You never mentioned if you were using the lead or copper-clad. You never mentioned if they were hollow-points or aero-tips. Lead bullets fragment alot more. Hollow-points decrease odds of pass-thrus -versus those ofaero-tips. Regular Powerbelts perform best using around 80 gr. of powder. Using more can sometimes lead to a heavier nose during flight - or increased fragmentation, plastic base not properly withstanding the added pressures.... among other things.

Alot of times, no blood trail signals shooting a tad too high - letting blood fill the deer's innercavities. All of the alternative bullets mentioned here are very good performers -- generally decreasethe amount ofyards a deer may run after being hit. There is no formula-guaranteefor pass-thrus - using any combination of bullet, powder, distanceor aim. There's no evidence thatpass-thrus improve harvestations.

Not true chap. If you're using 150 grains powder with a powerbelt, they'll do fine if your target it 130-140+ yards away. Ive done that a few times and dropped them. They just dont perform to good on these 30-50 yard range shots. Who in their right mind would even think of needing 150 grain loads for that distance? lol. Like i said, 80 grains of powder with any powerbelt is going to drop them well within easy tracking range.
You have all seen what my 80 grain charge and 225 grain aerotip powerbelt does on deer. I'll take them over anything else out there.

frontier ganderI notice several of the people that have good luck with PB's are shooting 45cal, is that what you are using?

Yes i am shooting a deer creek northwest rifle in .45cal After selling all of my inlines, this is the only rifle i have right now with a twist that can shoot powerbelts. Im using 80 grains pyrodex p with a Copper series 225 grain aerotip powerbelt. Makes nice big holes, bloody blood trails. Next up is the 223 grain powerbelt platinum to try out.

My dad and brother use the 295s in their 50's with 90 grains RS. No trouble with them at all.

This is my .45 and the deer i got in September.


Had to follow this long 5 yard blood trail and a long 20-30 foot skid mark that was smeared with blood,

entrance,

Exit,


With the lower powder charges that i use, they bust through bone and keep goin.

He is not using 150 - using 100gr Pyro.

Gleason - good info!

Steve

100 grains grains, 5 yard shot = 80 yard tracking job, no blood, Or My way, 80 grains pyro, 80 yard shot, 5 yard tracking job with massive blood trail.

Hes wanting pass through. IMO all pass through does is put all the bullets energy into the dirt.

If his bullet goes completely through the body cavity and then is found under the hide, He got pass through.

FG, I respectfully disagree, if the bullet passes through it isnt dumping all the bullets energy into the dirt, alot is put into the deer. I dont agree with the statement you made about the bullet being stuck under the hide on the opposite side being a passthrough, true it passed through the body cavity but did not completely pass through the animal. The idea of a pass through( to me and we all have a different opinion ) is ALL the way through. If the animal is close and you shoot them high it sometimes takes longer for it to start bleeding due to the high entrance, however if there is a lower exit the blood trail will be alot easier to follow. In a perfect world every deer we shoot would just drop dead or take a step and fall dead but thats not the case. Lots of times deer will run, even with a bullet that didnt pass completely through. I like a bullet that will do some damage to the deer and pass through. Just because a bullet goes through a deer dont mean it didnt deliver any energy to the animal. If using the right bullet it will deliver enough energy to damage the internal organs then exit leaving a good blood trail. I shot one with my 30-06 this year that didnt leave and exit hole, the blood was few and far between, luckily he didnt run over 30 yards. The deer and hog I killed with shockwaves left blood trailsa blind mancould have followed and they both died within 30 yards both had pass throughs.

As we all know with a ML, when you shoot most of the time you cant see anything, you cant tell how the animal reacted to the shot like you can with a modern rifle. It really pays to have a bullet exit for a good blood trail and to bleed the animal out quicker. If the bullet stays in the animal you only have one hole instead of 2.Usually depending on range, the entrance will be high resulting in poor to no blood trail. Theses bullets are big enough that if you poke a hole through both sides of the deer and the internal organs (lungs) you have a heavy blood trail and lots of blood. if you do your part most any bullet through the lungs will kill a deer, but wouldnt you rather one that will pass through making your tracking job alot easier? Again FG, no disrepsect You are a man of far more knowledge than I, just my opinion thats all..

That is NOT the traditional meaning of pass thru. As for putting energy in the dirt,
is it better for a bullet to loose all it's energy inside the deer, or for it to enter the deer, expand and travel the entire chest cavity, blow thru a rib, the hide and then exit"? Which is best? A bullet not traveling has completed it work, it no longer has any killing power. Pretty obvious that it is the bullet that passes thru has done more "bullet work" (dismembering flesh, organs, etc) than the one that stopped in the cavity of an animal. Chap Gleason

next time someone on here shoots a deer and gets pass through, take a pic of the double blood trail for me. Ive yet to see this even when shooting a centerfire. You dont need complete pass though to get a good blood trail. You can hit a deer right through the middle and not get much blood if any at all.

I know the deer i shot was bleeding like a SOB out of the entrance hole and then spraying blood all over from its nose.

I believe different scenarios offer different results. I have seen the double blood trails, and the side with the most blood is the exit side.