agreed there are two ways to get it done : explosive expansion and energy dump type of loadings and performance creating a temporary cavity;
and penetration and wound channel with two holes --entrance and exit-- and complete penetration regardless of angle or bone etc.
done right either one works... the proponents of the first theory like large impressive wounds with plenty of cavitation and spectacular on the spot dead shot kills on occasion... like most high powered rifles perform through high velocity and a bullet matched to that speed and to the game hunted ... the shots must be optimum but when it is the performance is great... the down side is at the extremes : too close (and too fast), or hitting heavy bone or thick tissue, instead of chest cavity shots and the bullet may fail to perform : too fast and it dumps all the energy in a softball sized hole without penetration sufficient to carry through to the vital organs ( example : through the ham, strainght onto the shoulder, onto the top of the shoulder or back from very close, twenty yard shot with a lightly constriucted bullet so the speed is way over optimum for penetration and expansion so you get only expansion and a big blood trail and no large game at the end; ) the heavier the bullet and larger the caliber, in a high performance round, and the over velocity hits still retain enough momentum and weight to punch through to the vitals. the other down side is if the optimum speed is no longer existing cause of the distance.. the bullet may not expand and being smaller than some others and pointed it makes a pencil sized hole where it hits : little blood trail and either a small wound pass through or worse : a small wound entry hole without damage of a large wound track and no violent expansion. Bullets have gotten better and premium bullets seem to have a strong following and must work pretty well all around... but not everyone will use premium bullets nor will they use good judgment as to shot placement distance bullet weight and construction choices, etc. a mistake on those things can cost you your trophy and an animal a slow death without being located by the shooter..
On the other hand : large flat nosed bullets will usually be heavier than the pointed ones and will create a larger than expected wound channel with an exit and entrance wound every time regarldess of distance or angle of entry... it still must see the vitals or all is lost, but one is not relying on shock and technical operation of the bullet dependant on the target resistance, speed/distance, and bullet choice matched to the target expected.
As to self defense the same principles hold true in my opinion : with a self defense pistol, the velocities are generally not that high, and some bullets work fine at speed and do not at lower speeds like many lighter higher speed hollow or hydraulically operated points--they are lighter to go faster and lightly constucted to assure they will upset and expand on soft targets and penetration is not a virtue, expansion is the attraction; many will work just fine in a lightly clothed adversary without a barrier in the way; but put that perpetrator in a large thick wet coat, or behind a windshield or behind some other barrier and the expnsion will be the problem.. likewise if the range is beyond what the light bullet will maintain for very far, you will lose the expansion aspect and could lose penetration as well and not have good performance... on the other hand a heavy flat nosed bullet creates a fairly large permanent wound channel ( as opposed to a temporary cavity that results in some tearing and stretching of tissue from expansion) and delivers a death blow by hemorrhage and stops by broken bones, nervous system disruption, or bleeding out; a large coat or other barrier (windshield, doorway, clothing, brush, extreme distance for the caliber, ) none of those problems with the light faster loads exist for the large heavy loading and thus it will penetrate barrier stay on course better and still penetrate just fine; going slowly will not be a problem either as momentum is what penetrates not speed, (and the lighter bullet lacks momentum due to its light weight) so losing velocity is not a problem for a bullet that is not dependant on hitting a certain target within a range of optimum speeds in order to perform it intended job...
pistols are rather anemic to begin with, so I do not like to place too much emphasis on speed and technology reliant on speed to create a huge temporary cavity and rip by stretching tissue and depends on shock and hydraulic shock... I prefer to opt for larger heavier slower pre-expanded bullets that will do their acceptable intended job because they depend upon momentum and penetration to get it done, regardless of little circumstances that pop up and make it harder for that to happen...
that said, either one in skilled hands will do fine and admirably... a miss with either will not help you, much... not having one cause it is too heavy is less useful than a miss except it does not interfere with your running... but a 357 sized bullet or a 25 or 32 has to expand a bit to approach 45, the smaller bullets can be stopped completely or deflected completely by common barriers that a 45 would penetrate, they have to be loaded with premium bullets and operated at optimum velocity to do their job, but a 45 does not have those technical requirements...
AND A ROUND NOSE 45 WILL NOT DO THE JOB THAT A SEMI WAD CUTTER WILL DO AS FAR AS TISSUE DAMAGE AND PENETRATION IN A STRAIGHT LINE THOUGH BARRIERS AND THROUGH A TARGET HARD OR SOFT FASTER OR SLOWER ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM...
Last with all that said : guess what I use : blunt nosed semi wad cutters in larger calibers unless I cannot feasibly carry or conceal or get a platform to launch it... if I have to go with a smaller caliber I get premium bullets, practice to know where exactly it will hit and pick my shots as well as possible under the conditions..
JMHO
dk
