I agree lemoyne, if I had to go to all that work to just ge them to work, I would try some other bullet too. But I have never had a problem with just taking them out of the package, and loaing them up.

I had a button buck looking at me from 12 yards away today (didn't shoot him), while out with my flinter. That is the kind of hunting that you do with primitive weapons. They should not be thought of as 100 yard guns, although many people can shoot that far at the range.
I use powerbelts and when I load too heavy, they fly all over the place. I get good groups at 75 grains of 777 with them. I think that shot placement is gonna get the job done, not the projectile. I like the powerbelts but also like the Buffalo Ball-et and the Hornady PA conicals. I like a full bore conical versus a pistol bullet in plastic. You gotta figure out what works in your barrel twist and use it, whatever that would be. Go for accuracy first, shot placement second and expansion third. JMO.

I dont go with the one that MLer's ar'nt long range guns, they are. I gave up the shotgun for a MLer and never went back. I can shoot further, shoot more accurate and use a more devestating bullet. I get 1" groups at 100yds and 2" groups at 200. If that's not a long range gun than what is??? I feel mouch more confident with my MLer for long range than anything. I know it's not a rifle, but I consider it one and I have taken a-lot of deer ot to 175yds, try that with a shotgun.
Mabey the older style MLers and flintloaders are considered by some shorter range, but they get out there too. So for me My MLer is a long range deer killin machine!
(BP)

I wasn't saying that inlines weren't long range guns. I meant sidelocks, and especially flintlocks. I would pick an inline over a shotgun for long range too! Matter of fact I was thinking of doing that very thing for the shotgun areas I hunt.

It could be that it did blow up right there; on the hide. I shot a doe two years ago with a CVA .45 inline using 100 grains of Triple 7 with a Powerbeltof about 195 grains and it open the hide but did not pass thru. I shot the deer because it was injuried and she ran about 50 yards befor piling up.

Good choice you wont regret it. You will get picked on about using it as I still do but you will enjoy Hunting a-lot better!
(BP)

i don't know how long ago they started making them but i started shooting them the first time i found them.i started out with a 295g PB & 70g of pyro & killed deer,moved to 100g pyro & killed deer,that was with a cva ss Apollo ,i bought a new cva bolt hunter & killed several with the same load.moved the load up to 130g & most were bang flops, bought a new optima pro & have shot a bunch of deer with the 295g & 100g of pyro & 777.i have moved up to the 777 mag pellets & down sized the PB to a 245g,it will be next season before i get another shot at a deer with that load but i put 1 down with a head shot this year that was impressive .most deer have not gone but a few feet,had 1 run 70y after she turned hard as i squeezed the trigger.i have had 2 6pts run run this year with their hearts busted by a 300wm,1 went 70y the other 100y ,all deer are different & they have a great will to live,i don't do shoulder shots & wait for a chest cavity shot.i think a lot of lost deer were shot where a major bone absorbed most of the bullets energy or fragmented it & didn't make it into the chest cavity.most all of the lost deer were hit perfectly too from what i have read ,as long as they keep working as good as they have been for me i see no reason to change because somebody else lost a deer with a perfect shot with 1,i have had many bullets deflect & still kill deer,i also have had a few that plumb missed ,i have not lost a deer yet with 1 & hope i never do.i cant say the same thing about arrows though ,mike300wm

I'm kind of on the fence about Powerbelts. Originally I really liked them as the 295 grain hollow point I've shot was really accurate in my guns. I really liked them when target shooting. I was shooting 100 grains of Pyrodex. Two 50 grain pellets. The first year using them I shot a big 8 point buck from around 139 yards. He ran maybe 20-25 yards and fell. Right in the edge of the woods. I got there as I didn't wait after shooting and he was still moving and couldn't get up. I shot him again in the spine from the 20 yards or so. When skinning him the one where I had shot close did a tremendous amount of damage but seemed to slightly fragment. The one I shot the first time from the 139 yards I had hit him in the lungs and it had mushroomed pretty well like it was supposed to. However, it didn't come out the other side. It was poking the skin out on the other side but didn't come through.

I didn't find any blood trail until I got to the deer.

This year I lost 1 deer and got 2.
The first one I got was a small doe. I hit it right through the lungs and got a pass through on this one. The shot was around 100 yards or so. She ran about 15 or so yards and fell. I didn't find a blood trail on this one either but saw her fall in the middle of the field.

Then I shot a spike from about 100 yards. This is the one I lost. When I shot he fell over kicking so I know I hit him. Next thing I knew he jumped up and ran off. I didn't find any blood the first hour or so I looked. I finally had a buddy join me to help look and he found a couple small spots on some tree's about 40 yards from where I had knocked him down. We didn't find any where he fell over. We think that from where it was on the tree's I hit him high. We never could find him and searched for hours and found very little blood.

The other one I got was a decent sized 6 point buck. I shot him from around 20 yards in the shoulder where the leg connects and through the lungs. This bullet must have mushroomed going in as it had a huge entrance hole. I'd never seen this. It was probably a 2 or 2.5" entrance hole. It stopped right on the other side too and didn't come through. Just poked the skin out a little. The deer ran about 100 yards or so maybe even 150. I didn't count to closely so just guessing. I found a really good blood trail with this one. It was big spots every foot or two. I just followed the blood trail and found him at the end of it.

So all in all I've had decent luck with most of them but other than that one with the huge entrance hole I've not gotten a great blood trail. I've also lost one of the 4 I've shot with my muzzle loader although maybe the shot was a little high.

I really like how accurate they are but I'm seriously considering trying a new bullet for this next year. The one I lost and couldn't find had me upset as I don't like having wounded one only to have it run off and suffer.

I'm not sure what I will try. I want to at least see if they are accurate. I also like not having to deal with sabots so that's a plus for the power belts. I'm thinking of trying the Federal Fusions as I really like their rifle bullets so am wondering if their muzzle loader ones are any good. I've not seen any reviews of them.

That being said I've got a friend I hunt with that also uses Powerbelts and likes them. Then I've got others that use Shockwaves with luck also. Then a couple that use Hornady SST's and love them. That's another one I've thought about trying.

If you are happy with 70-80gr of powder, it seems PBs are ok. I have NEVER tried them and qualify my opinion as such, but I don't think I've seen issues with them at these low charges.

If you never plan on shooting over 100 yds, there's nothing wrong with this load!! The first 5-6 years I hunted with a ML it was a Traditions Deerhunter sidelock, I used 85gr Pyrodex and a 240gr Hornady HTP and knocked them dead...out to 200 yds. Almost all pass-thrus.

The beauty of MLs is the versitality. Are they a short-range primitive weapon? YES. I still have that sidelock and last took it afield and killed a deer in 2005. I now have an Omega X7, open sights, that replaced it and use for short range work. Are they long range weapons? YES. I should sell the slug barrel for my Remington 11-87, haven't mounted it since 2005-2006 or so. I'm an accuracy freak and so I'm ML all seasons when I can't carry a rifle. My Omega has taken deer too 338 yds, not by luck but because I practice with high power loads to 400 yds (no PBs!!!!).

If you are content with what a PB can deliver at short range, no reason not to use them. If you are not, we are blessed with more good bullets than I care to try and list.

if youre shooting 150+ yards, powerbelts are fine to use with mag loads. Mag loads are exactly for that, 150-200 yard shots. Not 20 yard shots.