frontier gander

I picked up some more primers for the Apex today and was reaching for the maxi balls when i noticed the 195g powerbelts i bought some days ago for a good price. Loaded up the rifle and 2 speed loaders and went out to my 58 yard range.

70g pyrodex select
cci 209 magnum
195g AT Powerbelt.

Group was right at 1/2" 3 shot group "Back to using open sights!"
I was very happy with that group.

Dug through my sand box and found 2 of the Powerbelts, The third powerbelt is still in there as i ran to get inside quick. We are getting our first thunder/rain storm and it gets pretty darn nasty here with lightening .

As you can see from the pictures. The bases stayed connected to the bullets as it was not enough powder to blow them off. No problem, they shot excellent and held up perfect, right?



WRONG!

Due to the plastic base being stuck at the base of the bullet, It caused the lead to rapidly over expand and make the center of the bullet no thicker than a few sheets of paper.

Tomorrow i want to test them again with 80g pyrodex select and see how they do. The last time i shot these i couldnt get better than a 3" group and i think that was due to the scope i had on it.

Also just checked out my rifle and with those cci 209 magnums i find no blow back on the breech end of the rifle and my plug still has a thick white layer of grease where it squeezes out. Good primers for $3.89!

goatbrother

I think I would save those bullets for shooting sqwirl's. They might not penatrate into a deer very far.

frontier gander

I honestly dont know with these 195ers. If i draw a deer tag i'll consider using them just to see how they do with a lung shot. Tomorrow will be a new day and i'll start with 80 and see how they do.

Those bases being stuck at the end really caused the bullet to loose weight in the center. You can see where the bullet started to "Fold" in.

oldsmellhound

I've heard some guys swear by the 195 grainers, but IMO they're just too light for deer-sized game. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they've killed plenty of deer, but it seems like in order to get adequate penetration you're going to need to use such a light load of powder that you're giving up a lot of speed and energy. In the .45 the 225 or 275 grainers seem to be a much more reasonable choice for deer, even though they can have penetration issues with high powder charges.

I just watched this hunting video where a guy shot a buck with the .45 225 grain Powerbelt and 150 grains of Pyrodex. Deer was about 50 yards away, and dropped like it had been struck by lightning. I found it interesting, though, that they never showed the hunter posing with the deer post-mortem. Probably due to the football sized hole in the deer's neck or chest where the bullet exploded.

frontier gander

Ok i found yesterdays powerbelt that i wasnt able to grab due to the rain coming down on me.
Had a slight drizzel today when i went out but not much to bother me.

3 shots with the 195g AT and 80 Pyrodex select, 58 yards into my sand trap.

It would probably be ok to use as long as you were atleast 70 yards away but anything closer and they'll let loose on you.

jascoesens

FG,

What is your goal that you are trying to achieve with the PBs? If it is reduced recoil, have you considered the T/C 200gr Shock Wave?

James

flint head

I killed my first ML deer with one of those... had a CVA Hunterbolt,,, I really like the rifle and the 195's shot great. But the deer was at about 30 yards and my load was two pryodex pellets... the result were awfull, the bullet exploded with a perfect lung hit,,, luckly I found my deer but there was no blood.

frontier gander

My goal with these 195 grainers is just to see what they can handle and try to figure out how in the heck people are shooting them and dropping deer with 3 pellet loads!

Cant use sabots in Colorado.
I pretty much just got a good deal on them so i bought them, testing them and then putting the info on the forum for those who are thinking about using them can read up on the tests and hopefully back away from using the 195 grain powerbelt.

Flint head, I cant even imagine what that bullet looked like with that much powder lol. They would make an excellent long range/high powder charge varmint bullet. I know one of the CVA guys O'neal Willians uses the 175's for turkey hunting.

223g Platinum/225g Copper minimum weight for me.

jascoesens

Thanks FG,

That e'splains it pretty well.
Thanks.

James

gleason.chapman

Bingo, happensvery frequentlywith PBs, since the OFFICIAL (from CVA) on how to shoot and load them is here:

http://www.powerbeltbullets.com/ballistic.html

if you notice when you look at the PDFs at the above link you don't see 70 and 80g loads for ANY of the PB bullets, you see 100, 130 and 150g load recommended by CVA on this web site. In my opinion that is both unethical and inhumane, since many deer are wounded and get away to die a very slow painful death from this load, especially the 150g load. A lotta deer are shot within 50 yards, broadside "bow shots" are the only shot to take on deer at that distance with150g load. CVA needs to add another row to their table for each Load (100g, 130g, 150g), "probability that the bullet will fragment".
As FG so shows so very well, they hold up well at low velocity, but once you get around 100g they start falling apart. Bow shots falling apart inside thin skinned deer OK, dead deer, but oblique shots, shoulder shots are wounded deer and likely no recovery, on elk and bigger game you got issues. We owe it to the animals we hunt and to God to kill the beasts with the most humane way possible. I get that belief from thispassage of scripture:



[ol][*]Proverbs 12:10 (Whole Chapter)
A righteous man hath regard for the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. [/ol]
If you do a google search for "Powerbelt fragments", click here to see that:http://tinyurl.com/64wvyu

you will see a lot of content. True they are the most popular bullet for ML hunting, so you should see some, but a lot ----I don't think you should see this if the bullet was not fragmenting.

If you do the exact same search with "Barnes MZ fragments" or Nosler Partition HG fragments you will NOT see any content about them fragmenting, you will see them compared to fragmenting bullets--usually PB in MLing.

CVA should revise their official web site to get in line with KNOWN bullet fragmenting knowledge and recommend to folks that they only shoot no more than 90 or 100g. Just my opinion, a sample of size 1, but I learned>>my personal PB Goldenrule<< thru the school of unrecoved deer and I HATE it.
Chap Gleason