FYI, below is a recovered 250gr SST from a Large Mulie Doe I shot on Saturday morning.

Details:
Savage 10 II
Smokeless Powder - 43.5gr IMR 4759
Bullet 250gr SST
Sabot MMP HPH24
Primer 209W
Ave MV 2352 FPS
Range: 170 yards
Broadside standing shot, double shoulder on large Mulie Doe(200 +). I took the high shoulder shot on the account of the terrain, if she made the coulee it would have meant her coming up in pieces as it was steep and deep, being she was near the edge I figured the likely hood was pretty good she'd tumble into it and end up at or near the bottom.Though I must admit I really wanted to see what the bullet would do a little further out when flung from the savage under a smokeless charge with this shot location. Where I ML hunt for whitetails I have a couple spots where such a shot is a requirement.

The bullet was recovered in the opposite hide and seperated while digging it free but as you can see it peeled completely back. The bullet broke both scapulas, mess of the lungs and produce a DRT result.

This was unbonded SST with supplied sabot right? Nice shooting. You shot for the scapulas so thebullet would expand right? Chap Gleason

skeeter - very interesting results with the bullet performance. It answered a few questions that were always in the back of my mind about Shockwaves. I also believe that while the Shockwave is a great bullet, it needs to hit something solid in order to expand properly. You kind of supported that idea there.

From your wound description, the destroyed lung would have killed her no matter what. The breaking of the scapula or shoulder blade triangle only planted her there. It is actually one of my favorite shots when hunting the tangle of under brush around here. If I can put them down on the trail, they are easy to get to.

I also note your ability in that Savage to really push that bullet to some extreme velocities. I think that is another great help in your ability to harvest so effectively. Congratulations on a heck of a shot. 170 yards is no easy shot. No matter what kind of rifle you are shooting. And a large mule deer is not as easy to bring down as some people think. I had a friend pump three 30-06 rounds into one and it stood there and soaked that lead up like it was nothing. Congratulations again.. now you have some excellent venison for the table and a great memory of a fine hunt to boot!!!

Chap, yes unbonded bullet. Not the packaged sabot but rather the thinner pedal MMP HPH24. My savage has a tighter bore then most and packaged HPH12 sabots cause uncontrollable flyers. I took the double shoulder shot (scapula's) due to terrain as I didn't want her going into the coulee after the shot. In most situations being a doe aka meat deer i would have placed the bullet behind the shoulder to minimize meat damage. That said it did allow me to see perfromance of the load/bullet on a shoulder shot of longer then 100 yards.

Thanks Cayugad. So far i have personally shot 6 deer with this load and seen more then a dozen more with similar loads flung from the savage...let me say expansion has not been a problem in any of the cases. Big exit holes on behind the shoulder shots. Shots have ranged from 20 yards to 250 yards. In fact i was thinking the 250gr SST might not beequipped to handle the velocity for which we are pushing it behind smokeless powder in the savages(which BTW is book loads/velocity not the ragged edge that some are doing it at, though my bore is slightly faster then most of the savages i have shoot with). Like you mention with sub shooters it seems to be to robust and needs something substantial to open it up. ReasonI ended upsticking toother bullets like the XTP or Nosler in my remington and knight inlines. The performance was exactly want I hoped, the lungs heavily damaged, the projectile got thru and busted both scapulas. She dropped like a stone and was dorrnailed when i got up. As far as the shot let meclarify it was a perfect situation and conditions to make it. Light wind on my nose, steady rest off my shooting sticks, verified yardage with a LRF and a relaxed broadside standing shot. Had it not been the case i would have passed. I spend a lot of time shooting my rifles/bows each year at longer ranges, being I hunt in some very open terrain I feel it is nessecary to practice and know your equipment/abilities. This area for exampleis totally void of any real bush, the deer feed on the tops and live/get coverin the coulees in buck brush, sage and prairie grass. From the tops of the coulees you can see for miles the vast prairie landscape...it offers a whole different set of challenges to the hunter no doubt.

Here is a pic of the flats where the deer feed. I belly crawled through the prairie grass to the edge of the wheatstubble totakethis pic of a bedded pronghorn antelope.

That is a heck of a goat there.. I can see why you need the ability to shoot long distance.

Excellant shot fine deer and an excllant report. Lee

Pretty country. A pine tree woods southern boy like me would probably walk right on by the best hunting spots in that area.

How close were you to that pronghorn, it looks like pretty darn close, which is amazing with their great eye sight

Its a diverse place to hunt here on the prairie's for sure. Bandlands to forest and everything inbetween. I actually only hunt thisopen of terrain for mulies and antelope.This is adraw tagand in a zone my partner whodrew a buck tag wanted to hunt.The area is known for producing some top caliber mulie bucks soI don't blame him and being my partner I said lets give her a go. The majority of my time spent is in terrain most consider normal when it comes to deer hunting. Longer shots still exist eslewhere I hunt, though I'd rather try and get a chip shot vs a long iron if at all possible!

Semisane, in terrain such as this buck's actually duck for additional concealment. I too find myself missing some of the best places, its hard to regear the brain.

Redpep, zoom is a wonderful thing. I'd say about 100yards. As you can tell he knew exactly where I was when I snapped the pic.