HEAD0001

I do not shoot Power Belt bullets. Never have, never will. But that is because I am cheap. Not because of the bullet.

I do not want to get in any arguments. But there are basic truths here that we have to live with.

First off the power belt is 1/2" in diameter. So no matter what, you have a 1/2" entrance hole. If the bullet did not expand a bit you would still have that entrance hole plus that same sized exit hole. If the bullet did not expand then it would definitely pass through.

So to blame the bullet right off the bat is just not the correct thing to do. A properly placed bullet will kill-period. Even with ZERO expansion it will kill. Maybe not as fast or efficient, but it will KILL.

So I am not buying the blame the bullet crowd. The problem is, as it always is, with the shot location. And improper shot placement will cause a failure with even the best bullets.

I would bet $100 to a donut that an experienced tracker would find that deer. If that deer laid down twice in 200 yards and left blood pools then it did not go far. Get back out there and find that buck-for surely he is there. Unless someone else took him. And if they did you will find the final spot. Tom.

MountainDevil54

zero trouble killing my last muley and that bullet fragged badly as well. Im suspecting a poor hit. Even the neck shot at 15 yards didnt do anything do him which was most likely a missed shot. I swear, mule deer go down right away or leave blood, but its these whitetails that are bullet proof when it comes to powerbelts.

I think judgment is being rushed a bit to much right now. Without the deer, its easy to jump on the wagon and blame the bullet. 80gr T7 pellets is going to be a good performing load when its placed right, but again, without being able to see what happened, theres just no telling until you can recover the deer.

donjose

I agree always poor bullet performance
Never a bad shot

MountainDevil54

you know, i was trying to look for some pictures and ran across an elk hunt from 08 or 09 i forget which. But my brother in laws nephew shot a cow elk with a 30-06, you could hear the solid hit. We tracked her for a mile and a half. She'd lay down, leave a puddle of blood, get up and walk another 300 yards or so, lay down. We never found her at the end. Maybe a low chest shot in the breast bone, who knows.

You'll have better luck next time out.

gregrn43

I have only taken one deer with a PB. I realize that bullet performance can't be judged by one head of game with them. The bullet I used to take this deer preformed perfectly. I shot him at 60 yards broadside, bullet entered behind the shoulder and exited the far side. The bullet took out both lungs and he barely made it 20 yards before crashing. This bullet expanded nicely taking out two ribs on the way out. I don't use PB's anymore and a lot of that has to do with all the negative reviews I read on here about them. I truly believe that shot placement is far more important. I have seen deer taken with a 22 rimfire before and I dont think anyone would consider it to be a good deer rifle.

pluckit

I'm not going to say people haven't had problems finding deer using other bullets, only Powerbelts. I lost a big doe last year using a 12 gauge Winchester sabot slug. But this is far from the first horror story about the performance of Powerbelt bullets. I had some and they shot extremely well, but after reading all the terrible reviews about their terminal performance, I never hunted with them. I switched to the 240 grain XTP that I had taken a deer with before and had confidence with. No bad reviews on that bullet, and I have yet to lose a deer that I have hit with them.

johnnyo

I don't understand why people pay premium prices, for a bullet with questionable performance? Yes, shot placement is important, but not every shot can be properly placed, in a hunting situation.

Muley Hunter

Well, that sucks! I can't imagine how you feel.

I think your load was too light for deer. It could work, or it could not. I wouldn't be comfortable with it.

Today I went and shot my Optima with some 300gr Aerolite PB's. I used 100gr of BH 209. Very accurate to 200yds. I wouldn't use anything less for deer, and I wouldn't take a chance with the load on elk.

Just my .02. Maybe only .01.

MountainDevil54

Muley, she group good?

flounder33

Pluckit, I thought the 245 grain powerbelt is what you were using last fall. http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/blac...ails-only.html