Disintegration/genading of the bullet, found the reminants in the chest cavity, did not make it out of the chest, which I guess is good for not damaging meat. The largest piece weighed 41 grains (of the ones I found). These deer were not huge bruisers either. Yes, lots of blood in the cavity, so they were killing shots. Maybe "failure" would not be the best choice of words. The bullets behaving like this I would expect from hitting a larger bone, but not a thinner rib bone. I've seen Partitions do better in this situation and the ABs were supposed to be the next generation Partition.
Of the successes I have seen, some of the ABs exit the deer or penetrate the far side, as well as keeping together fairly well with a good mushroom. One retrieved bullet weighed 129 grains. That one was a downward semi-frontal shot near the shoulder at about 50 yds. The deer did not go far, maybe 5 steps. Found the bullet in the far front leg.
My concern is using these bullets on larger/tougher game like elk, moose, and bear. When the ABs perform, they do a great job. But I would hate to experience a breakdown on a major trip or something like that.
Hey Tod, here is some interesting reading from Nosler's reloading forum site. Just a quick search found these threads. It is a Nosler site, so there are lots of converts/fans of the ABs there. Take it with a grain of salt.
http://noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5822&highlight=acubond+failure
http://noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=109&highlight=acubond+failure