The bottom line is these bullets kill quick and will not fail. I've yet to have a deer run with one of these bullets but I have heard of three. The furthest was 40 yards and, after skinning this deer, I have no idea how it moved a foot. Both shoulders were taken out and the top of the heart was blown off. Perhaps the deer dropped in its tracks and my buddy didn't realize where it dropped at first. On the bad side, both front shoulders were shot (meat wise) but that would happen with any bullet. A soft bullet might have fragmented upon hitting the first shoulder but the Barnes kept right on trucking. They can also go through a half inch of steel when fired from a .300 magnum. We have a sillouhette that we blast for kicks sometimes.