shot first and last Powerbelt this weekend
 

295gr aerotip with 80gr 777

saturday - doe broadside 75 yards, perfect shot, hair everywhere, no blood, deer gone

sunday - 6 point broadside 75 yards same spot, perfect shot, no blood again, deer gone

powerbelts great on paper, not so great in field

what's a good shooting bullet for an optima that isn't too hard to load?

Well that bullet isnt exploding thats for sure!! Sounds like a high hit to me.

Man, that's a bummer kclcpa. I've never shot Powerbelts so can't attest to their good or bad points. They seem to have a fair number of fans who really like them. But I've seen more bad reviews on Powerbelt effectiveness on game than any other bullet - enough that I decided not to even try them.

I can attest to the effectiveness of Speer Gold Dots, 250 grain, 270 grain, or 300 grain - whichever shoots best in your gun. Also, though I've never personally taken a deer with Hornady XTPs, bad reports on them are very few and far between. A lot of people I trust give them very good marks and I would have no qualms using and XTP.

As far as being hard to load, you can pick any good bullet in .452 or .429 and find a sabot that works for you. The Harvester crush rib sabots are easy loading in all of my guns.

How do you know they were perfect shots if you didn't recover the deer? Maybe try the Powerbelt Hollow Points. That's what I shoot although there may be better options out there. I've only shot the aero tips once and that's only because I bought them by mistake thinking they were hollow points. I shot them at a target.
I use the 295 grain Powerbelt hollow points

I shot a 8 point buck last year during black powder hunting season. I shot him from around 130 yards or so. He ran maybe 10-15 yards and fell. It was a great shot and the Powerbelt expanded pretty well. It wasn't a pass through though. You could feel it pushing against the skin of the deer on the other side but it didn't come out. That's the only experience I have with hunting with them but I'd say it was an okay experience. I will say I didn't find a blood trail I just saw the deer laying there.

I have another friend that said he is having trouble finding blood trails for deer he has shot with his BP rifle. He said he's found a couple deer but no blood and some he thought he hit perfectly and no blood or deer. He also shoots powerbelts so I don't know if it's just how the deer is hit or if it's this bullet.

thanks, i've got some xtp's so i'll give them a try, do most people use some sort of lube with sabots?

also wondering, is there a cleaner loose powder than this 777?

Ive shot a good deal of deer with powerbelts and can say, ive never found a pile of hair. Just a lot of blood and dead deer within a short distance. I used to shoot 80gr 3f t7 in a .45 with the 225gr aerotip and that sucker leaves a blood trail!! A 295 AT with 90gr RS shot into a doe at around 75 yards on a trot, dropped her in her tracks.

I'd take that rifle to the range and double check it. It really sounds like 1: Your are either over shooting it or 2: you are under shooting it.

i sighted my rifle in at the range at 75 yards with 295gr powerbelts 80gr 777, last 6 shots were in a 2 inch group, 3 of those on top of each other touching dead center

i set up 2 corn/buck jam spots 75 yards from my ground blind, both deer were feeding on the same spot when i shot them from the shooting bench

like i say, great on paper, not so much on killing, at least for me, i can't see taking a weapon to the field that you know is going to hit it's target but have to cross your fingers on whether it will kill it

yes, me too, i shot two deer with powerbelts in the past 48 hours, just nothing to show for it

Where you aiming at when you pull the trigger? Ive had my forum members shoot that same load and they had excellent success.

Did you look and see wich way the deer ran, then go as far as you can to make sure the deer just ran off a good ways and died? I had that problem with Sabots out of my Rifeld Barrel Shotgun, the first few deer I shot there was hair and no blood. I assumed I missed, I looked for about 30-40yds and found no hair and blood and gave up.I shot the gun the next day and I was hitting bullseyes so I know it was on. Well a few days later on a deer drive a friend found the deer I shot in the red brush about 40 more yds further than I looked, it was a perfect lung shot.
Them damn sabots just punched a small hole in the deer about pinky size and the exit wound plugged up with fat so no blood. I was bummed. The next day I shot a Big Doe at 50 yds, same thing, hair and no blood, this time I went further in my search and there she was dead and no blood trail no even a drop! This Doe went 90yds.
I switched from shotgun to ML and never went back with much better results using the 240gr XTP's. Now when I hit one there done. Also I never had a problem using a smoothbore shotgun with the old Foster Type Winchester Slugs, they did some damage but I wanted a better accurate gun with more distance so I went to a rifeld barrel, bad choice.
The ML Bullets you using will do the job on a deer, they may not do it on the spot or leave any blood, but if there put where they should be no deer can survive being shot through the heart or lungs.
I wish you all the luck and a successfull hunt!
breechplug
So if your a good shot and you know it and your ML is on, dont assume just because there's no blood and just hair that you did'nt get a kill shot, look as far as possible and you may be surprised what you'll find

