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Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
I have hunted whitetail now for 5 seasons. My first season I bought a CVA staghorn magnum 50 cal. I started using the 295 grain hollow point powerbelt bullets. I had great luck with them, shooting a less then 1 1/2 inch group at 100 yards. I shot 6 deer over the next 3 seasons with the combination. Never had one of them run farther then 65 yards, in fact 3 of them piled up.
This season I wanted to flatten out my trajectory beyond 125 yards. I went to the 223 grain aero tip powerbelt. This year I shot 5 deer with that combo from 24 yards to 82 yards. No problem as long as I put it thru the shoulder or hit the opposite shoulder. I noticed that my length after shot increased. My hunting partner used the same combo and shot a buck on opening evening of shotgun season. He double lunged it and it bled ok at first, but soon went to drops. THen nothing. Luckly it was on a trail that worked back to a main trail and we found it about 200 yards away. Then my son shot a nice doe last weekend of shotgun out of my blind at 55 yards. It was right at sundown so we gave her 45 minutes and then went to look. She ran off like she was hit hard, but we hunt in horseweed and its hard to watch them for very long. Well that night we found no blood trail, so we came back the next morning at daylight. Looked for 2 hours and found no blood or deer. Then two weeks later while making new paths thru the horseweed with my four wheeler I found her about 175 yards from where she was shot. The hit was a little back, but still she should have been bleeding. My question is should I go back to a hollow point? or a heavier bullet? Or should I go to a 245-250 grain hollow point for an inbetween compromise? I rarely have the opportunity to shoot beyond 125 yards. Any suggestions or comments would be great |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
bowhunterjohn.. welcome to the forum. Nice to have you here. I have heard this same story so many times with Powerbelts. Some people swear by them some swear at them. I have yet to have the opportunity to shoot a deer with a powerbelt. I have tried now for two years but the deer will not cooperate.
Perhaps you might want to see how your rifle will shoot a 300 grain XTP. While this is a different design, if you place it in the rifle place, very few people have complaints with them. Also they are said to produce massive blood trails. There are a lot of different projectiles out there you could try. All of them will still boil down to shot placement. |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
ORIGINAL: bowhunterjohn I have hunted whitetail now for 5 seasons. My first season I bought a CVA staghorn magnum 50 cal. I started using the 295 grain hollow point powerbelt bullets. I had great luck with them, shooting a less then 1 1/2 inch group at 100 yards. I shot 6 deer over the next 3 seasons with the combination. Never had one of them run farther then 65 yards, in fact 3 of them piled up. This season I wanted to flatten out my trajectory beyond 125 yards. I went to the 223 grain aero tip powerbelt. This year I shot 5 deer with that combo from 24 yards to 82 yards. No problem as long as I put it thru the shoulder or hit the opposite shoulder. I noticed that my length after shot increased. My hunting partner used the same combo and shot a buck on opening evening of shotgun season. He double lunged it and it bled ok at first, but soon went to drops. THen nothing. Luckly it was on a trail that worked back to a main trail and we found it about 200 yards away. Then my son shot a nice doe last weekend of shotgun out of my blind at 55 yards. It was right at sundown so we gave her 45 minutes and then went to look. She ran off like she was hit hard, but we hunt in horseweed and its hard to watch them for very long. Well that night we found no blood trail, so we came back the next morning at daylight. Looked for 2 hours and found no blood or deer. Then two weeks later while making new paths thru the horseweed with my four wheeler I found her about 175 yards from where she was shot. The hit was a little back, but still she should have been bleeding. My question is should I go back to a hollow point? or a heavier bullet? Or should I go to a 245-250 grain hollow point for an inbetween compromise? I rarely have the opportunity to shoot beyond 125 yards. Any suggestions or comments would be great http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1886707 Read that over for ideas. As for what you should go to, I did this little experiment 3 years ago after having PB fragmentation issues. I asked the forum for advice and picked 5 bullets which I shot in my two muzzleloaders, I shot for accuracy and ease of loading. I also did penetration testing and did an extensive search on the internet for articles on bullet performance in ML. I documented my finding here: http://www.the-gleasons.com/bullets_penetration_tests_for_mu.htm There are several links on that page which you should look at, in particular this article: http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/July03/july03.htm Now I don't think you have to go to all that work to find a bullet/load that will work in your gun,a Nosler Partition HG bullet, a BarnesMZ Expanderare all excellent hunting bullets. I use a 300g Nosler Partition Jacket Protected Point in a Crushed Rib sabot, with 100g of 777 loose 3Fand I clean with bore butter between shots even in the field. Here is a Nosler Partition bullet taken from abrisket hit deerat 40 yards, I found it under his skin between the bucks legs when I went to gut him. Best wishes for find the right bullet/load combo that works in your gun. I have aKnight Disc and a TC Omega. Chap Gleason Va  |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
If range beyond 120 yards is what you seek then lighter powerbelts aren't a good choice. Wind is going to effect you and you will want a bullet which resists that better than a light full bore conical. Something like a 200 or 250 shockwave which has a much higher ballistics coefficient is going to get you to that range faster with less windage and muzzle velocity variation effects, meaning you will be more accurate with them.
