rosharb

This has probaly been touched on before but what is everyones thoughts on 50 cal. powerbelts for elk? I will be hunting Colorado so I can't use sabots.

turkeyhunter_15

I Know A Guy That Used Power Belts In 50c. Got An Elk 125 Yards On 130 Grain. Another Guy I Know Used Them But Never Got Close To An Elk To Shoot.

cayugad

I have not had the chance to hunt elk with the muzzleloader yet. As for the powerbelts, I see no reason at all why they would not be able to take an elk. I would use the 348 grain aero tip or bigger because of the penetration you would get with that design. Also they shoot the best out of my rifles.

There are other conicals out there you might want to look at. No Excuse makes 460 grain conicals which do well out of most rifles. There are also some Hornady Great Plains, T/C Maxi Ball, and Colorado Conicals sold at Cabelas.

One thing that a lot of people overlook is the large bore rifles and round ball. Granted you are using a .50 caliber so round ball is not perhaps your best choice.

I have a CVA Staghorn that with 90 grains of Goex FFg and a Powerbelt, I would not even think twice about shooting an elk. I really think this would be an effective load.

whitetails & muskies

Somewhere further down this M/L topic, there is a similar question/thread. I had a response there with photo attached...kind of busy right now. Anyway, I took a nice 5x5 last year at about 80-90 yards with a 348 Gr Aerotip in Colorado. He side stepped twice and tipped over like a ton of bricks. I know another indivdual who did nearly the same thing.
Remember, in Colorado you cannot use pelleted powder, you must use loose powder. (110 gr of 777, 2F did the trick for me)

RWeber

I have never been impressed with the powerbelts on the game taken here. however our deer are large and shot at close range, under 40 yards mainly.

the powerblets most often used are the hollowppint or areotipped ones, mainly 295 grain I believe, wihtout pulling out the records. THey did not penetrate fully and blew apart quickly. a great deal of meat was lsot due to copper shrapnel being all in it.

If this is a minor concern for you then you will like them and if this is your idea of good bullet performace then you will like them.

The debate over bullets staying in a critter and expending all it's energy vs. ungodly penetration and retained bullet weight will go on and on. you jsut have to pick one side and go with it.

I know that based on the performance of powerbelts on whitetails ehre I would never personally use them on elk or moose. I felt the three elk we've shot with 30-30's to be undergunned and a stroke of luck that they fell where they did. Many who cry the 30-30 and 32 are too little for an elk advocate less energy and worse trajectory in black powder. go figure.

I'd use a solid copper or full lead bullet, something that will hold together and penetrate better than the powerbelts we have had used here.

txhunter58

Unfortunately, that is not an option in Colorado. You have to use a solid conical. No sabots allowed. I have not found any bullets that meet your criteria and meet Colorado's too.

I will be using the 405 aerotip powerbelt for my elk hunt this year with 95 grains of 777. My brother is using the 348 aerotip with 110 grains 777.

From what I am hearing, I am beginning to believe that you can possibly load too heavy for these kinds of bullets. In other words, I have heard of more failures of powerbelts at 150 grain loads than 100 grains of powder. Maybe these soft lead projectiles penetrate better and don't blow up as easy at lower velocities. Kind of like soft lead bullets fired from a high velocity rifle at close range that blow up on impact. Anyone else heard of this being the case. Anyway, I am confident in my load of 90 grains of 777. This is equivalent to 110 grains of black powder/pyrodex and has plenty of power to kill an elk out to 100 yards, my max range with open sights.

Tree climber

I would use the solid nose power-belts ; not anything with a hollow point,or aero tips.
JMHO.

txhunter58

The last time I used a solid nose powerbelt on an elk, the exit hole was no bigger than the entrance. In other words, I got no expansion. Not sure that is ideal either.

Sharpshot_71

My dad used Powerbelts hunting in Colorado and he leveled one. He hit it in the back and he has a .54 but i still think that they work pretty good.

Sharpshot_71

Oh and by the way, with a .54 caliber hole, that is still bigger then most high powered rifle exit holes. Not that a bigger exit hole wouldnt be nice but it is probably not necessary.