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@@-Bullet Found- @@- Don't OverDrive PowerBelts-Pics
Got this mediumsized doe last friday with a 45cal 275gr PowerBelt, pushed by 120grains of Shockey's Gold, and using the powerstem breech plug, 22 yards away in 20ft tree stand.
Wow, what a hole[:o] These are the only fragments to make it thru the vitals to the other side: Last year we only used 220g PB's and 80 grains of Shockey'sGold, and punched hules thru and thru. Here are some picks of PB's that I recovered from the shooting range--Dry sandy clay, 112 yards: Left to right--275 grain--1st is 70 grains of powder, 2nd and 3rd are 120grains powder. 4th is 300grain Platinum and 120grains powder, 5th/last is 70 grains powder.    From now on, 70-80 grains of powder is all I use with PowerBelts:);) Very Good Info But - Don't need these Massive Wound pics to describe Bullet Performance. |
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WOW!!! that is impressive. Great pictures. And a heck of a nice doe. That really makes a person think about using powerbelts. Great report... congratulations on the doe.
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Thanks Cayugad!
This was a Boom Flop! And The next day I shot my first ever Coyote that came in after the gut Pile:D:D Having it tanned and hung on the wall..Sweet!! |
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That looks like a very tasty deer. Don't you love it when there is a hole like that. I was taught to aim at the shoulder and i learned that withaML you should aim behind the shoulder if you want any meat. I shot a doe one time and the only thing holding the shoulderon was a flap of skin.
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Awesome photos. Alot of the energy was discharged at the surface where the bullet entered. Alot of destruction there.
70 grains sure mushrooms beautifully. Nice pics. Seems everyone gets pass thrus with 70 to 80 grains. Great info. |
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Wow...I took almost the exact same shot on a small buck with a shockwave and got two tiny holes. Someone got to it before I did[:@]. That seriously makes me wanna hop in the car, travel to wally world and get some 295 grainers for the encore.
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The two big pictures of the deer came up on my screen. The bullet photos did not. What did the Platinum Powerbelt look like? THx. JB
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Roskoe, I'd say driven by 120 grains, they looked pretty close to the same. Kinda looked likestyrofoam thin cup shapes. But the examples driven by 70 grains looked like classic mushrooms. The Platinum I thought expanded less with 70 grains but I don't know if that is a fair assesment. I think the weights are different and I'm not sure how the terminal velocities of the two may have differed.
Phil |
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dude that's awesome. The only other bullets I've seen tear holes like that are Barnes Expanderz MZ's.
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great info and pictures..good job..
i shot a 8 point with 20 inch spread that weighted 180 pds..real heavy deer.. i used my hawkins .50 cal flintlock,80 grs of 2f,powerbelt 295 gr. shot was 20 yds, behind shoulder and bullet came out both sides..hole was size of aknickel on side it went in and on the side it came out, it was size of quarter.. no HOLLOW point bullet is going to go thru a deer if it hits bone and is driven a high velocity.. if you are shooting a deer at 150 yds,i can see loading gun at high velocity but using a different bullet than the hollow point.. but for hunting i do,all shots are under 100 yds..by loading at 80 grs,i get NO KICK, NO FLINCH,LESS SMOKE, LESS NOISE AND BULLET GO THRU .. no way i would shoot a hollow point bullet in 50 cal above 90 grs.. |
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I tried the 270gr Platinum pointed Powerbelts for this years gun season, got one shot out at a nice lil 8-point at about 50 yards. Although the bullet was devestating I beleive I only single-lung shot it and has been the first deer in a long time I had to track (~150-200yrds).
Shooting 85gr 777 out of my Knight Elite, no problems with the bullet turning into a pancake with that combo.   |
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are you saying to much powder causes them to over mushroom and become weak?:eek:
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Eagle eyes, you are using the bullet with an optimum load. You got excellent expansion with 85 grains of 777 which is about equal to 100 grains of pyrodex. Had you used much more, I suspect you would have experienced the "exploding bullet" trick that powerbelts are famous for and the reason for this thread. Push them too hard and it doesn't matter if they hit bone or not, they go in and blow to pieces (not every time, but frequently).
