The bloodlines don't expand, they split off the forward petals leaving the shank of the bullet to plow through. The petals fly off in 4 different directions destroying tissue and severing arteries. So the same hole size exiting is what is expected. Let me correct myself a bit, under very slow moving circumstances, they do expand without the petals sheering off but if it's moving that slow, it's doubtful you will get a pass through. Sounds like the bullet performed flawlessly as designed. As far as sabots go, my sister uses Harvester Crush Rib sabots with hers. She has a Thompson Center Impact and the barrel is a bit on the tight side.