CamoCop

i have been ML hunting these last 2 weeks. i shot a 6 point last week and my dad shot a 6 point the week before. we both had the same results with powerbelt bullets. the bullets put the deer down but did not stay together and expand like they should, instead they exploded and fragmented throughout the vital area. we could not find any piece of his or my bullet when cleaning the deer (there was no exit holes). his deer was shot at 15 yards using 150 grains of pyrodex and mine was shot at 67 yards with 150 grains of pyrodex. has anyone else experienced this? i like using powerbelts because of their accuracy, ease of loading and simplicity.

gleason.chapman

+1, should I put you on here http://www.the-gleasons.com/powerbelt_page.htm?

Has happened to a lotta folks including me 3 seasons ago. You can't shoot them with 3 pellets, gotta be a charge like 70 or 80g that keeps the bullet below 1400 fps. Chap Gleason

srwshooter

the group that i hunt with all shoot 100 grains of either 777 or pyrodex pellets. we have killed over 125 whitetails in the past 8-10 years. most have been killed with 295 powerbelts. i have killed 30 some myself and have yet to see a bullet come apart.

Nimrodder

I shot one deer with a 348 hp, it blew up also. I was only using 100gr t7 2f.

txhunter58

You will definately have less chance of them fragmenting at a lower speed/powder charge. You might try the 270 grain platinum powerbeltsat 80-100 grains of powder. In Nimrodder's case, he was using about 115 grains equivalent to srwshooter's 100 gr load since he was using loose powder vs. pellets. Loose powder is supposed to be 15% stronger than pellets.

Don't buy into the hype that you have to use magnum charges of powder. Remember the revered 45-70 caliber that killed millions of buffalo? It is 45 caliber and used 70 grains of black powder.

bronko22000

I'm going to have to agree with the recommendation of using less powder. IMHO 100 grs is more than enough. Any more and you're just wasting powder. Try it yourself at the range. Your accuracy may even improve with less of a charge. I've killed several deer with the 245 gr PB from 20 - 60 yds or so and all but one exited. You never said where you hit the deer? I try to place my bullet tight behind the shoulder about 1/3 up the body (body angle dependant). Although this shot doesn't usually drop them in their tracks with a ML as it does a lot of times with a high power centerfire, they don't go very far.

gleason.chapman

Amen for you, many have the same experience. Do you look for all bullets in the expired deer? Have you lost any animals? Do you only take broadside bow shots? Chap Gleason

sjsfire

I've shot the powerbelts, they looked great on paper but I too have heard too many stories of the not holding together. I tried 1/2 dozen other bullets and I'm going to hunt with the Barnes Expander MZ's. They pattern as well if not better than the powerbelts for me. I read on here or somewhere else that it was thought that the copper plating on the powerbelts caused the lead to get brittle......I don't know, I'm not a metalologist(?). I think if I was set on using the powerbelts I'd use the 295gr lead hollow points and drop my charge down to 80-100gr. I'm new to muzzleloading owning one only since last December and have yet to really explore the whole concept of what my gun can do. All I know is I'm shooting good out to 100 yards with what I'm using and will shoot out to 150 yards these next two weeks just to be sure if a shot like that presents itself.

nchawkeye

When you are muzzleloading you are handloading each shot so you need to put some thought into the projectile used....

Folks that use PowerBelts like them for 2 reasons...They load easy and they don't have to clean between shots to load the 2nd...

Because PowerBelts are made under bore size they squat so the bullet is able to catch the rifling in the barrel....There are 2 problems with this...They must be made out of pure lead to be soft enough to do this and manufacturers of muzzleloading rifles have not agreed on a standard bore size for their rifles...So 2 .50 caliber bores can be several thousands different......

Since PowerBelts have to be soft, if you use a lot of powder or shoot deer at close ranges they can come to pieces easier than other bullets...So you do not get an exit for tracking....

In addition, since a .50 caliber PowerBelt is shorter than a .45 caliber in a sabot, the .45 will fly flatter with the same powder.....

We have better bullets avaliable to us then PowerBelts, use them...

frontier gander

You say it didnt exit. How far did that deer travel?

Powerbelts perform best when using 80-100 grains powder.

Not sure if you've paid attention on the board but there have been many posts on here advising people not to use 150 grains with powerbelts. Powerbelts come with recommended loads and 90 grains is one of the max loads.

As for a 348 grain powerbelt blowing up on a deer, I honestly dont see that happening. Ive shot many of the 348's at rocks, railroad ties, stumps, and they've expanded to the size of a silver half dollar with little to no weight loss.

Used a 225 grain powerbelt and it did an amazing job.

Guess i should try one of these bullets on a bullet proof whitetail?