Earlier someone said that any hollowpoint would blow to pieces if it hits bone. Well, that is only partially true. Most bullets will fragment to some degree and loose some lead/copper if they hit bone. But, since powerbelts are nothing more than a copper washed lead conical, when they hit bone they tend to shred and/or blow upleaving lead pieces all in the wound channel. My kids use Hornady XTPs and have killed 4 deer and one coyote with it in the past two years. The performance is much better than the power belts and I don't think you could over drive one. Next time you get the chance, cut open a power belt and see how it is made, compared to a well constructed copper jacketed pistol bullet (which is what most sabot bulllets are) the PB is nothing but a very, very soft piece of copper washed lead whereas the better made sabot bullets have a heavy, thick copper jacket. I used PBs when I first started with M/L four years ago. My experience was similar to the deer that started this thread. The first one, a broadside shot at 50 yards, a 295 grain PB and 100 grains of 777. Deer didn't go more than 30 yards, zero blood trail. When we were cleaning it, there was a hole in about the size of a quarter. Under the hide on the opposite side was 5 or six chunks of lead and lots of little shreds all on the inside. Total blow up on the inside. That might be good insome people's book, but not in mine.The second was the same story. Last year, a fellow I know shot a big doe at 70 yards with a 295 grain PB loaded with 150 grains of pyrodex. He hit it in the shoulder and said he could see the hole when it ran off. About 5 mins later, another fella in his club saw the doe and shot it, putting it down. When they looked at the wound by the PB, the bullet had gone in, hit the shoulder and blew up. Blew out a huge chunk of meat and blew the shoulder up, but did not penetrate into the chest. The deer would have died a long slow painfull death. Basically, power belts are good if you stay about 295 grains and keep the powder charges lower. The heavier the bullet, I guess you could up the powder charge. All the stories I have heard about poor performance have come from too much poweder charge. good luck Hank |
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ahanksterI agree with all said the problem when I tried to use them was my Omega will only shoot them accurate with 140 or 150 gr, I shot a coyote in the chest at about 40yd with 150gr APP FF and a 245 gr it blew him wide open and did not come out the far side. The load chrony at 2150 fps. Lee
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I shot some 338 gr. Platinum Powerbelts into a bundle of water soaked phone books recently. They looked almost exactly like your picture. The load was 130 grain of 2F Jim Shockey Gold. Impact velocity was about 1900 fps.
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ORIGINAL: Roskoe I shot some 338 gr. Platinum Powerbelts into a bundle of water soaked phone books recently. They looked almost exactly like your picture. The load was 130 grain of 2F Jim Shockey Gold. Impact velocity was about 1900 fps. |
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Yeah they do look like they beefed them up at the bottom. I never had problems with the old ones. Im deff. going to try the new ones out and see how they shoot. I cant see how the bullet wouldnt go through a coyote, 5 deer in 2 years total and everyone of them the 245 hollowpoints/295 aerotips went right thought leaving a exit hole a little bigger than a quarter. My doe last year ran maybe 5-8 yards before dropping and there was blood spray against the trees and brush by it. You know you got a good hit when the deer comes sliding down the mountain and a 4" wide blood smear follows it lol.
