I had an opportunity to try out a new load on whitetail deer this year out of my Contender equipped with a Super 14 7-30 Waters barrel. I used a 139 Hornady SST driven with 35.2 grains of W748 which is an exceptionally accurate load in my barrel. The best groups are 3/8 of an inch at 100 yards and 1.5 at 200.
I shot a medium size doe (125 pounds) that was quartering towards me at about 40 yards. The bullet broke the shoulder and created about a 2 inch wound channel through the lungs, liver, stomach (chock full of grass) and small intestines. The heart was missed. It was getting dark but I did spend a fair amount of time and effort in an unsuccessful attempt to find the bullet. I could not find an exit hole and I'm sure there wasn't one. I suspect the bullet stopped in the intestines somewhere. The deer ran about 25 yards on 3 legs before expiring.
The overall pentetration and wound channel size of the 139 SST was similar to what I found testing using wet newspaper at the range. During that test the bullet expanded to about .45 inches and retained 80% of its weight.
On the same day of the hunt, a friend took a similar shot on a same sized doe with a .270 rifle using 140 BTs. The distance was also about 40 yards. The pentetration was about the same and his bullet didn't exit either but the doe dropped in its tracks. The hydrostatic shocks he gets out of that load is fierce. His deer always go down instantly.
Good hunting!
ShootnStr8
