I share your sentiments Quilly, the chances of losing a buck because of bullet failure might be very slim, almost non existent, but there is a slight chance of it. My thoughts on this whole matter are that if you want to use soft bullets, you need to stay above about 160 gr for deer. Knowing the capabilities of your equipment and good shot placement are the keys to sucess. I have been criticized for hunting with a 338/06 because its "too much gun for deer" as they have told me. Well, I tend to want to prepare for the worst that might happen in hunting. For example a boone and crocket buck that is leaving the area and only offers me one shot from the rear. I sure as hell dont want a 243 in my hands if that ever happened. And in the final anylysis, I think that is one of the things that makes hunting interesting, you never know what is about to happen. I try to use the boyscout motto, be prepared. It makes me feel good to read stuff that people like you and stubblejumper and others here write that show they understand their equipment and have taken time to learn what it will do. Perhaps its more that you have paid enough attention to see what your equipment will do. So many seem to just blindly overlook the performance factor and trust that if they just hit a deer it will die. After all, even a 243 has a ton of muzzle energy and a deer only weighs 200 lbs! how could it not kill? Well, you and I know theres more to it than that.