seen an animal go down quicker nor find me with the situation where i have thought, "dang, if i'd have just used a round with 5% more frontal area the animal would've died." that's why i argue that hot 44's and hot 45 colts are about the same and it just doesn't matter either way. make a good shot and it's dead, mess up and stray outside the vitals and it's not. it's that simple. now where it makes a difference is when ya can push up the velocity a bit and use an expandable that gives ya 2x the frontal diameter and you start to have something there. that's where the 454 comes into it's own imho. run a barnes over 1800 fps and it works really really well. there's a huge difference b/w an a frame from a 454 at 1550 fps at 325 grs and a 45 colt running at 1200 fps or 1300 fps. the difference in a hardcast is not nearly the same as it is with an expandable and since i've use expandables with much success on bison and a waterbuff in the past i'm gonna pass them on use for elk on down for sure if the right one is used.
this is not some condemnation on the 45 colt, far far from it. i just think it's not much diff than a 44 mag.