I agree about the lethality of the Quik-Shok and so might the writer of that article if he had tried some on something besides paper and milk jugs!
Where the article goes awry in my opinion is that the author has field experience with only one of the rounds tested (I'm going by what he wrote mind you). It doesn't seem to dawn on him that most small pests and game do not really NEED alot of penetration! A hollowpoint that penetrates three jugs is much more penetration than a rabbit or squirrel would need but it is quick killer anyways because that expansion is happening fairly quickly upon entering the animal. I do realize that he was considering the potential for much larger animals. With that said, it seems to me that if a larger animal like a goat or a deer was close enough to get the full damage from a long rifle bullet's expansion, then the likelihood is that he is close enough for a clean brain shot, in which case, a penetrating bullet (even a solid) IS the best choice.
A Quik-Shok is NOT a penetrator but I can tell you that it will do clean job on small game and varmints. A buddy of mine took a woodchuck at a good 75+ yards with a chest shot and he said that the 'chuck went into freeze frame--just froze--dead as a doornail! He had been using Velocitors but switched over to Quik-Shok because, as he said, he'd never seen anything that deadly from a ".22". Myself, I remember cutting a pigeon COMPLETELY in half at the middle of the body. Also, a sparrow taken with a Quik-Shok blew up in a pillow of feathers and I never found anything, not even feet or a beak! First time I'd ever had a bird completely disappear (except for those feathers slowly floating down for what seemed to be five minutes)!
The friend I mentioned that took the chest shot woodchuck with the Quik-Shok also did his own milk jug tests at a measured 100 yards using this round plus the Velocitor, the Stinger, regular hollowpoint, subsonic hollowpoint AND the new at the time .17 Mach II. He used one jug only because he knew that for the critters these cartridges were designed for, the vitals would be contained somewhere in that FIRST jug! Only the Quik-Shok came remotely close to the Mach II in damage at that range! All of the other loads were SOUNDLY and DECISIVELY trounced! Now the irony of it all is that I KNOW that the Stinger can be very deadly on smaller pests at 100 yard type ranges (if you can hit 'em in the first place with it) and so that put the damage to the jugs in a very real and clear context! In other words, the Quik-Shok was doing some REAL HEAVY-DUTY DAMAGE even at 100 yards!
As for penetration, let me tell you about an experiment I did a decade or so ago that I found VERY eye opening! I took a couple of average sized adult fox squirrels (2-3 pounds with leathery hide) freshly head shot with a rim-fire and ran some penetration tests using a pump up pneumatic Crosman 2100 .177 airgun. The pellet? I used a NON-penetrating Crow Mag pellet. At point blank range using 5 pumps behind the shoulder, this little pellet at about 6ft.lbs.(chronoed) penetrated through both lungs and reached the far side of the animal. Folks it doesn't take alot to get sufficient penetration on small game and pests.
On a coyote at 50 yards, I wouldn't want to go through the shoulder with ANY rimfire load. Centerfire hunters report problems with this placement. A bullet that COULD get through would have to sacrifice wound channel size way too much for penetration (and even then, the bullet would have a hard time getting through on a straight line). Aside from a brain shot (always a precarious thing), the best possibility would be a shot right behind the shoulder in the ribs through both lungs. A Velocitor would be a good choice but so might the Quik-Shok. Just stay away from bad angles.
I shot the Quik-Shok at point blank at a water filled milk jug and did the same with the .22 Mag CCI Maxi+V (30gr. @ 2200fps). To be perfectly honest, the Maxi did noticeably more damage than the Quik-Shok but as a friend and I acknowledged to each other, the Quik-Shok gave MUCH, MUCH more damage than we could have ever guessed from a .22 LR case load! In fact, I'd say that at that same close range, the Quik-Shok would have done MORE damage than a 40gr. .22 MAG load! THAT is impressive but it's one of those things you have to see to completely believe! And the name of the game for stopping critters is damage, damage of the vitals. It's not energy (at the muzzle or at the animal) per se, it's the DAMAGE caused and some bullets are better designed to cause that damage! Quik-Shok performs WAY above what its' figures would suggest! --- Mike Pearson