Wow, you sure are sensitive about your Powerbelts. Just be darn glad you don't shoot a Remington 710/770.

The fact is that, unless you like to run VERY light loads to keep MV down to under 1400 fps or so, you're just begging for a bullet failure with the Powerbelts. I've heard too many accounts of guys not recovering deer that had been obviously hit with a Powerbelt, and many others that recovered the deer hours or days later with a gaping, fist sized crater in their shoulder but little or no penetration into the chest cavity. These were guys shooting what are today standard loads in the 90-120 grain BP equivalent range, with MV's running in the 1600-2000 fps range. Powerbelts are just to fragile for use as a big game bullet when driven to normal ML velocities, and there really is no reason that they couldn't make them hold together better other than it would require a harder (and therefore more expensive) lead alloy for the core and a thicker (and more expensive) gilding metal jacket. I'd shoot, and strongly advise others to shoot, a Hornady Great Plains conical long before I'd ever recommend a Powerbelt. They aren't quite as easy to load, but they're just as accurate, hit harder, and hold together and penetrate like they should. Oh, and they're a fraction of the price.

I shoot smokeless powder in my Savage, and as such require a 45/50 caliber sabot projectile. My load pushes the 300 grain Barnes in the mid 2100's to low 2200 fps range. I have never had a Barnes Expander MZ fail to fully expand (based on internal damage and exit wound size), and I've never had one fail to completely penetrate through a deer. And the crazy thing is that the Barnes bullets are CHEAPER than the way overpriced Powerbelts and perform far better. With Powerbelts, you definitely DON'T get what you pay for. But if you like them so much, by all means shoot them, but don't expect others not to tell the truth about your poor choice of hunting bullet when there are FAR better options out there that are less expensive.

Mike