I have taken 3 deer with .50 PowerBelts. Closest was 12 yards, furthest was 65. All were hit just behind the shoulder, halfway up the body. All dropped like they were struck by lightning. Well, one did crawl about 10 feet. All had impressive exit holes. My experience, small as it is, tells me that you are pushing a too light bullet too fast.
I used, and still have some left, the 405 grainer in front of 70 grains of either Goex 2F, or Pyrodex RS. This duplicates, to all intents and purposes, the original 45-70 rifle load. I don't think anyone can tell me that this load isn't going to work on a whitetail. Heck, it easily drops Bison.
So, I think you should either go to a heavier bullet, or drop the powder charge.
Just my opinion.

If you don't want to use a saboted bullet, try Hornady FPBs. They shoot well for me and have given pass throughs on the 3 deer I've shot. All easy recoveries.

I useed to shoot Powerbelts out of my Optima until last year when I switched over to the TC Shockwaves 250gr bonded superglides. I love these things. 1" group at 100 yards with 2 777 50gr pellets and a 777primer. Haven't let me down yet

You don't want to use lube on sabots. If anything, just put a little spit on it before loading. Oil will cause erratic accuracy and can cause the sabot to slip over the rifling of the barrel instead of gripping it.

As for cleaner powder.... Blackhorn 209 is the cleanest loose powder on the market right now. I absolutely love the stuff but it costs a lot more than 777 or Pyrodex. So a forum search for either "Blackhorn" or "BH209" and you'll find plenty of good reading. :)

a guy just shot this doe with a 295gr powerbelt and 2 50gr pellets @ 20 yards.
http://www.huntingpa.com/forums/ubbt...16#Post1390946

This doesn't help. If he had shot the deer w/a Nosler and is saying this, then yeah there's probably reason to believe there's another variable at play. But the fact of the matter is that people all over this country have had this problem with Powerbelts. It's a fairly common occurance.

Even if someone else has perfect results with them, kclcpa now has no faith in them. So it's better just to move on to find a more trustworthy bullet for him instead of trying to prove that he did something wrong.

ive shot enough to tell you that big pile of hair means a bad hit or even a skimmed hit. Heck bigdaddy12 used that load and dropped the deer. With that load, its perfect! I think the right needs to be double checked just to make sure.

What color was the hair? A skim belly shot will be white hair. Brown hair is a body shot.

A high shot may not bleed at all....with any bullet. The blood collects down in the chest cavity. If you shoot above the lungs they will not aspirate it out. If you deflate the lungs they won't work and won't aspirate it out.

When I've had problems finding deer I will search out as far as possible -- typically I'm only limited by property lines -- as long as I have a reasonable idea I know where the deer would go to flee. Sometimes they can surprise you. I shot a deer with a bow through the center of the heart once and he went almost 200 yards with zero blood. Only found him by following the most likely escape route as far as possible.

Good odds those deer are dead, hope you can figure it out.

The point is, you're not helping him. He has no confidence in the bullet now and by you telling him joe blow had perfect sucess with that load and bullet you're thinking he'll just forget his experience. All you're trying to do is defend the powerbelt. Let it go and help him find something else he's confident in. If he comes back next week and says 'hey shot a deer w/a Barnes or Nosler and got the same result' then we know there's something up.

BTW, I've killed many deer that had fistfulls of hair on teh ground and made perfect lung shots on them. It doesn't mean for sure that it was a bad hit. If it was white belly hair, then yeah I'll give you that.

kclcpa, I'm sorry you hit a nerve in the Muzzleloading world. Find you another bullet that you like and try that one out. Several people here have given good suggestions. Try them out and the range, make sure they shoot well and bust a big'n with it and see how you like them. Make sure to let us know how it turns out. And we love pictures :s2:

I shoot Extreme Elites from PRbullit.

http://www.prbullet.com/ee.htm

The in is about finger sized, the exit is golf ball sized,
The blood trail looks like a masicare scene.

Buckhorn 209 powder leaves almost no residue.

Slack

The last thing a hunter needs in their mind is doubt in their bullet when they pull the trigger. I don't care if it's the scientifically validated best bullet in the world, if an individual hunter has lost trust in the bullet they need to change.

There are just too many good bullets out there to think you HAVE to use a certain one.

240gr XTP, Precision Rifle Keith Nose (for under 150yds), Nosler, Gold Dot, 200gr Shockwave, Barnes....I could go on but I made my point. Any of them will work fine and though it's debated here ad nauseum my personal belief is that all of these bullets will get the job done about the same if you do your part. I think we fall for the marketing hype that pretends there is a difference when in reality, not so much.

