When they're supposed to is my answer. Shot three more good sized pigs over the last few days. (I actually shot a few more, but running shots from a Ranger as it comes to an abrupt stop are not good examples for this topic)

First one, 135 yards, I'm elevated about 50'. 1/4ing shot, in behind shoulder, lower than my typical point of aim, two exit wounds. This wasn't in the heavily muscled, solid part of the hog that I like to hit. He ran 15 yards and flopped a few seconds, sprayed a really nice blood trail the whole way.








Second one, shot behind the ear from another set up, 180 yards, DRT, bullet in and out.






Third one, take my word for it, no exit. Shot in my preferred point of impact, solid part of the neck. 180 yards,DRT


So for me, exit or not, I don't care. They work. Haven't shot any of my bucks that I recall that didn't exit. Thet were all hit good, solid part of the body, as shown in my earlier post. This has been all about how well they kill, but the accuracy is right there with their ability to ethically put an animal down. These behind the ear shots we do from time to time can't be done with low quality ammo.

Never used SSTs but love the performance of Nosler Ballistic Tips which is similar design. Noslers are impossible to find so may switch to SSTs when I run out.

Did Hornady toughen up the SST like Nosler did with the Ballistic Tip?

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Yes, according to John Barsness. He says that their terminal performance is now just like the standard Interlocks
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To the OP. what was the cartridge and bullet weight?

Exit wound on a 225 plus pound boar. 165 grain 308 SST. Wound was about the size of a baseball.

.308, 165 gr, off the shelf Superformance ammo. I've shot it for seven years, killed everything with it. Like I mentioned, not only is it a great killer, it's accurate. I have a great rifle and good optic but the ammo gets credit also. I hunt it in the panhandle, 12 months so that's real hot and real cold and most of the time wind is blowin' hard. This ammo stays under 1/2", always. For that amount of time, four seasons it has to be consistent.

Had I skinned it, I bet the exit wound in the example I have above where one shot created two exit wounds would look similar. I still prefer the shot into the dense, muscular part of the hog to the neck, about 4-5" behind the ear, and down at an angle. And on deer high, above the shoulder where you get CNS and main artery. Those shots just anchor animals on the spot. The shots on hogs that weigh over 200 lbs made this way just fold up right there, that's a great bullet put in the right place.