Dead eye,
Can you elaborate on what you mean by "shattered into three pieces"? Did you recover the three pieces, were there three exits, just would like a little bit more info about the circumstances.
I have an vested interest because your load is very similar to the one I have worked up for my 30-06. I'm shooting 168 gr. Combined Tech. BT's, with my best guess being a velocity of ~ 2880, although I don't have a chronograph, so that's approximate at best.
I shot a doe and a button buck about a month ago with this load, similar circumstances to your shot. The deer were at about 100 yards, both broadside. The shots broke ribs going both in and out of the chest. The hearts were destroyed. The entrance wounds were ~ 1" and the exits were ~ 1.5". I was not able to recover the bullets. One deer ran ~ 15 yards bleeding heavily, the other spun around and died where it had stood. I was very happy with bullet performance based on these results.
Am interested to hear more details on your experience,
Carl