OK i am thinking of switching from 245grain powerbelts to shock wave 250grains ... also im thinken of shooting 100 grains instead of 150 grains ... i am shooting a TC Encore . . ill be hunting on my land and i really wont be shooting over 100 yards at any given time.
So basically im wanting to go from 150 grains pushing a 245grain powerbelt ...to shooting 100 grains pushing 250 grain shockwave..o and i shot the pyro pellets as well ... i heard that the powerbelts fragment on impack if you shoot over 80 grians of powder ... and that makes it hard to track deer bec then the bullet doesnt pass threw the deer all the way and my father had this problem last year he shot a buck and it ran like 40 yards in a thicket and no blood trail and he almost couldnt find it ...

If you were shooting the 245 gr Powerbelt with 150 grains of powder, you were using too much. Try them with 80 grains of powder, and they will work fine.

I HATE powerbelts. Just my personal experience anyway. THey are accurate as hell but I never get a blood trail from them. Shot at 4 deer with them, recovered two within 50-75yds by pure luck. Both shots were right in the vitals but no exit wound and not a drop of blood. As for the other 2, one was a longer shot but I had a steady rest, couldn't see a hit due to smoke but no blood and never found the deer, nice buck too. The other one was 35yard shot on a doe, never found her or blood, I was stunned at the time that I missed but that was the first time I ever shot at a deer with powerbelts. Looking back, I bet I hit her. I love XTP's and have had good luck with Shockwaves as well. I was shooting 150grains with the powerbelts though, didn't realize that was an issue

yeah i knew that had to b e to much powder for them powerbelts ...well now i got to sight the gun in for shockwaves with 100 grains ...it shouldnt be to far off from being sighted in right?

Ive shot deer with 120 and 150gr pyrodex withthe 245's, all shots were a bit over 140 yards. Both bullets exited and both deer went down.

IMO going from a powerbelt to a shockwave is like going from a ford to a mercury. Not that much change.

I hate shockwaves but love powerbelts. I've killed 3 deer with powerbelts all 3 were 1 shot kills. 2 droped on the spot one at 50 yards one at 140 yards. The third ran 40 yards and lost alot of blood. I shoot 110gr of 777 and a 295gr powerbelt aerotip. I've killed 2 deer with 250gr shockwaves both were hit in the heart/lungs both requiered 2 shots to die. The shockwaves exploded and had poor penatration. I was shooting 100gr of 777 with them. If you don't like powerbelts find something besides shockwaves they ma cost you a deer of a lifetime shockwaves are the worst I've seen

they are good at that distance but if u shoot at 45 yards that powerbelt is ganna go in the deer and defragment and then it will run and leave no blood trail.. ive seen it a few times

I Second the XTP's, Great Blood Trail, Accurate and Devestating on Deer. I have'nt lost a Deer to a XTP ever! Powerbelts SUCK! Plus I also shoot them out of one of My ACCURA's that's sighted in with 100grs of Pyro Pellets, sighted in 2 1/2" high at 50 your Dead on at 150 and about 3 1/2" low at 180.
150gr's is WAY too much, go with the 100grs of Pellets and eventually try some Lose Powder. But for now the 100gr's of Pyro Pellets should be just fine.
(BP)

I've killed 3 deer with 295 grain Power Belt Hollow Points backed by 100 grains of Pyrodex pellets. I know quite a few guys that use this same setup, and I can honestly say that I've not been impressed and from what they have told me they have had the same issues. The only reason a few of them haven't switched is they think sabots are a pita. I switched along with a few guys to Federal Fusions this year.

The problem I had with the Powerbelts is that of the 3 deer I killed only one had a blood trail. The first one I ever shot with them I saw run into the woods. When I got to the edge of the woods where he went in I could see him laying there. I didn't find any blood at all from where I shot him to where he was even though it was a perfect double lung hit.

The time I shot a deer it was two in the field. I shot the first one which was a doe and I saw her run about 20 yards and drop right in the middle of the field. There was also a spike that stayed there even after me shooting and gave me time to reload and shoot him too. I shot him and he instantly fell and started kicking. Next thing I know he jumped up and ran off. We never did find him. I never found any blood, but a friend helping me look did find a tiny bit of blood on a tree where he had rubbed up against it, but that was it.

The doe, I had seen where she fell, but once again it was no blood trail at all from where I shot her to where she lay.

The next deer a buck walked out 20 yards or so from me and I hit him a little low. Aimed low, but aimed a little too low. I hit the shoulder bone and the bullet somehow made an entrance hole about the size of a baseball. He made it about 150 yards, but there was a large blood trail the whole way to him.

So out of the 4 deer I shot with these bullets I only found 3 and only 1 of those 4 had a blood trail. My buddy using these has had the same problem but refuses to use anything with a sabot. He has lost several deer that he knows he has hit, but can't find any blood. He has also killed several that he has found, but they haven't had a blood trail either. The only pass through I had was on the doe.

I got fed up with this and switched along with another buddy. He got one deer with the Fusions and it passed on a nice buck and left a great blood trail all the way to the dead deer about 50 yards away. I can say I was impressed and hope to get to try out this load on a deer too.

I also tried 150 grains of powder, and for me it kicked like hell and the bullets seemed to be key holing, so I dropped down to 100 grains of powder and have used that since.

I get excellent results with both the shock waves and the xtps. I use the 300 gr in both. But the SWs in 300 gr are getting hard to come by. And I throw away the sabots that come with the SWs and use Harvester black cursh rib sabots. These are more consistant in the pressure required to load them, unlike the sabots that come with the SWs. As for the XTPs, I use the .44 cal and the Harvester green crush rib sabots. The XTPs are devastating on game.