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ORIGINAL: ahankster Eagle eyes, you are using the bullet with an optimum load. You got excellent expansion with 85 grains of 777 which is about equal to 100 grains of pyrodex. Had you used much more, I suspect you would have experienced the "exploding bullet" trick that powerbelts are famous for and the reason for this thread. Push them too hard and it doesn't matter if they hit bone or not, they go in and blow to pieces (not every time, but frequently). Earlier someone said that any hollowpoint would blow to pieces if it hits bone. Well, that is only partially true. Most bullets will fragment to some degree and loose some lead/copper if they hit bone. But, since powerbelts are nothing more than a copper washed lead conical, when they hit bone they tend to shred and/or blow upleaving lead pieces all in the wound channel. My kids use Hornady XTPs and have killed 4 deer and one coyote with it in the past two years. The performance is much better than the power belts and I don't think you could over drive one. Next time you get the chance, cut open a power belt and see how it is made, compared to a well constructed copper jacketed pistol bullet (which is what most sabot bulllets are) the PB is nothing but a very, very soft piece of copper washed lead whereas the better made sabot bullets have a heavy, thick copper jacket. I used PBs when I first started with M/L four years ago. My experience was similar to the deer that started this thread. The first one, a broadside shot at 50 yards, a 295 grain PB and 100 grains of 777. Deer didn't go more than 30 yards, zero blood trail. When we were cleaning it, there was a hole in about the size of a quarter. Under the hide on the opposite side was 5 or six chunks of lead and lots of little shreds all on the inside. Total blow up on the inside. That might be good insome people's book, but not in mine.The second was the same story. Last year, a fellow I know shot a big doe at 70 yards with a 295 grain PB loaded with 150 grains of pyrodex. He hit it in the shoulder and said he could see the hole when it ran off. About 5 mins later, another fella in his club saw the doe and shot it, putting it down. When they looked at the wound by the PB, the bullet had gone in, hit the shoulder and blew up. Blew out a huge chunk of meat and blew the shoulder up, but did not penetrate into the chest. The deer would have died a long slow painfull death. Basically, power belts are good if you stay about 295 grains and keep the powder charges lower. The heavier the bullet, I guess you could up the powder charge. All the stories I have heard about poor performance have come from too much poweder charge. good luck Hank i now use 87 gr speer soft pointed..if you hit deer behind shoulder, that bullet EXPLODES and deer goes down.. no hole out other side.. so, bullets that explode, are great for me,a least,in centerfire rifles.. now on to muzzleloader and PB..this is first year i used them..i was lucky to get a buck and used the 295 hollow point..hawkins .50 cal flintlock,80 grs of 2f geox.. where bullet went in was suze of a knickel or so and came out size of quarter..the shoulder where it went in was all affect even tho i hit 4 inchs up from bottom or right thru heart.. that big buck never moved..it went right down and tried to get up,but could not.. when cleaning deer, heart ,liver, were all destroyed..cavity was all filled with blood.. from what i read, the heavier PB are better if driven at high velocity.. i almost went with the 338 gr one over 295 gr.but 295 shot best out of my 1-48 twist flintlock.. so far, i have no complaints but that picture of the deer here with a wound like that tells ole sproul one thing.. TO FAST AND TOO LIGHT A BULLET WILL MAKE A WOUND LIKE THAT.. i saw 7mm rem mag do that to deer with 125 gr bullet..the hunter i talked to was sick..that 7mm rem mag was pushing that bullet over 3300 ft .. no good, now he uses a 175 gr bullet and is happy BUT the holes he has in a deer are still awful to look at.. high velocity.light bullet and add in HOLLOW POINT..oh my!!! |
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My kids use Hornady XTPs and have killed 4 deer and one coyote with it in the past two years. The performance is much better than the power belts and I don't think you could over drive one. I used the XTPs in my CVA sidelock for two years before that without any problem though, wonder how much the performance of these different bullets varies according to the gun your shooting |
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ORIGINAL: petasux My kids use Hornady XTPs and have killed 4 deer and one coyote with it in the past two years. The performance is much better than the power belts and I don't think you could over drive one. |
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Thanks for the report and the photos! They are revealing! Looks like the 70-grain charge is closer to the ideal than thge 120-grain load, at least at your ranges. Also doesn't seem to be alot of difference between the regular bullets and the Platinum ones???
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Lane - Yes indeed, very interesting thread. I will be sure to pass on to a buddy of mine who has been shooting PBs for 3 years and has yet to get a pass thru on even a 90 lbs animal broadside!
