As we have found and reiterated, cast bullets definitely have their place. In my opinion, when the animals get big and heavy boned, their usefulness is limited. It's okay if you pick your shots and deliberately avoid heavy support bones - much like you would do with lesser, non-premium jacketed expanding bullets. We shot into harder portions of the downed animals to see which ones hold up and which ones fail miserably. I had a 500 grain hardcast bullet fail in a big way on two different animals in testing on water buffalo, but the same bullet worked admirably on the Canadian moose I shot in Maine years before.

The XTP continues to show its true nature at this event. This is a 400 grainer shot out of a .475 on a 120-lb deer. To me this performance is just as egregious as the cast bullet whose nose distorts. I figured this application would be in its wheelhouse.