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ORIGINAL: pineywoods

it is a .50 cal just wondering about that. a guy in our camp was telling me that the bigger grain bullets would not expand enough and just pass through i just can't see that if shot placement is good i'm kind of new to bp but sounds like bs to me

I'm here to tell you that I dropped a 147lb doe with a 225 grain powerbelt pushing 100 grains of powder. 70 yard shot, complete pass through, and never took another step. Everyone on here will have their opinion on powerbelts, but mine is very positive two years in a row now.

I have used Powerbelts for years and have harvested several deer with them. I have recently switched to sabots in my inlines, but I still shoot Powerbelts out of my Renegade. It is the gun that I have harvested the most deer with usingPowerbelts. All of thePowerbelt shotshave been full pass throughs or have beenfound on the other side of the body between the meat and the hide fully expanded. The pass throughs usually have a rather large exit hole. I still have one that I recovered from the first deer I harvested with a Powerbelt. I will try to post a pic of it when I get home from work this afternoon. The expansion was pretty impressive.I have never had a deer run more than twenty or thirty yards using these bullets and most piled up right where I shot them. The buck I shot this year never took a step and I shot him at about 25 yds with my Knight Bighorn with 90gr 777 and a 245gr Powerbelt. I have never used the 223gr bullet, but I am sure it will perform similar to the 245gr bullet, which is what I use. I have also used the 295gr bullets withexcellentresults. And as far as being easy to load, I have yet to find a bullet that is easier to load than a Powerbelt! Good luck andgive ussome picks and detailsof what you harvest with your 223gr Powerbelts. I would be interested in how they performed for you.

I use powerbelts in a flintlock and an inline. 70 grains of 3F puts a 295 through deer. I use 100 grains in the inline with a 245 powerbelt and it is awesome out to 150 yards.
If you shoot any distance use a heavier bullet. They retain energy better even if the drop faster. Practice will tell what to allow. I get good groups at 100 yds with the 348 grain powerbelts but have not tried one on a deer yet.
If you put a .50 hole through both lungs expansion is not really a factor.

I took a real nice 8 pt. this B/P season.it was only about 10 yard shot quarting to me hit high going down.hit top of rib going in and hit last two ribs on off side. stuck between skin and meat at bottom of belly.it didn't have enough distance to even get rid of the plastic seal.
this is the only one I have ever had not pass through.I ave taken 13 with this 45 cal. gun with 225 gr. powerbelts.

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ORIGINAL: sabotloader

eldeguello

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In addition, loading/reloading with Power Belts is a pure pleasure compared to any "sabot" contraption.

of course you would know that I disagree with your thoughts entirely. Loading a "sabot contraption" does not need to difficult, in fact it is fairly simple if you do your homework. Plus you do not need to worry about the bullet coming off the powder and you are normally shooting a much better bullet.

Powerbelts are nothing more than an elongated "round ball," not that there is anything wrong with a round ball. Even the copper powerbelts are just thinly plated to allow the lead to expand to catch the riflings.

For hundres of people the PowerBelt works fine, but you will find a lot more people shooting more if those "sabot contraptions" than you will PB's.
There are way to many more advantages in shooting the sabot/bullet combinations. The different opportunities offered are almost endless...

Gee, sounds like you like sabots! My experience with them was, to say the least, unsatisfactory. But I will admit that I have not tried every one on the market, and there may be some good ones. I just never found the good ones, and since I have found a number of full bore diameter conical bullets that work pretty well, I just stopped looking fora good sabot.......