eldeguello - I noticed the same thing; the super high-priced Platinums seem no better than the regular high-priced PBs. Gotta wonder if it is a marketing ploy...give a shiny silver bullet a nice name and they will come I guess.[:o][:@] I'll tell ya what, I know that many a ML shooter has experienced great accuracy with this projectile, but until they change their design so that a guy can at least seat one on top off 100 grs of Pyro, they'll never convince me to stuff one down my ML. To many other workable options out there to take a chance on a PB. Geez, just use lead with a slightly harder antimony and you'd probably be on your way to solving this PB blowup problem. What gives? I'll stick with my maxiballs & xtps for now....until I run out...then it's on to the gold dots. Thanks for the gold dot reviews guys!:D |
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John,
You are correct, a little harder lead and smaller hole in the hollowpoint, or a thicker copper jacket and I am sure the bullet would be able to take a hotter powder charge without blowing up. But, I think that most folks would loose allot of accuracy by doing that too. Look at some of the pictures of recovered PBs on this thread and others. At least the ones that aren't all blown to bitsbecause theywere shot w/ milder powder charges. The thing that one notices is that the bullet itself has very deep rifling marks. Many people think that the little plastic skirt is all that seals the bullet. I don't think this is entirely the case. I think that the bullet is so soft, try and squish one with a pair of pliars, that the bullet actually deforms due to the acceleration and obturates to seal the bore. The leadin PBshas about the consistancy of cold play doh. The skirt helps initially, but the bullet acutally does the seal and bite into the lands and grooves providing very good accuracy and performance when shot with proper powder charges. I also think this is why the heavier the bullet, the better the performance. The only difference between a powerbelt and a maxi ball is the pretty copper color and the plastic hoola hoop, and about ten times the price. Hank |
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ORIGINAL: Hunter John Lane - Yes indeed, very interesting thread. I will be sure to pass on to a buddy of mine who has been shooting PBs for 3 years and has yet to get a pass thru on even a 90 lbs animal broadside! eldeguello - I noticed the same thing; the super high-priced Platinums seem no better than the regular high-priced PBs. Gotta wonder if it is a marketing ploy...give a shiny silver bullet a nice name and they will come I guess.[:o][:@] I'll tell ya what, I know that many a ML shooter has experienced great accuracy with this projectile, but until they change their design so that a guy can at least seat one on top off 100 grs of Pyro, they'll never convince me to stuff one down my ML. To many other workable options out there to take a chance on a PB. Geez, just use lead with a slightly harder antimony and you'd probably be on your way to solving this PB blowup problem. What gives? I'll stick with my maxiballs & xtps for now....until I run out...then it's on to the gold dots. Thanks for the gold dot reviews guys!:D if i was using inline shooting close with full load of powder,close would be out to 100 yards,i would not use a light powerbelt but would use the heaviest one.like 338 up to 405.. after seeing picture here,that light powerbelt with full load is no good.. me, if i was shooting inline i would want the hotest load i could get and bullet that would STAY together.. powerbelt is not one for inline shooting at max.. now, with flintlock, just opposite for me..i want a load that does not kick, shoots great groups,less noise/smoke..by LOADING down,which 80 grs of 2f geox in my .50 cal,is not a real hot load,i can get great groups with the 295 powerbelt AND i know that bullet will OPEN UP.. but again, i never shoot over 80 yds most of time..if i went say to 90 grs or 100 grs of 2f geox,i would move up on the bullet weight to the 338.. when i used MAXI-BALLS they would go right thru buck,they are best bullet i have ever used..370 gr was best.. i hate them for only 1 reason, i dont like bore butter in winter and dont like messing with it in gun in WINTER..summer i use bb all time with my roundballs ,winter,NO WAY!! powerbelts let me use CLEAN barrel and are not messy and go in real nice in 5 below zero here in pa.. again, any hollow point bullet pushed hard will BLOW-UP if it hits bone..i seen 90 gr.sierra hollow point bullets that hit stomach of deer,no bone and never came out the other side and you could not find bullet.. hope this helps from someone would has not tested PB bullet but has tested bullets on many deer in 50 years.. personelly to sum it up..SHOOT FAST /LIGHT BULLET DONT USE PB..shoot light/med,powerbelt is bullet i want and as i said, my 295 at 80 grs of 2f geox on huge 8 point buck,behind shoulder,went right thru deer and dropped that buck where he stood.. no maxi-balls for me in flintlock now,its POWERBELT!! |
