powerbelt bullets
12-28-2007, 07:27 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: La Grange,OH/Hillsville,VA
Posts: 37
powerbelt bullets
i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?
12-28-2007, 06:12 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location:
Posts: 3,246
RE: powerbelt bullets
ORIGINAL: redinator
i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?
i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?
Barnes MZ, TMZ,
Nosler Parition Protected Point HG
Speer Gold Dot
are all are strong accurate bullets, don't fragment, usually go thru deer for good blood trails and usually mushroom to nearly 2x the diameter. The least expensive bullet is the Gold Dot, $16 for 50 of them. Barnes is best for expansion, pass thru and hitting bone (it will go thru bone). Nosler Partition will do excellent on penetration also. Read the product reviews on Midway andCabelas. If ya wanna keep your PB, shoot only 80g MAX, if you wannna go to astrong bullet choose one of the ones above and see how accurate they are in your gun. I guarantee you, you will NOT be disappointed.
I believe we should use the most accurate bullet we can find in our rifles, that it should be stronger for better penetration, cause "crap happens" (deer moves, you hit a shoulder or leg bone), bullet should shoot thru for better tracking from an elevated stand, it should expand to 2x. I find 300g bullets shoot thru, expand well and give good blood trails, I have found 250g bullets do NOT shoot thru always, but tend to be on the off side. I find the 300g have better BC and also when they hit bone they go thru the bone into the vitals.
If ya want to find out what others have done with PB, search for "Powerbelt fragments" in google, or strart reading here:
http://www.the-gleasons.com/powerbelt_page.htm
I have not kept up with this season's stories (like your's), but if you go to Cabelas or Midway and do the Google search, you will get a flavor of the down side of this bullet. Of course in fairness, there were millions sold and thousands of deer killed, but do a search for "Nosler Partion fragments" or "Barnes MZ fragments", you wont't find anything.
Best wishes on your bullet education and selection. Chap gleason
12-28-2007, 06:56 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location:
Posts: 3,246
RE: powerbelt bullets
ORIGINAL: redinator
the bullet had to pass through right?.
the bullet had to pass through right?.
Chap Gleason
12-28-2007, 07:13 PM
#9
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location:
Posts: 5,180
RE: powerbelt bullets
Take a look at these 2 threads. One is a type up on powerbelts that i typed up with a load that i recommend Maximum with the lighter weight powerbelts.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2510086
The other post is a guy who shot a big buck with a 245 grain powerbelt with my recommended load.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr.../1#Post1885610
Please excuse all my bad spelling on my thread, I have to edit and go through all the typo's.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2510086
The other post is a guy who shot a big buck with a 245 grain powerbelt with my recommended load.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr.../1#Post1885610
Please excuse all my bad spelling on my thread, I have to edit and go through all the typo's.
12-28-2007, 07:26 PM
#10
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 601
RE: powerbelt bullets
ORIGINAL: gleason.chapman
Same thing happen to me 4 years ago with a big buck, except I hit it in the shoulder. You need a STRONGER bullet, the PB is too soft and fragments when you push them with 150g of powder. Bullets like
Barnes MZ, TMZ,
Nosler Parition Protected Point HG
Speer Gold Dot
are all are strong accurate bullets, don't fragment, usually go thru deer for good blood trails and usually mushroom to nearly 2x the diameter. The least expensive bullet is the Gold Dot, $16 for 50 of them. Barnes is best for expansion, pass thru and hitting bone (it will go thru bone). Nosler Partition will do excellent on penetration also. Read the product reviews on Midway andCabelas. If ya wanna keep your PB, shoot only 80g MAX, if you wannna go to astrong bullet choose one of the ones above and see how accurate they are in your gun. I guarantee you, you will NOT be disappointed.
I believe we should use the most accurate bullet we can find in our rifles, that it should be stronger for better penetration, cause "crap happens" (deer moves, you hit a shoulder or leg bone), bullet should shoot thru for better tracking from an elevated stand, it should expand to 2x. I find 300g bullets shoot thru, expand well and give good blood trails, I have found 250g bullets do NOT shoot thru always, but tend to be on the off side. I find the 300g have better BC and also when they hit bone they go thru the bone into the vitals.
If ya want to find out what others have done with PB, search for "Powerbelt fragments" in google, or strart reading here:
http://www.the-gleasons.com/powerbelt_page.htm
I have not kept up with this season's stories (like your's), but if you go to Cabelas or Midway and do the Google search, you will get a flavor of the down side of this bullet. Of course in fairness, there were millions sold and thousands of deer killed, but do a search for "Nosler Partion fragments" or "Barnes MZ fragments", you wont't find anything.
Best wishes on your bullet education and selection. Chap gleason
ORIGINAL: redinator
i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?
i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?
Barnes MZ, TMZ,
Nosler Parition Protected Point HG
Speer Gold Dot
are all are strong accurate bullets, don't fragment, usually go thru deer for good blood trails and usually mushroom to nearly 2x the diameter. The least expensive bullet is the Gold Dot, $16 for 50 of them. Barnes is best for expansion, pass thru and hitting bone (it will go thru bone). Nosler Partition will do excellent on penetration also. Read the product reviews on Midway andCabelas. If ya wanna keep your PB, shoot only 80g MAX, if you wannna go to astrong bullet choose one of the ones above and see how accurate they are in your gun. I guarantee you, you will NOT be disappointed.
I believe we should use the most accurate bullet we can find in our rifles, that it should be stronger for better penetration, cause "crap happens" (deer moves, you hit a shoulder or leg bone), bullet should shoot thru for better tracking from an elevated stand, it should expand to 2x. I find 300g bullets shoot thru, expand well and give good blood trails, I have found 250g bullets do NOT shoot thru always, but tend to be on the off side. I find the 300g have better BC and also when they hit bone they go thru the bone into the vitals.
If ya want to find out what others have done with PB, search for "Powerbelt fragments" in google, or strart reading here:
http://www.the-gleasons.com/powerbelt_page.htm
I have not kept up with this season's stories (like your's), but if you go to Cabelas or Midway and do the Google search, you will get a flavor of the down side of this bullet. Of course in fairness, there were millions sold and thousands of deer killed, but do a search for "Nosler Partion fragments" or "Barnes MZ fragments", you wont't find anything.
Best wishes on your bullet education and selection. Chap gleason
I agree with ya Chap. All my testing says 1300-1350fps is best for power belts, with the 348g and larger being best. And 70-80g of powder for 50cal will do it perfectly out to 120yards or so.
When I was shooting 50cal, always used 295 PB's and 100grains of powder. Longest shot was 60yards, most 30-40yards. Killed 12-14 deer, and every shot fragmented, bone or no bone hit.