Hard-cast bullets with blunt tips penetrate well and transfer energy.

A handgun bullet is not so dependent on bullet construction. Jackets are thinner, but at relatively low velocity a jacket is not so critical. Not so much bullet weight is lost from low-velocity impact and penetration. The heavy bullet has enough momentum to allow it to penetrate well. While the destruction cavity may not be as large with a low-velocity impact, it's large enough and deeper. A longer destruction cavity is also more likely to extend through vital organs.

Bullet Design Is Crucial
It has become popular among hunters after large game with a handgun to use hard-cast nonexpanding bullets to maximize penetration depth. Remember: the smaller the frontal diameter after impact, the deeper the penetration.

This brings up another lesson I learned in the field. If you're using a nonexpanding bullet, a blunt, flatnose design is important. Shortly after I bought my first Government Model .45 ACP, I tired of plinking inanimate objects, and it was natural to go after something more challenging. Jackrabbits and coyotes were everywhere, and a running jackrabbit can really hone the hand/eye coordination as one of the big hares dodges around bushes in rapid departure. The same goes for called-in coyotes.

I had a lot of 230-grain roundnose FMJ ammo on hand that had worked great on tin cans and dirt clods. I figured that a big .45-caliber bullet would really flatten a jackrabbit. With even unfired bullet diameter being so large, I figured that expansion was not necessary. I was only partially correct. What I soon found was that the .45 ACP with hardball ammo was no more effective on jackrabbits or coyotes than a .22 rimfire had been, probably less so. I switched to 185- and 200-grain quick-expanding hollowpoint loadings in the .45 and varmints started hitting the dust hard. Hard-cast semiwadcutter loads also worked well.

When I pulled the hides off the rabbits and coyotes I could see the differences clearly. The slick hardball bullets appeared to simply have wedged through tissue without destroying much. In some instances it was not easy to find a bullet hole. The hollowpoints and semiwadcutters destroyed tissue along the bullet's path instead of pushing between muscle fibers, and there was obviously more energy transfer.

When I began handgunning in about 1960, even jacketed handgun bullets of an expanding type were almost nonexistent for handloading. Today, there is a wide variety of bullet weights and styles from every major maker in every caliber. You can buy expanding bullets that perform ideally on game from prairie dogs to moose in appropriate calibers.

A 300-grain heavyweight bullet in .44 Magnum carries enough momentum to provide deep penetration at top velocity, making it adequate for elk-size game.

When it comes to killing power with a handgun, conventional wisdom about rifle cartridges and kinetic energy goes right out the window. The momentum from a 240- to 300-grain .44 Magnum bullet, for example, is such that its killing power is adequate even for elk or moose though its kinetic energy is not great by rifle standards.

If you're wondering about the effectiveness of .44-caliber and larger projectiles, you can set your mind at ease. Pick a medium to heavy bluntnosed slug, and it will not even have to expand to be effective. Rounds like the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .480 Ruger, or .50 Action Express will do the job on game up to and including moose and elk. The 10mm Auto and .41 Magnum revolver rounds are great for deer and wild boar.

If you have been thinking about an added challenge, a traditional iron-sighted revolver might be just what you're looking for.