SteveBNy

Personaly, if I am going to shoot a conical style - thats what a PB is- at a 1300 to 1400 fps max, I am going to shoot a Bullshop for 25 cents/ea rather than a PB for a buck or more each.

gleason.chapman

Excellent choice. Can't beat the price for that much lead! Chap

SteveBNy

People at the post office are never impressed!

7 Whites on the wall and 200 yds to shoot in the back yard - I would go broke with anything else.

Steve

stretch56

I personally feel it was no fluke you were using powerbelts.
The coyotes got a free lunch on me once because I used them.
There is a lot of betterchoices & prov-en bullets out there & most are cheaper to shoot.

SHills

I havekilled a number of deer w/inlines and side hammers. I have not had any serious problems w/ recovering game. Bottom line if you hit both lungs deer just don't run far EVER. If you watch the outdoor channel as I'm doing this second I've seen numerous marginal shots w/bow 1/4 to and head on on large game, not thin skinned deer. Not trying to blast anyone but we as hunters owe it to the game and to our sport to take killing shots or let them walk.. I have used powerbelts for a # of yrs w/ 80-110 grain loads and I do agree that the lower loads help hold the bullets together. I have only used the 245 gr HP/AT's. I have yet to try any of the heavier bullets in any of the different manufactures as I started out w/240 gr XTPyrs ago and stuck around that weight. If you do hit in the lung section and the bullet does frag you still have a dead deer and a short track. Yes as mentioned $hit does happen and is why I have passed on many real nice deer.If you found a 4" rib sectionfrom the opposite side sounds like you hit way back, way low, or way high just below the spine. I serious doubt the way high as you would have shocked the spine too hard and rolled that deer. After a quick reload you might have seen that deer get back to its feet and run. Doubtful though.
I lost my second archery deer due to and error so it is gonna happen to most hunters in your lifetime but after that mistake I made amends to never take shots unless they are perfect for me. As the others have mentioned there are some great bullets out there and the hornady SST ML 67272 in 250gr is the same as a shock wave. I have yet to recover one. They always shoot right through but never give a large exit. The XTP for me has been a great bullet even thought the 240/245 is a pistol bullet w/ pooerer flying characteristics @ longer ranges. It really is a closer range bullet.I was about 30' up overlooking a flooded timbered swamp of brown cattails and that shot was an in and out through the lungs. Never saw so much blood drain out. So even though not the best flyer it hit exactly where I aimed @ 120.
Bottom line you just need to be comfortable w/what your using and if your not then change till you are. You will kill more game and be ready to take a more difficult shot because you know exactly what your rig will do.
For those w/ a open season hope you get that deer of your dreams!
Happy New year,
Steve

steelhead777

has anyone used the powerbelt platiniums?? i here so much bad about the older powerbelts.the platiniums 270grs over 95 grs 777 are tack drivers out of my gun at 100 yards but i have not shot a deer with them yet.just wondering..

gleason.chapman

Check out the threads produced by this google search:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GZAZ_enUS226US226&q=powerbelt+pla tinum+fragments

Same issue, fragments on bone. A bullet is measured by how well it kills on poor hit, not on broadside hits in the boiler room, any bullet will do that, even an arrow traveling at 250 fps.
Chap Gleason

frontier gander

Theres nothing wrong with the copper series powerbelts. He was using 150 grains of powder and thats normally when all the bad stories about the powerbelts come out. You dont need 150 grains of powder to shoot a deer at 100 yards.

IMO, 150 grains of powder is for the guys that use 12x scopes and shoot 200+ yards. Even those guys have a hard time getting their game back.

redinator

UPDATE: never found deer but did find a old deer carcas. examend the rib bones and shoulder blade, may have been part of top shoulder blade. good news is i shot a nice 8 pointer saturday. heart/lung with bullet passthrough. i still may change bullets next year

Tahquamenon

I've both shot and seen deer that did a bunch of running around after being what appears as decently shot, but in reality missed enough of the vitals to bring them down sooner. Amazing when you recover an animal that has traveled sometimes great distances and it's hard to imagine something could even take five steps after the wounds inflicted let along hundreds of yards.

Also perhaps you did not allow 20-30 minutes for the deer to lie down die? Perhaps you were driving it onward with your tracking?

As for powerbelts, I'm a firm believer that the copper and lead powerbelts basically evaporate with a 150gr charge and100 yards or less.

I did have a nice experience with a .45/223gr AT Platinum Powerbelt at 65 yards and a 70gr load of 3FG Swiss. I will take a closer look at the Platinums as one deer is too soon to get all giddy about the next wonder-bullet.

My view of the copper/lead PBis still the same - fragmentation grenades at higher velocities.

For me I would stay clear of the copper PB's unless you are shooting under 100gr powder and they hold accuracy. If this is your only load (150gr)and it's accurate then I would stick with what at least shoots well for now and concentrate on shot placement until you have the opportunity to either lower your charge and hold accuracy or switch to another more effective projectile (Such as an Hornady SST or the like).

M2C

Tahquamenon