Originally Posted by
cayugad
I was all set to prove that a 295 grain powerbelt and 80 grains of 2f would take a deer easy.. now you have me questioning my selection. The rifle also shoots a 300 grain XTP with 90 grains, so I know that might be the ticket.
Having used this bullet for a couple of years, I think you can definitely bring a deer down, I just would expect for him to run off without leaving a blood trail. I also wouldn't expect a pass through unless it's a very small deer.
I just don't get why anyone would want to use these things when they are a lot more expensive and perform a lot worse than many other bullets on the market. This is just opinion anyway.
I thought they sucked when using them, but after switching to the 300 Grain Deep Curls, I realized, just how much the Powerbelts sucked. I will never go back. The accuracy was the only good thing about them, and I got just as good of accuracy with the Deep Curls once I found the sabot it liked.
Out of the group of guys I hunt with, most of us have used the PB's and all of us except two have switched to something else, and won't go back. The two guys that still shoot them, one is an older guy and when he bought his Optima, the gunshop told him that it was made to shoot Powerbelts and wouldn't shoot anything else accurately. Even though we told him they were full of it, he refuses to try anything else, and says that's all they can shoot.
The other guy hasn't used Powerbelts in the past, and doesn't really like them, but got a Wolf, and was having issues shooting the Shockwaves he wants to. He says they were tumbling no matter what he tried. The Powerbelts were the only bullets he could get locally right before the season started that would shoot decently, so he is using them.