[jnichols2]

I don't know if I'm smarter than you are (probably I'm not), but I do know a few things that apparently, you do not.

ALL rifle bullets tumble. Its because of their shape. The bullet base is heavier than the nose, so after a certain amount of penetration, the bullets swaps ends. The .223/5.56mm round got a huge reputation for this, only because of its small bullet size, combined with the use of a FMJ bullet.

Traditionally, .22 caliber centerfire rifles were always regarded as pest & varmint calibers. The were always loaded with bullets designed to expand as violently as possible (because a bullet holding together for penetration is actually counterproductive when your target is a small animal).

By the early 20th century, the majority of the world's militaries were using approximately .30 caliber rounds (or something between .26 and .32 calibers). These bullets DO tumble after impact. However, most of them do not tumble until after over a foot of penetration of soft tissue. This being the case, the point were a larger bullet tumbles is often after it has exited a person.

This was well known, but not anything of any real importance (or use) until we changed to the very small caliber bullet of the .223. Combining a very small bullet with the military full metal jacket design showed that it begins its tumble after only a few inches of penetration. This does result in larger wounds than if the bullet did not tumble, and was beaten like a cheap drum as justification for using the small bullet (small compared to previous standards).

Oh, and by the way, "truly horrible wounds" are those inflicted on myself, or my friends, only. Wounds inflicted on people I meant to shoot are not horrible, they are efficient.

Very enlightening stuff, particularly the part in boldface.