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ORIGINAL: sproulman now, with flintlock, just opposite for me..i want a load that does not kick, shoots great groups,less noise/smoke..by LOADING down,which 80 grs of 2f geox in my .50 cal,is not a real hot load,i can get great groups with the 295 powerbelt AND i know that bullet will OPEN UP.. |
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ORIGINAL: Pglasgow ORIGINAL: petasux My kids use Hornady XTPs and have killed 4 deer and one coyote with it in the past two years. The performance is much better than the power belts and I don't think you could over drive one. I did hunt with them that way the first year, they killed deer but even at extremely close ranges I never got a complete passthrough and there were always two distinct entry wounds on the deer.Dad was shooting a Knight also, same bullets, same powder charge, and never had any trouble with them in his gun, he even finished off what was left of my second box without any incident like that. The main difference between his gun and mine was that my bore was a lot tighter then his, dont know if they were building up two much pressure behind the bullet and the lead and copper were seperating or what the problem was.The two bullets I found intact inside deer had little if any evidence of the copper being on the bullet.The Shockwaves had athinner sabot on them, dont know if that would account for anything or not but they loaded much easier even with a fouled barrel. |
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I tried the PB but they don't shoot straight in my gun. The shockwaves have left very good sized holes but I have got complete pass thrus with them using 85gr of 777.
Nice pics Lane. |
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ORIGINAL: petasux It was the bullets, I tried moving the paper away from the door and got the same results, tried a piece of 1/2 plywood behind it as well and got the same thing, like you I thought at first it must be the door either shooting metal back through or forcing air out of the hollow core inside the door but different backstops, ranges, etc.. made no difference.The first box of shells were ones I had left over from the previous year, the rest were bought that year and did the same thing so it wasnt the same lot of bullets either. I did hunt with them that way the first year, they killed deer but even at extremely close ranges I never got a complete passthrough and there were always two distinct entry wounds on the deer.Dad was shooting a Knight also, same bullets, same powder charge, and never had any trouble with them in his gun, he even finished off what was left of my second box without any incident like that. The main difference between his gun and mine was that my bore was a lot tighter then his, dont know if they were building up two much pressure behind the bullet and the lead and copper were seperating or what the problem was.The two bullets I found intact inside deer had little if any evidence of the copper being on the bullet.The Shockwaves had athinner sabot on them, dont know if that would account for anything or not but they loaded much easier even with a fouled barrel. |
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Pglasgow, I agree since an XTP is basically the same exact bullet in 90% of it's construction as a Shockwave. Very little difference, other thana bit of a tighter hollow point and a plastic tip.
Maybe his sabots were staying with the bullet and impacting the paper? Have to say I don't understand this as it has a very thick copper jacket. Maybe a bad batch of bullets. Hank |
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ORIGINAL: ahankster Pglasgow, I agree since an XTP is basically the same exact bullet in 90% of it's construction as a Shockwave. Very little difference, other thana bit of a tighter hollow point and a plastic tip. Maybe his sabots were staying with the bullet and impacting the paper? Have to say I don't understand this as it has a very thick copper jacket. Maybe a bad batch of bullets. Hank |
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There are several good bullet/sabot combos out there, and there may be one better than shockwaves. But, I have killed 1 deer,5 bucks and5 does, in the past three years with the 250 grain shockwave pushed by 110 grains of 777. I tried 125 grains of 777 and my accuracy went bad, so I went back to 110. The latest one was sunday afternoon. A big ole Nannygoat at 175 yards, my furthest yet. The second furthest was a 7 point buck. While I am not disputing reports of no expansion, The deer I have shot with these bullets have been from around 40 to 175 and the damage I am seeing is perfect. I recovered three bullets so far (on quartering shots) and despite bones and running almost the length of deer, the bullets had a great shape and retained great percentages of metal.
