Sabotloader,

Probably the first thing to think about is that the Powerbelt is just a pure lead conical. Ultimately thats all you are going to get. Granted the powerbelts have some other features, lets discuss them.

1. All powerbelts are hollowpoints.

Yes even the ballistic tips are hollow-points with a plastic thang stuck in'em. The plastic thing helps ballistics but doesn't change the fact that it is a hollowpoint when it comes to expansion and penetration. For me the hollowpoint is a deficiency of powerbelts. Unfortunately, it helps to sell them so there is no plan to produce solid point powerbelts.

Light hollow-pointed bullets (.50 cal. 295 gr.and less) are inadquate, in my opinion, for providing sufficient pentration to vital organsWHENbone must be shattered first.Most stores don't carry the heavierpowerbelts, you will probably have tomail order them.I would go at least with 405 grains in the .50 cal. and I think a powerbelt 405 should perform as well as any 405 grainhollowpoint conical when it comes to terminal performance.

2. Powerbelts are easy to load.

Yes very, but I don't have any problems with any other conicals either. Nor do I have any problems loading a second shot without swabbing when i use a low residue ascorbic acid base powder (Pinnacle, BlackMag3, American Pioneer).

3.Some are copper-plated.

One must pay extra for this feature. Its benefits are that there is no need for lube and it prevents leading. For me, I use heavy 380+ grain conicals with lube and at the velocities black or replica powders propel these heavy bullets there is no problem with leading. If you don't purchase the copper-plating, leading could be a problem without lube because lube does inhibit leading.

In the final analysis, Powerbelts are nothing but full bore conicals with features designed to sell powerbelts and appeal to hunters (ka-ching, ka-ching). I think these features do little, if any thing, to improve the powerbelt over competing conicals.

If ballistic performance and deep penetration through bonewith fully adequate expansion is what you are looking for, you may wish to take a look at the 390 grain spitzer "Colorado Conical" at http://www.bpbullets.com/colorado%20conicals%20muzzleloader%20bullets.html

I have only one chrono and so don't have a very accurate measurement of the Ballistic Coefficient, but as near as I can tell, it is on the order of .270 to .280, which is, HYPER-EXCELLENT for a .50 cal. full bore muzzleloading concical weighing in at less than 400 grains.

They are expensive so I only use them for hunting. The Hornady 385 loaded 5 grains heavier on charge will provides an excellent low cost substitute for practice with acceptable trajectory.

Happy Hunting, Phil