I've shot barnes bullets for many years. Having said that, I can say for a fact that they are very destructive bullets WHEN heavy bone is hit. I drove a barnes bullet through both shoulders of a large black bear, from a modest load in a 35 Whelen. The bear actually flipped over DRT. The bullet was never recovered.
Conversely, I have shot whitetails and muleys with a barnes bullet, from a 257Bee moving in excess of 3700fps, and have observed both bang/flops and penciled through holes where the deer ran 100 yards and fell over. The deer that dropped in their place were high shoulder shots. The animals that ran then dropped were double lung and/or heart shots.
Years ago I was caribou hunting with a custom gun builder who shot and made loads exclusively with Barnes bullets. He told me if i was using a barnes bullet for thin skinned game, I should drop at least 10% in bullet weight from the normal lead bullet, (ie if i was using a 150gr lead, try 135gr barnes). He also told me that these bullets, while designed to expand, will do so much more violently when hitting heavy bone.
While I still shoot barnes bullets, I reserve using them ONLY for larger heavier game. They certainly work.
Erik