Looks like we're agreed, bullet construction is far more important than is sectional density. There was some coincidence in that some of the bullets with the greatest SD also held together good. I'm thinking of the 160 grain round nose bullet in the 6.5 Mauser that had such a good reputation on moose.
What I can't agree with is that it was just these "modern" bullets that are so spectacular. I have posted copies of Jack O'Connor's writings on the 50th anniversary of the 270 Winchester cartridge, which he wrote in 1975. He states that the 130 grain bullet Winchester designed and built, for the new 270 in 1925, was the best bullet for the 270 that he had ever seen, as he wrote in 1975. He said it expanded, but held together and had deep penetration. He also stated it was too expensive to make and Winchester had to give it up.
After WW2, Fred Barnes renewed his bullet making. My brother got a bunch of his new type in 30 calibre, both 150 and 200 grain. The jackets were swaged from ordinary copper tubing that you could buy at the hardware store, which was way, way thicker than regular bullet jackets. The lead alloy core was "soldered" to the jackets. A bit of lead was exposed at the nose. In game, the heavy copper jacket opened up, but the bullet scarcely lost any weight and they really penetrated. I have told on some of these threads how the 150 grain Barnes I talk of, was one of the best moose killers in the 30-06 that I had ever used. The 200 grain was even better. Had those early Barnes bullets had the hype that modern bullets get, I'm sure they would have been rated right up there with the modern ones with all the fancy letter designations.
In the 1950s I had a friend who had immigrated from Germany. In Germany he grew up in a rich family that had the hunting rights we hear of. This fellow had shot maybe 20 or 30 big game animals a year, as well as maybe 150 pheasants. We had lots of arguments about things, but no question, he knew firearms and shooting. He claimed a partition bullet made by RWS was far superior to the Nosler partion. This bullet was hard to get in Canada, but I know some US hunters used them on guided hunts in western CAnada, and Africa.
During those years after the War, that I refer to as the glory years of hunting and shooting, the huge firm of Herter's were in their hayday. They made, or had made for them, a large variety of bullets. In general, Herter products were very low priced, but often of surprisingly good quality. I still have some ot the cheapest 130 grain 270 bullets they sold. These are just as accurate as any other 130 grain bullet I have shot in the 270. The price was about one-third of what one would pay for similar bullets from other manufacturers.
Herter's made a great variation in their bullets. Their top quality ones were partition type, like Nosler, only the best ones earned a reputation that exceeded Nosler's.
Gee, all this about bullets and I haven't even mentioned one of my all time favourites, the CIL Dominion Copper Point Expanding, which they loaded in some of their standard calibres!