Perhaps after this season I'll add the Leigh or FTX or both to that list, I'm waiting on more reports/experiences with both. The first reports with the Leigh seem to indicate it's as good as any.

Power Junk!!!! Try the hornady FPB bullet,my Ml shoots them great,and I shot a doe with them at 60yds,great blood trail and complete pass thru.

Wise words - confidence is IMPORTANT!!!! He wants to try something else - telling him to just forget it and keep trying is not help.

My experiance as well.

kclcpa ,
Bullets are like Muzzleloaders. Guy's think since they own it it's the best. The PowerBelts have routinely lost Deer because of lack of a blood trail or any blood. I had the exact same experience as you and switched to DeadCenter bullets. I will mention i did find the Deer but needed alot of help.

My suggestion for you would be go buy some 250grn XTP'S and some MMP short black sabots. Shoot the ML in and go enjoy hunting. You will have blood and you'll find your animal. You will also save money while doing that.

Never personally had good results with Powerbelts, and have two friends who would have them keyhole down range on the paper. One even swapped over his .50 cal to the .45 barrel that it came with and had some **** poor grouping. You need to find a bullet that works for you and your gun.

Shockwaves are all I shoot out of my .50 Hawkens, .50 CVA, and .45 CVA. Would shoot them out of my 1851 Navy .44 BP pistol if they made them. They just work perfect for me.

poor shots are not made up for by a different bullet. Now ive just started shooting Thors, dont make me go back to shooting powerbelts just to teach you all a lesson ;)

thanks for the responses
 

the productive ones

i've made the switch to 240gr xtp's

good luck to you all

250 gr Gold Dot first choice 250 gr Shock Wave second choice and long long range[200yd choice] There are other good choices like the XTP and FPB but to be honest if there are 20 good choices I would put PB' about 21.

If half of the people like Powerbelt and half dont - whats the point of using them. I have made a few post about my experiances with PBs and most were poor ones.

I have not really heard of anyone shooting nosler partitions and having no blood trail. I liked shockwaves and now have switched to noslers and they expand well and exit consistently.

TC shockwaves and nozler partition will shoot well, most likely, out of your gun. You should give them a try.

Never really got to shoot a Powerbelt. Before i got serious about returning to muzzleloader hunting, a friend asked me to to hunting with him. He loaned am a nice loaded Knight rifle and some quick loaders.

While walking along a trail i looked down in time to see the PowerBelt fall out the muzzle of the borrowed Knight rifle. E-nuff for me.

typical knight and a large DIA bore. Platinums use a thicker skirt for rifles such as knight and those with a larger bore.

poor shots? If the bullet is tumbling in the air end over end I find it hard to blame the shooter. 2 different guns, with 1 changing from .50 to .45 cal also trying different powder charges and still getting crappy results. After 5 hrs of shooting, cleaning the barrel and letting it rest they shot $60 in bullets and targets looking like they were hit with a load of 00 buck shot. I blame the bullet unless you wanna blame the type of powder or 209 caps they were using also.

Another one down! That guy is a deer killin machine with powerbelts,
http://www.huntingpa.com/forums/ubbt...gonew=1#UNREAD

I've shot most bullets out there, and the No.1 Winner hands down for accuracy and Exceptional Devestation is the 240Gr XTP. I have NEVER lost an animal hit with a 240 Gr XTP even on a not so good hit. I've had fist size entrance holes, excellant fragmentation and knock down power, with pleanty of blood. I've used Powerbelts and they worked O.K. but when I tried the XTP's I could'nt believe what they did. Give em a try and Im sure you'll be pleased. And Practice, Practice, Practice, you owe your best shot to the Animals you hunt.
Ron

Back "in the day", I killed dozens of deer with 240gr HTPs (I believe these were replaced by the XTP) until I could not get them anymore, in my first ML a Traditions Deerhunter. The single deer I shot with an XTP was DOA though the recovered bullet was not expanded as much as I'd like.

Which takes me back to my refrain, "deer was DOA, they're all about the same", everything else doesn't really matter. HTP, XTP, SST, SW, Dead Center, QT, Keith Nose....they are all the same to me in terms of terminal performance (these are the ones I actually have whitetail kills with). The only one that gave me an unexpectedly long run was the one I expected it least from, the 300gr soft lead Keith Nose. Shot a doe through both lungs, no exit, diagonal shot with about 2ft of penetration, and she ran 200 yds and only stopped then as she got bogged down in a snow-filled ditch.

I have killed about 10 deer with powerbelts, from 245 hollowpoints to 270 platinums all using 110 gr of t7. i have not come close to losing a deer hit in the boiler room with any of my powerbelts