Wyowhisper along with what you said good shot placement in some of the failures may have cause them not to and the same can be true of the opposite. With any bullet shot placement is critical as you know. Literally any bullet can kill an animal when placed correctly, while I don't condone it a person shooting a .22 long rifle could kill a deer at 100yds by shooting it in the head.
My preference of Match Grade bullets comes from reloading them, their weights are nominally the same which makes the reloads more accurate than hunting rounds with standard bullets. this is not merely a boast as I have compared them (MG) to standard grade bullets of the same weight using the same powders, primers and brass. Summing up if a bullet is inherently more accurate and with all else being constant they perform better.
