Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I just started hunting with a muzzleloader last year. I recieved a .50 cal CVA Kodiak Magnum as a birthday present from my girlfriend. 295 grain Powerbelt & 777 50 grain pellets were also part of the gift. With open sights I was confident and accurate out to 60 yards with 100grains. I put a scope on the gun this past week. I amdead on at 60 yards, but 100 yards is all over the place (no consistency). I was thinking of either dropping the bullet weight down to 245 grain,increasing the powder to 130 grains or both. I am still a newbie in this sport and could use any advice you can give for this type of gun and setup.Thanks!

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Are you swabbing the barrel between shots? That will often times make the shots more consistent. You are probably on the right track with trying different powerbelt weights and different charges. I personally shoot a CVA Staghorn and it will shoot the 348 grain pure lead hollow points or the 245 grain Aero Tips real will with 90-100 grains of loose powder. 90 grains if I shoot Goex and 100 grains if I shoot Clean Shot. If powerbelts are what you want to shoot then you have to try different combinations. I had the same experience with the 295 grains as you did. I really thought I was on to something when I first started shooting them but back at the 100 yard station they shot about a 6 inch group. The others do much better with the open sights.

In my Staghorn, I get good results shooting 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB sabots. I shoot them with 100 grains of Goex 2f. I also have good luck with the 240 grain T/C Cheap Shots and T/C Mag Express XTP's and 100 grains of loose powder. All of them are real game stoppers. Something else you might experiment with if you get a chance...

Good luck with your rifle.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

id go with dropping the weight to 245 and increasing the powder to 120 or 130 grns. it could be also that u didnt have the gun properly bore sighted or u just could be shakin a tadd. always member squize dont pull. 1shot

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

In my experience, powerbelts tend to like lower charges of 777. Mine shoots a 5 inch group at 25 yards with 110 grains of 777, but drop it to 90 grains and the bullets touch at 25 yards. Every gun is different too. My brother shoots the same gun ( T/C Omega) and his shoots great at 110 grains. I just like loose powder better because it is cheaper and you can custom load for your gun. Personally, I would stick with the 295, get some loose powder and experiment. Load 85 grains, shoot 3 times, load 90 grains, shoot 3 times, 95 grains.............. See which is most accurate for your gun.

By the way, loose powder 777 is 15% stronger than pellets, so 85 grains is roughly equivalent to 100 grains of pyrodex or 777 pellets. You would have plenty of energy. My elk load is 90 grains 777 powder and a 348 grain powerbelt.

By the way, is your girlfriend ready to marry you or can I ask her out! You lucky dog.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

My experience is that the Powerbelts like small charges. If I drop the powder to 65 or 70 gr 777, they shoot real tight. I was also shooting Buffalo Ball-ets with 45 gr 777 at 50 yards and was putting them almost in the same hole. One thing to consider though: is it the gun that likes small charges, or is it ME that likes small charges? I definetly hold much more still at the shot when I know I'm not getting thumped when I pull that trigger. I would try dropping your powder down, not up. Get some 30gr pellets and mix the two to get different loads. 3/30=90, 1/50&1/30=80. 1/50-2/30=110.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Ive had my best accuracy with the 295 grain powerbelts with a one 50 grain pyrodex pellet. I play with a lot of different loads and do alot of light end loads its fun for me lol
its seems these smoke poles become more consistant by going the other way then you are thinking. Heavier bullets and lighter powder charges seem to be the ticket for best consistancy.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I suspect you'd do better to either increase the bullet weight, decrease the powder charge (using loose powder to experiment with) or both, to improve your accuracy. Lightening the bullet or increasing the powder charge is most likely to increase your dispersion at 100 yards!

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Like has already been said.......................try more bullet & less powder.
I shoot the 348gr aerotips with 90gr of loose 2fg 777 and get sub2" groups at 100yds out of my Knight. A 100gr 777 pellet load should give you close to the same results.

