I've got a heavy barrel savage and love it.Great accuracy.Ive used mainly for squirrel hunting, with great results-head shots only to prevent ruining too much meat.A body hit can pretty much wreck em for eating.I shot several different bullets when I bought it and got the best accuracy from the 20 gr. hornady hollow point. As far as ricochet- I was told by 2 buddies that shoot them a lot that it is no issue, especially with the vmax bullets with poly tip.They blow into pieces with contact with anything.