There are plenty of other options for softer bullets than the NBT. I started out using the Remington factory loads in my .308 back in the early 70s and used them about 15 years. I dunno if they called them Core Lokts back then, but they worked fine. I switched to Federal Premiums that used a Sierra BTSP for about a decade, and those were definitely softer bullets than the Remingtons; put big holes thru the deer and usually DRT. When I started handloading my rifle ammo in early 90s, I tried some of the NBT. Got amazing performance from the first deer I shot with it and haven't changed since in the .308. My experience with them in the smaller calibers left me less than satisfied.

I shot a doe with the Contender and a 120g NBT and she ran off like I hadn't touched her. No blood at all, but I found her dead about 50 yards down the trail. I recovered the bullet - it had mushroomed nicely, but the little gun didn't have enough power to push that ultra-soft bullet all the way thru. I think you gotta match the bullet to the gun.

J.D. Jones loved the NBT in his .30 caliber Contender wildcats and killed all sorts of critters in Africa with them. But then one trip he tried the new .338 NBT and found it didn't work well at all in his guns. Don't judge a bullet by its performance in any one gun or caliber. It might work just fine in something else.

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.