Flinch,
I have seen the 200-grain .338 Ballistic Tip do the same sorts of things, a number of times. Yet supposedly it can't, because it's a Ballistic Tip!
You hit the nail on the head about judging bullet performance: Everybody has their own idea of what's perfect performance, and not all of the opinions have much to do with how quickly the animal died.
In fact I did an article about the mythical "perfect" big game bullet once, quoting a few bullet manufacturers who are driven nuts by all the customers who demand The Greatest and Only Big Game Bullet Ever Made.
