Perspective on Bullet Performance

[denton]

A while back, somebody posted a super useful bullet performance chart here. It compared the penetration and weight retention of a bunch of different popular 180 grain 30 cal. bullets, fired at various speeds, into soggy phone books. As you would expect, the differences in performance were quite large.

So it got me to thinking.

If you go from, say, a 243 to a 308, you pick up quite a bit of knock-down power. How does that compare with the improvement you get in going from a standard bullet to a really good bullet? At 2700 fps, one of the popular standard priced bullets penetrated 15.8". The better bullet from the same manufacturer penetrated 18.2", and another manufacturer's offering came in at 21.7". Those are some pretty big differences. The GSCustom's out of South Africa appear to be better yet. (Poorest of the lot was the MatchKing, which was tested just to substantiate the manufacturer's claim that it is not a hunting bullet. It's not.)

So, help me put this in perspective.

As compared with shooting a standard bullet, is the step from a standard bullet to a very good bullet the same as the difference between a 243 and a 7-08? Or the same as the difference between a 243 and a 308? Or the difference between any other two cartridges of your choice? (Excluding, of course, the ever popular comparison between a Red Ryder and a 50 BMG.)