Energy "dump" is a fact, any bullet that does not exit "dumps" all its energy in the target.
What people claim this does, or doesn't do calling their theory "Energy dump" is something different.
Depth of penetration and the structures ACTUALLY hit by the bullet and damaged as a result is all there is.
Absolutely, that is all there is, AFTER THE SHOOTING. And it's all that can be tested and replicated.
I believe that there is a response from a living body to the impact of a bullet. Something not consistent, or replicable in a lab. Call it "shock" or "knock down power", "Energy dump" or what ever name you can come up with. It exists. Living bodies sometimes clearly show a reaction, and sometimes, do not.
It is an instantaneous thing, happening (or not) as the bullet penetrates, and not something any after action examination can show.
IF you have seen enough live bodies shot (game animals or humans), you have seen some that have been "blown off their feet", and some that have simply dropped, and some that have shown no effect and run away, or continued to attack, (until the damage physically stops them).
I think that, when this happens, a body being "knocked down" by a round, it is not the energy (Ft/lbs) alone that does this. It is the live body, itself, nerve impulses firing muscles to twitch, causing the physical movement (knock down). Shoot a dead body with everything else the same, and you get a slight twitch of the material right at the impact and nothing else.
And I would note that the "knock down effect" can happen in whole, or part, or be absent entirely in any given situation.
There are no "standard" people, or animals, in the sense that each one is a different creature and can react differently to the same situation. While they all tend to fall into general groups, there is always a range of difference.
What you see in the ER or the autopsy is the permanent results, not what happened at the instant of being shot. Permanent results are quantifiable, and are the only sound basis for comparisons, etc.
However, there are the observed results of shootings that don't always track with the permanent results. There are no magic bullets, and everything that goes in the right place works. Its up to you to get it there, though.
I think my sig line says a lot...