Last Thursday, one of our more seasoned hunters shot a doe with a PB from about 40 yards. I was slightly quartering away and he hit it just a bit back behind the lungs and into the liver. We looked and looked for blood and sign of where she went. Nothing. Looked for several hours on Friday as well. Nothing. Found her sunday about 400 yards away, bloated and nasty. The PB went in, blew up and didn't make it out the other side. Liver and stuff filled the entrance wound so no blood made it out. If he had used 75 grains of Pyrodex instead of 125, I don't think he would have lost the deer. More is not always better. My kids are using 75 grains of 777 under a 250 grain XTP. Of the four deer they have shot, every one a passthrough with good blood and either dead in the immediate area or close by. These huge magnum loads really are not needed unless you intend, or are capable, to shoot 150 yards or greater. Many of the bullets just were not designed for this type of velocity and energy. Hank |
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All these bullets have a velocity range they work best in,a lot of them are easy to determine some are not the PB's have been around for a long time and the people that shoot them at 1400 or there about seem to do okthe Shock Waves seem to be designed to work at inline speeds on the higher end say 2000 or there about and the XTP and Speer Gold Dot are in between. At least that the conclusion I have come to over the years. Lee
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Those velocities, i think, are a very good rules to go by in choosing the bullet.
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Very interesting thread! I have had the priveledge to shoot 2 deer in the past two years useing245 gr. powerbelt's. Both deer were small, first year deer. Hit them both behind the shoulder, and in the heart. (luckely) There was no heavey bone to stop the bullet other than the ribs on the oppisite side. Few fragments made it that far!
I got no exit wound at all on either deer! But they dide'nt go far either! I would hate to hit a bigger deer with a questionable shot, where theere was no passthrough and bloodtrail. Especially from a tree stand shooting down. |
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I have hunt with inlines for many years and used many guns and many bullets. I started out not so wise - thinking wow this $99 CVA from wallmart has a long 26" barrel, will hold 150 gr of powder and I should get riffle like performance using a light bullet. With this mindset I proceeded to use 185gr XTPs and 3 pellets of pyrodex. Took 2 deer that year, both at about 40-50 yards, dropped a doe and had the buck run 80-100 yards but didnt have to track since I could see it. I recovered the bullet out of the doe, mushroomed nice but practically inside out. After I talked to some pros that year I decided I wasnt doing things right and that XTPs werent that good of a choice. For someone used to shooting patch & balls or maxi's maybe the XTPs seem to perform well but most the pros will tell you a bullet specifically designed for modern inlines will outperform something like and XTP which really wasnt designed with muzzleloading in mind at all. Although as said I have used XTPs without problem as well as several of my huntin buddies use them since they are cheap. But the ballistics cant compare to something like the dead center sabot especially if your into long range shootin. Unfortunetly I have only 1 deer taken with the dead centers and I had a loose scope ring and broke its back. I dont know much about the powerbelts, first year I have used em. I tried them since the #1 blackpowder shooter in NY state (friend of my dads) recomended them. I'll probably do some more experimenting next summer since I want more velocity and flatter shooting, since the PBs seem to be better matched to lighter charges and slower velocity.
As far as bullets exploading, I dont really think anything you can shoot out of a front end loader can compare to how a 22-250 exploads, but I knowa fewpeople who wont shoot at a deer with anything else. Heck, even my .270 has the nickname 'the meat grinder'. LOL |
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ORIGINAL: ahankster Pglasgow, I agree since an XTP is basically the same exact bullet in 90% of it's construction as a Shockwave. Very little difference, other thana bit of a tighter hollow point and a plastic tip. Maybe his sabots were staying with the bullet and impacting the paper? Have to say I don't understand this as it has a very thick copper jacket. Maybe a bad batch of bullets. Hank The bullets I recovered from the deer while missing the copper otherwise seemed to do exactly what they were supposed to, the mushroomed great, caused massive damage, and I never had a deer go more then maybe 30 yrds after the shot.The bullets would almost go through, usually lodging just under the skin on the far side.Bloodtrails were very poor. After posting yesterday I was thinking, the bullets could have actually come from the same lot, while they were boughtin different years the store I get the at doesnt sell a lot of blackpowder goods and they could have very well been leftover from the previous year and just restocked.Maybe all it boiled down to was a bad bunch of bullets after all.Suppose I could buy another box and try them again but somehow the idea they could seperate in the barrel makes me think now shooting them may not have been the safest things to do with that gun.Must be getting older:D |
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Congrat's on the deer and Awesome pictures and excellent report! Thanks for sharing.
