I almost always aim my M/L just like I would a bow. Going for a double lung, just behind the shoulder, in the ribs.They usually run 30 yards or so and pile up. I did shoot a small, cull buck 9 point last week with a high shoulder shot because I did not want him running into a swamp. Was looking for the pop and flop. Got exactly that. My load is a 250 grain shockwave with 110 grains of loose 777. The bullet went through his right shoulder, clipped the bottom of the spine and out the opposite shoulder leaving a softball sized hole (a single hole, not a bunch of little holes from the fragments). Damage similar to a 30-30.

The reason I always went for the same aimpoint as a bow is I had doubts about penetration w/ the M/L and wanted to make sure I got a hole in and a hole out for blood and tracking purposes. This technique has never failed me.

I am not doubting you at all on your performance, but I have shot numerous deer in the past 3 years with this combo, and I have never had a shockwave not expand. I've hit them broadside, quartering and head on, missed bone and hit bone, always get a good mushroom. I've even recovered three bullets from heavy quartering shots on big deer. The bullets, despite passing through bone and several feet of meat in two cases and nothing but meat in the third, were nicely mushroomed and retained most of their weight. That said, 110 grains of loose 777 is about like 145 grains of pyrodex compared of your load of 100 grains. You might want to try bumping up your powder charge to 130 grains of pellets or go to loose and try 100 grains of 777 loose, that would be about like 130 grains of pellets or pyrodex.That could have been the problem. In all the deer I've killed with the 250s the damage has been like a 308 or 30-30. Never had a bullet break up or explode either.

Good luck
Hank