That depends. A .44 WFN with a .340" meplat penetrated deeper and will make a larger wound channel than a .45 LFN with a .300-.310" meplat. A .45 only makes a larger hole if it has a larger meplat. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. IMHO, the net difference between the two is a wash.
Yeah, but why would anyone with even a little intellectual honesty compare two bullets with unequal meplat percentages?
To be honest, I don't think most people even think about it. I don't think the average person thinks beyond, ".45 is bigger than .43". Do you really think the average .45 fan realizes that his 260gr Keith bullet is functionally smaller than a 260gr .44 WFN? I'd wager that the overwhelming majority only consider the overall bullet diameter and not the meplat diameter.
The point here being not that the .44 is better than the .45 but that it is not so cut `n dried a subject most .45 fans make it out to be and that there is really very little difference between the two. I think we've already proved that the .44 is a better penetrator, handles heavy bullets just as well (if not better) and is not always functionally smaller.
