Gerard,
Thanks. I defer to your vast experience in these matters. Maybe I am the one who was confused over whether they were talking about the Barnes soft (Triple Shock) or the as yet non-existant flat-nosed 350gr/.416cal Barnes solid.

Would you say that the same momentum criteria is suitable to judge your own monometal HV soft points as well as the monometal FN solids?

If so, then I see why you chose 330 grains for the HV and 380 grains for the FN.

One could hope that his FN would be zeroed at 100 yards and his HV would be zeroed at 250 yards using the same sight settings and same hold on target.

Sounds like the perfect African Sheep Rifle II (.416 Dakota) bullet combo.

Jeff - I used the .416 Rem / 350 X for sable. Great one gun safari tandem.

RIP,
I have an opinion on the value of SD that is not popular at all amongst traditionalists. Mainly, the reason is that I have not been able to find any linear relationship between penetration, ability to kill, or any other parameter that can be applied to a typical hunting application,with the SD number of a given bullet.

Defining only a single quality of a bullet as the reason why that bullet gets the job done, is impossible, as "geting the job done" is a combination of several very complex factors.

At the risk of being too simplistic also, I believe that one should consider, at a minimum, three factors to form a basis of comparison between bullets for use in a particular cartridge. As soon as different cartridges are compared, the factors to be considered increases again and to a level where it almost becomes easier to just go out and shoot a whole bunch of animals to come to an educated guesstimate about what works and which is better.

Given the comparison within the confines of one particular cartridge, working with monometallic bullets of the same style, if the lighter bullet can be loaded to the same momentum values as the heavier bullet, penetration will be very similar. The lighter bullet will have more energy and therefore create a wound channel of larger volume and this makes it superior.

The above does not hold true for any bullet of bi-metal construction where one of the metals used is lead.

We make a 380gr FN as well as a 410gr FN in .416". We have proven over and over in practise on game, that the 380gr FN will go deeper in tissue and bone than the 410gr FN and will always follow a straighter path.

If Barnes recommends the 350gr bullet over a heavier one of the same style, I would follow their advice.

I was also confuddled when I started to think about Buffalo with my .416 Rem. Now after my first trip and the 370 grain North Fork bullets both softs and solids performing perfectly I am no longer confuddled. Try them and you will become unconfuddled like me. Good shooting