Also, here's a tip for shooting powerbelts.....................Loosen the cups from the bullets some before shooting them. Typically I twist them off & on a few times and put just a little dab of lube on the bullet's post beforeI shoot them. I've found that if you push the powerbelts a little too hard, the cups won't release from the bullets and that throws the accuracy to the "four winds". If you ever see a BIG hole in your paper target when shooting powerbelts - you'll know the cup didn't release. But even if they area little sticky and don't release as quickly as they should - accuracy will suffer some.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

With powerbelts in my Traditions flinter, the only thing holding the bullet from falling out of the barrel is the cup. I'm afraid that if I lube the post, I will lose the bullet out the barrel. I took the cup off of a bullet and dropped it in and it literally fell down the barrel on it's own. I would think that the bullet should touch somewhat. I'm told that they expand on the way out when you shoot. Has anyone ever retrieved one to witness the rifling marks?

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

thats basically what i was explaining too, its deffinately the way to go. good luck

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I use the 348gr PBs w/90grs of Clean Shot. Have never used the ML for deer, but have taken several elk with this combo. Since my ML doesn't have a scope (not allowed in Colorado on MLs), I never shoot further than 100yds. Don't remember what the group sizes were, but then all the elk I have killed were within 50 yards. Lucky I guess!

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Would that have enough energy to kill a deer?
What about elk?

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I got the powerbelts shooting accurately with a low power load as HDW.But mine was 80-85gr of pyrodex. But then started asking myself. Why limit myself to a projectile that is not dynamic that can't handle 100 or 130gr loads? I moved on to barnes Expanders, XTP's. Still working with SST's and PRbullets.

All seem to handle a wide variety of loads without the hassle of keeping my load down.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

i alway's used 300 gr.TRADITION with 100 gr of T7 .bull's eye at 100 yards ..but found that bullet did not mushroom well on DEER ..so i switched to 295 gr POWER BELT accuracy was just plain horrible and they grouped 6" lower than the TRADITION ...i now use 260 gr DEAD CENTER whith the nylon tip .resulting in better accuracy and nice mushroom p.s. the DEER hate them ..oh yes i shoot a REMINGTON ..PRIMER 209:eek:

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I never shot that load through my chronograph, but im guessing its probably pushing somewhere between 900 and 1200 fps. it might be enough to take a deer at short ranges say around 50 yards but that idea isbased ona deera friendkilled with 45 acp handload pushing a 185 grain barnes XPB from a glock 21 at 1,026 fps.

as for elk no way that load is way too wimpy to get enough penetration on a elk.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

100gr. of T7 is a standard load for big game in north america ..what is really important is to get the right bullet for your muzzel loader .

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Hey Kathwacckkk I also own a .50 cal CVA Kodiak Magnum and found it shoots the 295 Powerbelt AEROTIP's with 100 gr. Pyrodex RS loose powder with great accuracy. I use the loose powder because where I live you can only use loose powder and open sights for muzzleloading hunts. Everything you've been told is excellent advice except for increasing your powder charge to 120 to 130 gr. The manual says "No more than 100 gr. max." NEVER EXCEED THE MAXIMUM POWDER CHARGE FOR YOUR RIFLE.

This year I'm working on using the 348 gr. Powerbelt Aerotip with 100 gr. Pyrodex RS and it wasn't as accurate. That being said I found last time I went to the range it has more to do with the fiber optic sights and the fact that I'm not lining them up as well as I should. I think I'm going to try the Williams Peep Sight from Cabelas for the rear and leave the fiber optic on the front and see if that helps my accuracy.

The Kodiak is a good rifle. Just keep at it and spend a lot of time at the range. Just make sure you line up those fiber optic sights exactly the same every time and you should be fine. Good luck. ;)

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

I bought several blister packs of powerbelts and I noticed they were all
slightly out of round! Accuracy, for some reason wasn't bad out of my
cva hunterbolt. Good enough for hunting at reasonable distances, but
not the bullet for serious target work. Over powering them don't work either. They sometimes shatter on impact in sand. Slowing them down gave consistent expansion in sand. Keyword, sand. Sand and flesh are
two very different things! We'll see what hapens when I try them this fall.

RE: Powerbelt Accuracy & Load Question
 

Personally I would guess it would kill a deer under the right circumstances. That being, distance, shot placement, etc. I would rather see someone kick that load up around 80 grains or more, just for the sake of penetration and massive damage a faster projectile will cause.

On the elk part of the question, I never hunted elk with a muzzleloader but there is no way I would attempt such a thing with the load listed. Elk need a lot of penetration. I fear all that would do is cause a lot of wounded elk or elk that ran off and were never found.