I would agree, killing power on Pheasants, with Kent Tung-matrix,vastly inferior to lead. because the hevi-shot upland loads are low pressure, low recoil, they are going to have killing power a lot like the RST nice shots. However, centered in the pattern properly, it will kill effectively. I have witnessed the Brits, shooting 7/8ths and 1 ounce loads, with fiber wads, and overshot cards, rolled crimped, nickled lead 7's of course, with full and fuller chokes, drop big driven roosters an easy 75 yards out and up. But some of these guys shoot hundreds of such birds a year, and rank pretty much as experts, their guns are worth more than my car, some maybe as much as my house! Not that they pattern any better. The variety of non-toxic shot is bound to increase, and costs come down, as we are increasingly required to use them.