RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Yep, the PBs are a "rib shot bullet" in my opinion.Since they can't take down big deer on shoulder shots, they should NOT be used on larger game (elk moose, etc). They should be use on 80lb doe only. Oh, my brothers was the new Platimuum colored PBs, which is just the copper ones with a different polish, the lead mix is the same bullet, too hard, not soft and driving enough to hold togeter to kill. You need deep penetration, controlled expansion, weight retention (little or no loss, definitely no fragments) and pass thru for blood trail if possible. A shoulder hit should put down the deer kill it by hitting the lungs, but you should never have one get away at <=150 with a shoulder hit. that is what I think a good bullet should do, anything less is 1700's, 1800 or early 1900's technology, there are a lot better bullets on the market right now.

Chap Gleason VA

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Them good ol 300 Gr. XTP's are hard to beat.

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Agree, they are had to beat ---both price and terminal performance. I haveonlyonething against them from being the perfect bullet. They shed their jacket, therefore loosing enery doing that instead of driving home, now the jacket doesn't weigh a lot, but if it gets shed it can't break bone as well as a Nosler, Barnes or otherbonded bullet. They are good, just not perfect. Chap Gleason

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

powerbelts should only be used on 80lb doe? thats horse crap. I shot a 130+ lb doe last year at 148 yards and that sucker dropped in her tracks with a 245 grain powerbelt right through both lungs.

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Amen, you made a perfect rib shot, the PBs don't disintegrate on rib shots, they disintegrate on bone shots in the shoulder. Therefore since nobody can guarantee their shot 100% into a larger deer one should logically either
1) only shoot small deer (<=80 lbs) ----you can break the bone on a small deer, they are fragile
2) shoot a better bullet that holds together in bone.

Chap Gleason

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

i used 295 powerbelt in my .50 cal flintlock t/c hawkins..i got a huge 8 point buck, biggest one in 50 years on weight/spread of horns..

i shot him behind shoulder at 20 yds ..he fell right down..bullet went thru both sides..

i may goto 348 next year,but that bullet worked fine..

i believe that any hollow point bullet is not good if you hit shoulder on hip etc..so, if you are that type of hunter, DONT USE A POWERBELT..

i ALWAYS shoot behind shoulder or buck WALKS..so, powerbelt is good one for me..

NOW, if i was type of hunter that shoots at running deer or at angle etc..

no way i would use a POWERBELT..i would use a MAXI-BALL..

so, it comes down to type of hunter you are,use ole sprouls thinking, been at it for 50 years and 36 of it with a flintlock..been there done it..

i like powerbelt best now because i dont have to mess with BORE BUTTER at 10 above zero..

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Probably shocked the spine. Too bad she didn't hit the spine, or she'd probably recovered it. Shots entering high in the vitals are not the best placed shots, IMHO. I placed a roundball like that on the first muzzleloader deer I ever shot, and lost him. Just this year a friend of mine lost a very good 5X5 that I had scouted for him after placing a shot just like that. He wasn't shooting PB's either. I think itwasa 140 grain, anyway I know270 which failed to get him. We searched for him into the night and most of the following day. We found where he first stopped, coughing blood, and followed his trail through a dry sandy creek bed where his front left hoof was dragging. We lost the trail when it left the creek bed and never recovered the trail.

Its too bad she lost that deer, but considering the placement,to be fairit could have happened with any bullet or high-powered rifle.

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Excellent wisdom Sproulman for your type of hunting---FL, no scope, most shots <=50 yards only excellent shots behind front shoulder. The only thing I would add to your logic is that as we age we start seeing less clearly, and our aim is not always perfect because we are not shooting on a rest we are shooting off handin the field. I alway aim "right behind the front shoulder" like I was bow hunting, just a you do, but sometimes on 100 yard shots I don't hit there. Therefore since I can't guarantee where my bullet will hit the buck 100% of the time (unless I take only 50 yards and under shots with my 3x9 scope on my Omega--making it sorta a waste) I want to shoot a bullet that will hold together when hitting bone or very heavy muscle.

Your number 1 criteria is ease of loading in very cold weather, which the PBs do nicely. But don't ever miss your mark with those 50 years of hunting experience eyes, you will not like what the PB does, it wounds the animal and gives you a miserable"flashback" to what you could do differently--been there done that myself.

Please review this bullet performance site for ML:
http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/July03/july03.htm

and this chart:
http://www.the-gleasons.com/TSD%20Wound%20Chart-MZ.htm

I believe the Copper Magnum Black Belt is the PB with another name.

Since your shooting a FL without a scope (my guess) and most of your shots are <=50 yards, the PBs will work fine for your experienced eyes, but can you honestly recommend them to a young hunter with a scoped in-line shooting off hand at a buck 120 yards away? All you have to do is read the threads on this Forum, and they speak for themselves.
Chap Gleason VA

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

I see powerbelts no differently than any other bullet. Its simply a card that isin your 5 card hand. The value of that card, depends entirely on what the other 4 cards are. If one has a 245 PB card, a frontal shot slightly quartered card,a 3 50 grainpellet card, an average 2" miss card, and a 50 yard card, then, IMHO,if he takes the shot, he's just bluffing.

The key to building a winning handwith PB'sis to take advantage of what theirstrengths are, add the proper complement of cards, and play your handwithout bluffing. 348 and heavier PB's areideal for devastaing, deeply penetrating,awesome expanding, rapid energy energy dissapation,with moderate powder charges, deer killing. One just has to understand what the hand is and how to play it.If the rules they should beplayed with are not suiting to one,he just picks a different bullet and plays by different rules and a different complement of"cards". Itsnot wiseto force a powerbelt to play like an xtpor vice versa.

RE: Powerbelt Disintegrates
 

Yes, I see your logic. Excellent wisdom. Thanks. Chap Gleason