One of my favorite close range loadings for deer is the .40 SST at 200 gr. lightly knurled in the dark blue sabot on top of a sub-base. I shoot it in one of my Savage MLII.......... deleted SML data as requested by mod........ It is accurate enough to shoot deer with any kind of opportunity out to 150 but most of my shots are under 65 yds. I hot glue the sub-base to the bottom of the sabot and knurl all bullets shot in sabots. It is extremely light recoil and I use it for youth and smaller persons introduction SML shooting and hunting and use it often myself. Out of the SS factory Savage .50 barrel, JB polished, it gives a very consistent 2 MOA. (2" groups) and isn't the most accurate load for that gun but "good enough"! 300 Speer .458 or Nosler 300 grain ML bullets out of black crush rib sabot the best. I have killed 5 deer and a bunch of turkeys with the .40 X 200 SST load. I have come to prefer the .40 X 200 SST over the XTP for terminal performance. Out to 100 yds the two bullets shoot about the same but past that the SST is more accurate. The XTP is also more "explosive" at close range and on hard bone, ask how I know. My experience, yours may be different. W
PS: for load data I am shooting the SST .40 X 200gr. bullet at about 2300 to 2400 fps MV. XTP needs to be in the 2000 to 2100 fps range for best terminal performance in my opinion.
This post edited to remove SML load data as requested by mod, a reasonable request considering the safety issue of using smokeless in barrels/guns not approved for it and this being an "inline" forum with a SML specific forum available. As always mark your ramrod and safety first.