jjt, thats exactly why I no longer shoot them. BUT like John Lazzeroni has told me about retained weight vs terminal performance... " You found the animal didnt you, does it really matter then what they bullet weighs?" I guess he' s right, but I' ve always preferred a bullet that performs like a Xbullet, Trophy Bonded, Failsafe etc... to a bullet that sheds it nose and you are left with fragments and only a shank. But it sounds like with the shots you took and got full penetration (lol and most importantly, recovered the animal!) you are still doing fine and cant really complain about a loss.

As much as the last 10 years have brought us in terms of bullet technology and performance, I believe the next 5-10 will make them pale in comparison. For the last 50 years we big-game hunters have had basically two choices. 1). Great terminal peformance with sacrificed accuracy (Xbullets, Trophy Bonded, Grand Slams etc...) or 2). The opposite, sacrificed terminal performance with great accuracy (Matchkings, Ballistic Tips etc...). New bullets are being developed (Barnes/Lazzeroni/Robar with their Lazerheads and another company in Africa whose name escapes me right now.) that combine the best of both worlds and of course guns and shooting equipment in general have continually made improvements in accuracy abilities.

Its gonna be FUN!
RA

ps
lol not bein picky or pokin fun but with 3 shots and 3 busted shoulders, you might wanna move your targetspot 2" back!!!