To say that powerbelts do NOT effectively harvest game animals would be a gross under statement. Too many people use them and swear by them for hunting. Also they would not sell as well as they do if they did not work.

I really think it is how they are used and under the circumstances they are used. For instance, if I had a projectile that was prone to blowing up in game animals, then I would never shoot for the shoulder or other large bone structures of the animal. Instead I would sneak it behind and let the bullet enter, expand and do it's job. So this takes shot placement and maybe passing on a shot because "something" is not right. Instead of making the shot, wounding the animals and then chasing it all over God's creation.

If I wanted a pass through for better blood trails, then I would make sure the bullet I was shooting had a history of pass through. For some reason a lot of "people posting" about the problems of powerbelts mention no blood trails, and little pass through. So again, this might not be the bullet for me.

I have NEVER harvested a game animal with a powerbelt. I have shot a LOT of them on the range. I find they are easy to load, accurate for the distances I shoot, and would I trust them... sure. But I would slip that thing in behind the shoulder, at the heart bottom of the lungs and try to knock the wind out of it.

If I wanted to make sure I was hitting a game animal hard, I would go to the copper or known expanding bullets like Barnes, Nosler, Speer, Parker, Hornady. Or, I would go to large pure lead projectiles like conical bullets or large roundball. Sure you will pay a little more for them but you will get an excellent bullet that does what you what it to do.