I am in 100% agreement that a complete pass through is what we are all looking for. The larger the blood trail the better. The deer will go down quicker, and also be easier to track if required. I would like the hole coming out to be a little larger while still getting a complete pass through being my objective.

If one does enough reading, and or asks enough questions on this and other handgun hunting friendly sites you will get good answers on which bullets work in what calibers. The vast majority of us never recover a bullet to see exactly how much expansion we do get. The bullet of choice in a 6.5JDJ for example has been the 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip for a very long time. I have killed deer with it in my 6.5-30JDJ, and it does work. The exit hole's could been larger on a "broadside behind the shoulder shot" in my opinion. I am reasonably sure I could have made the same shot with a 142 Sierra Match King or any number of other 6.5 bullets and got almost the same exact results however. Dead deer after a 50 thru 100 yard run, and a small exit hole with a blood trail that could be better if it were a little larger. If I were to make the shot further forward making a heart shot while penetrating a shoulder the 120 BT I am sure would have performed beautifully.

My thoughts are that it would be a good tool to recover some different bullets and get a handle on exactly how deep they go and how much they will expand. We could then do some Apples to Apples comparisons with bullets with a known track record.

Revolvers were mentioned in one post above. My 480 Super RedHawk with my 375 grain WFN-GC cast bullets make pretty large holes on both sides. Big bullet's make nice large holes that work well for both knock down power as well as good blood trails. Jacketed bullets work best with some degree of expansion.

Bob R