Ah yes, this thread has morphed into yet another "Barnes is Best."
In my field experience (which includes over 150 Barnes X's going back the original and blue-coated XLC), they kill very well when put through the shoulders or spine, or even very close to the spine. They don't kill as well as, say, Sierras when put through the lungs behind the shoulders, for a very simple reason: They don't do as much damage to the lungs, because Barnes X's don't partially fragment (at least not much) compared to lead-core bullets.
This is also why Barnes X's don't ruin as much meat as lead-cored bullets. But you can't have it both ways.
I have also found the statement "NOTHING performs like a Barnes" not to be true. I have also seen a bunch of other monolithics used on various big game animals from pronghorn to moose in North America, and springbok to eland in Africa. The Hornady GMX and Nosler E-Tip do exactly the same things, as far as I've been able to tell, whether wound channels, weight retention, deep penetration, or lack of meat damage.
