Miles,
As I and Jordan stated earlier, neither of us has found ANY difference in either "killing power" or penetration when Barnes X-Bullets keep or lose petals. I also mentioned Randy's take on the whole thing. I also have found no difference in other "petal" type bullets, whether monolithic or the Fail Safe with its lead core in the rear end.
Retaining or losing petals only became an issue because so many hunters became obsessed with 100% weight retention as THE answer to "killing power"--which is definitely not true. Randy Brooks himself was never fixated on it, as I pointed out. Instead he wanted deeper penetration, which does indeed help in some hunting.
But EVERY time the question of Barnes--or other petal-expanding bullets--comes up on the Campfire, somebody has to mention (as you did) the relative loss of petals. Whereupon some of us who have used such bullets enough to see every variation, from no petal loss to ALL petals gone, feel obliged to mention that we have never seen any meaningful difference in killing power or penetration.
