Whether you can compare flesh and bone to plastic and sand I could not say. As for the bullets, it sounds like they did what they were designed to do. The all lead hollow point will hit, enter (we hope) make it to the major organs, expanding as it tears through the boiler room. Granted it might not make a complete pass through, but if placed right, the deer should be dead. Any time you can disrupt the major organs as a bullet does, the animal will die. The problem is, it might not be on the spot. So tracking skills might be in order.
One problem with the no pass through is lots of times, the lack of a blood trail. While this can be a problem, if the bullet was placed right, the animal should not make it too far... we hope.
The Aero Tip should penetrate better. Also the expansion should not be as bad as the hollow point. Did you by chance take a caliper and measure the expansion of the bullets. That would also be interesting. The aero tip also has a much better chance of pass through which might make a better blood trail.
What I avoid is a bullet that fragments. I want the bullet to make it into the major organs, and do the damage, but not in just pieces. I think a bullet that does not fragment stands a much better chance of a pass through.
I've hunted two years with a 295 grain all lead hollow point Powerbelt. My intentions should the deer ever had cooperated was to slip that behind the shoulder missing the major bone structure but trying to angle it into the major organs. As is my luck the deer only seem to appear when I am hunting with roundball.
It really dosen't matter if you are shooting a smaller bull. by useing a saboted bull. it is what damage it dose to the animal after it hits ! 
