Art,
I tend to rely on the hunting notes I've been keeping for several now when any questions of bullet performance come up, partly because have found that memories of individual instances tend to distort long-term statistics.
Have been using X-Bullets since around 2000, before the TSX appeared, because about that time Barnes had pretty much solved the accuracy problems of early X's--though not the fouling problems. (Throughout the 1990's both my wife and I used Fail Safes when desiring deep-penetetrating, petal-type performance, because they shot more accurately than X-Bullets.) We started using TSX's the first year they appeared, and in fact Eileen was the first person to provide Coni Brooks with a field report on a bull elk. We both mostly switched to Tipped TSX's when they appeared a few years later.
Have been using AccuBonds since they appeared as well, which was around the same time as TSX's, but have also witnessed a bunch of TSX's and AB's used by other hunters. By "witnessed" I was standing, sitting or lying next to those hunters when they shot the animal.
The biggest single test was during a month-long meat-cull in South Africa in 2007, when both the TSX and the AccuBond were still hot new bullets, so the American hunters who took part used more TSX's and AB's than other bullets. A total of 185 animals were taken, ranging in size up to 1500+ pounds. But that was just one instance that provided a lot of info on the performance of both bullets--and yes, a number of both were recovered.
As a result of that month, and a bunch of other experiences with both bullets right up to the present, I believe the percentage of recovered Barnes X's and AccuBonds recorded in my notes might be fairly valid. They show a recovery rate of 18.7% for Barnes X's of all types, and 20% for AccuBonds. With either bullet, I would say it would be accurate to claim the "vast majority" exited.
Now, I should also comment that in general the X's used were probably smaller for the size of game. Plenty of both in calibers above .30 were used, but at the smaller end no AccuBonds below 6.5mm were used, while plenty of .25 caliber X's were. A couple of Tipped TSX's that were recovered were 100-grain .25's from Eileen's .257 Roberts--from angling shots on consecutive animals, a cow elk and a doe pronghorn. But overall the numbers of both bullets provide a pretty good comparison.
Those numbers are so wildly different from my direct experience I am forced to wonder how none have ever exited. The hunters I know that have used Accubonds have mostly quit them due to excessive meat loss, failure to exit, and the occasional weird tumbling, failure to track straight issue.
It is easy to remember how many exited when the answer is none. It is plenty easy to remember how many Xs exited when they can be easily counted on a hand or two..