This is the most important part of the equation. One must place the bullet where the animal will bleed rapidly. Failing do this, no matter what you use, whether PB, roundball, shockwave, or high-powered rifle, will lead to longer time to kill the quarry and may result in an unrecovered animal. Shot placement is critical. You have discovered that at the ranges the 295 powerbelts are accurate, they will dump deer as effectively, and as quickly as any other alternative. Shot placement is the key to this kind of performance. But if you are serious about long range shooting, think about switching to a saboted jacketed bullet with good flight characteristics and spend enough time at the range with these to understand the complexities of shooting accurately with them at those ranges, particularly the effects of wind on POI. |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
I have shot many deer with the power belts. I also use the 295 grain hollow points and 100 grains of triple seven powder and i have no trouble killing a deer from 100 to 200 yards with this combo and it is also very accurate. I to also shoot a cva except mine is a Cva hunterbolt. Also if you find that it is not accurate at 125 yards add a little more powder to the combo.
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RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
[/align]I swear by them.Of the last 5 deer I've shot, 1 ran about 30 yds 4 have dropped in their tracks.I shoot a T/C hawkins 50 cal flint lock100gns of fff and a 245 grn hollow point. None of my shots are over 100yds most being in the 30 to 60 yd range. Not an expert believe me just a satisfied customer. |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
ORIGINAL: bowhunterjohn I started using the 295 grain hollow point powerbelt bullets. I had great luck with them, shooting a less then 1 1/2 inch group at 100 yards. I shot 6 deer over the next 3 seasons with the combination. Never had one of them run farther then 65 yards, in fact 3 of them piled up. This season I wanted to flatten out my trajectory beyond 125 yards. I went to the 223 grain aero tip powerbelt. This year I shot 5 deer with that combo from 24 yards to 82 yards. No problem as long as I put it thru the shoulder or hit the opposite shoulder. My hunting partner used the same combo and shot a buck on opening evening of shotgun season. He double lunged it and it bled ok at first, but soon went to drops. THen nothing. Luckly it was on a trail that worked back to a main trail and we found it about 200 yards away. Then my son shot a nice doe last weekend of shotgun out of my blind at 55 yards. Looked for 2 hours and found no blood or deer. Then two weeks later while making new paths thru the horseweed with my four wheeler I found her about 175 yards from where she was shot. The hit was a little back, but still she should have been bleeding. My question is should I go back to a hollow point? or a heavier bullet? Or should I go to a 245-250 grain hollow point for an inbetween compromise? I rarely have the opportunity to shoot beyond 125 yards. Any suggestions or comments would be great |
RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
thanks for the replies, I am going to do some testing this spring. I'll try out the XTP hollow points and maybe a couple more
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RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
I have shot a deer with both the PB's and the XTP's.Both piled up after the shot. I use the PB's when I can because they load easier and are more accurate. Try both and see which one performs better.
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RE: Any powerbelt users or bullet experts??
ORIGINAL: bowhunterjohn thanks for the replies, I am going to do some testing this spring. I'll try out the XTP hollow points and maybe a couple more Chap Gleason |
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