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In essence, when firing a bullet to inflict damage, you want the kinetic energy to be as high as possible at the point of impact. For non-relitivistic speeds (bullet speeds), then the kinetic energy is calculated by E=mv^2. Where E is the energy, m is the mass and v^2 is the velocity (speed) of the bullet squared.

Examining this formula will determine that an increase in mass will provide a proportional increase to the kinetic energy, where as an increase of velocity will give an exponential increase (a squared increase) to the kinetic energy. Ergo, faster bullets will (to a degree) provide more damage potential.

It's worth noting that any living organism has a relatively low ability to take concentrated kinetic energy (such as a bullet wound) and once this energy level is exceeded then fleshy trauma from larger calibre weaponry will prove more devastating.

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