powerbelt bullets
 

i have used powerbelt bullets for years. i used to use 150 grain powder and killed a lot of deer. but was unhappy with the bullet frags(huge entry holes, lots of damage and no exit hole or bullet found). i read on this site to reduce my powder load to 100 grains this year. i shot a doe early this year in the "motor dept".bullet passed through the heart and exited the rib cage. last night i shot a nice doe just before dark @ about 65 yards. the deer ran off after the shot, like they ussualy do with a good heart/lung shot.when i got to the spot where i shot her i found hair and a little peice of bone. at 30 yards i found another peice of bone and a small fragement of my bullet, but little blood. at 50 yards i started finding blood and bone fragments.at 150 yards i found a 4" peice of rib bone. i found all this on the left side of her track( i shot her on the right side), the bullet had to pass through right?. well to make a long story short , we tracked it over a mile(with some good blood) and lost her in the middle of a bean field. if i hit this deer in the ribcage how could this deer be alive? im stuck using this powerbelt bullet for the rest of the season. should i change bullets next year or was this a fluke thing?

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

red ive had the same problem with them im going to try a bunch of differnt combo in the off season

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

I have had pretty good luck with the 250 grain shockwaves this year, you may want to give them a try. In my gun they were more accurate than the powerbelts as well..

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

Sounds like the bullet did it's job, but you shot Superdeer.

Here we go again!

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

I'll betyou pushed it when tracking; the bullet may have been the problem, the shot placement could've as well, or a combination of both. I'd call it a 'fluke.'

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

Same thing happen to me 4 years ago with a big buck, except I hit it in the shoulder. You need a STRONGER bullet, the PB is too soft and fragments when you push them with 150g of powder. Bullets like
Barnes MZ, TMZ,
Nosler Parition Protected Point HG
Speer Gold Dot

are all are strong accurate bullets, don't fragment, usually go thru deer for good blood trails and usually mushroom to nearly 2x the diameter. The least expensive bullet is the Gold Dot, $16 for 50 of them. Barnes is best for expansion, pass thru and hitting bone (it will go thru bone). Nosler Partition will do excellent on penetration also. Read the product reviews on Midway andCabelas. If ya wanna keep your PB, shoot only 80g MAX, if you wannna go to astrong bullet choose one of the ones above and see how accurate they are in your gun. I guarantee you, you will NOT be disappointed.

I believe we should use the most accurate bullet we can find in our rifles, that it should be stronger for better penetration, cause "crap happens" (deer moves, you hit a shoulder or leg bone), bullet should shoot thru for better tracking from an elevated stand, it should expand to 2x. I find 300g bullets shoot thru, expand well and give good blood trails, I have found 250g bullets do NOT shoot thru always, but tend to be on the off side. I find the 300g have better BC and also when they hit bone they go thru the bone into the vitals.

If ya want to find out what others have done with PB, search for "Powerbelt fragments" in google, or strart reading here:

http://www.the-gleasons.com/powerbelt_page.htm

I have not kept up with this season's stories (like your's), but if you go to Cabelas or Midway and do the Google search, you will get a flavor of the down side of this bullet. Of course in fairness, there were millions sold and thousands of deer killed, but do a search for "Nosler Partion fragments" or "Barnes MZ fragments", you wont't find anything.

Best wishes on your bullet education and selection. Chap gleason

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

If it busted a 4" piece of rib out the back side, I think it was STRONG enough. Like I said, it was Superdeer.

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

No, you were shooting a hot load (150g), it blew up on entrance on the rib you hit going in, lots of "PB shrapnell" (sp?), you did NOT get a large wound channel or you would have gotten the deer. There are NO super deer, only poor shot placement or poor bullets when they hit bone.
Chap Gleason

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

Take a look at these 2 threads. One is a type up on powerbelts that i typed up with a load that i recommend Maximum with the lighter weight powerbelts.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2510086

The other post is a guy who shot a big buck with a 245 grain powerbelt with my recommended load.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr.../1#Post1885610


Please excuse all my bad spelling on my thread, I have to edit and go through all the typo's.

RE: powerbelt bullets
 

I agree with ya Chap. All my testing says 1300-1350fps is best for power belts, with the 348g and larger being best. And 70-80g of powder for 50cal will do it perfectly out to 120yards or so.:)

When I was shooting 50cal, always used 295 PB's and 100grains of powder. Longest shot was 60yards, most 30-40yards. Killed 12-14 deer, and every shot fragmented, bone or no bone hit.