Quote Originally Posted by Whitester View Post
A typical 8.4 grain .177 pellet will knock a swinging target back about 40 degrees where as . 22 pelted will knock it back 90 degrees.

That really sums it up, .22 hit harder but there are other factors to consider.
It does not really, because of the differing velocities. With a low velocity impact, more of the kinetic energy is transferred as kinetic energy to the target, compared to a high velocity impact, where less is transferred as kinetic energy to the target but correspondingly more is converted to deformation of the pellet and the target. Sort of why hammer blows are not very suitable if you want to push your car, but the same energy in the form of a gentle push over a longer time will do the job.

Unfortunately when it comes to effectiveness on live quarry - it gets a bit more complicated than that but I'd hazard a guess that in most situations a faster pellet will be better at penetrating bone, especially at an angle.