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ORIGINAL: ahankster My kids are using 75 grains of 777 under a 250 grain XTP. Of the four deer they have shot, every one a passthrough with good blood and either dead in the immediate area or close by. These huge magnum loads really are not needed unless you intend, or are capable, to shoot 150 yards or greater. Many of the bullets just were not designed for this type of velocity and energy. Hank I have to admit, nothing I've read here has given me more pleasure than your recollections of hunting with your sons. I agree with you 100% about your assessment of 75 grains 777 and the 250 xtp. What a great load for anyone inside 120 yards, but perfect for a young man (or woman)just being introduced to the sport of muzzleloading. No better velocity can be achieved for a 250 grain bullet for as little recoil as the 777 will deliver. Where sabots can be used. I think it's close to perfect. |
RE: Don't OverDrive PowerBelts-Pics
ORIGINAL: ol eagle eyes I have hunt with inlines for many years and used many guns and many bullets. I started out not so wise - thinking wow this $99 CVA from wallmart has a long 26" barrel, will hold 150 gr of powder and I should get riffle like performance using a light bullet. With this mindset I proceeded to use 185gr XTPs and 3 pellets of pyrodex. Took 2 deer that year, both at about 40-50 yards, dropped a doe and had the buck run 80-100 yards but didnt have to track since I could see it. I recovered the bullet out of the doe, mushroomed nice but practically inside out. After I talked to some pros that year I decided I wasnt doing things right and that XTPs werent that good of a choice. For someone used to shooting patch & balls or maxi's maybe the XTPs seem to perform well but most the pros will tell you a bullet specifically designed for modern inlines will outperform something like and XTP which really wasnt designed with muzzleloading in mind at all. Although as said I have used XTPs without problem as well as several of my huntin buddies use them since they are cheap. But the ballistics cant compare to something like the dead center sabot especially if your into long range shootin. Unfortunetly I have only 1 deer taken with the dead centers and I had a loose scope ring and broke its back. I dont know much about the powerbelts, first year I have used em. I tried them since the #1 blackpowder shooter in NY state (friend of my dads) recomended them. I'll probably do some more experimenting next summer since I want more velocity and flatter shooting, since the PBs seem to be better matched to lighter charges and slower velocity. As far as bullets exploading, I dont really think anything you can shoot out of a front end loader can compare to how a 22-250 exploads, but I knowa fewpeople who wont shoot at a deer with anything else. Heck, even my .270 has the nickname 'the meat grinder'. LOL experts all rec 100 gr soft point for deer..well, i shot a few deer with the 100 gr..behind shoulder..most ran after shot..the bullet came out the other side ,on most.. i then went back to 87 gr pushed at 3000 ft in 250 sav, guess what..every deer i shot behind shoulder went RIGHT DOWN.. could 13 grs of bullet make that much of difference? you bet it does!! exploding bullet is not bad thing if shot behind shoulder..no running shots, noquartering shots or front with light bullets..same with powerbelt pushed fast and a light one..295 grs and under.. i would not take a shot unless it was neck/shoulder area side.. this is why if i was hunting and shooting at deer from all angleswith muzz, i would NOT use a powerbelt..i would use nothing but the MAXI-BALL .. i am not that type of hunter, i have to have neck or deer sideways behind shoulder or my bucks walk.. so, powerbelt 295 or 338 is better for deer,is great thing for my flintlock.. |
RE: Don't OverDrive PowerBelts-Pics
Well here is part 2.
Shot a 10point small basket buck and another doe last saturday. This time I used 70 grains of Shockey's Gold and the 270grain PB. Boom Flop at 40 yards!:) Hit him high, just behind shoulder. Smaller entry hole, andNO pass thru;)Bullet dissintigrated. See Pics: (Garage is messy[&:])   This makes 5 deer down, 3 with PB's, 1 with .243, and 1 with 200grain ShockWave--Neck shot at 90 yards, during regular rifle season-highpower scope;) |
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