44-40 vs 30-30

When Mr. S wrote that commentary, the range most deer were shot was inside, well inside 100 yards. You can almost always conclude that a projectile will offer greater stopping power as its frontal area gets larger, and the 44 has a larger frontal area than the 30. Bullet design was limited to alloy, full copper patch over an alloy core, and jacketed exposed lead, aka soft nose. Expansion was arrived at by thinning the copper jacket, solids were created by thickening the same. 
The 30 WCF, 30-30 to most, was one of the earliest smokeless powder rounds, and it's velocity was so far above what could be reached with black powder that it became the focus of some rather ridiculous claims. For example, I recall one contemporary expert stated flatly that it was a 500 yard deer cartridge.
I think just maybe Mr. S was reminding his readers that correctly sized and loaded 44s had the edge at the hunting distances of that time.
I probably should mention that as the human population grew, and natural areas shrank or disappeared altogether, shots got longer. Deer scarcity was a genuine fact, and the stand replaced woodsman skills. The 44WCF, long the go to hunting caliber, was replaced by the flatter shooting 30 WCF.
Today, a devoted core of aficionados keep the venerable 44 alive, and here we can remember that it was the first do it all rifle cartridge.

Gave my youngest son my dad's Rossi 92 in 44-40 and a box of hid reloads . Last year he killed his first deer with it with a neck shot and now he wouldn't take a stack of 30-30's for it . One shot in the neck at 75 yds and it never took a step . He was most impressed with the fact that the bullet hole was the same diameter all the way through and there was almost no bloodshot meat . Where we hunt 100 yards would be a very long shot . Can't really say the 44-40 is better than the 30-30 but it is different and good enough .