didn't know we were talking shooting matches, power belts were the rage a few years ago cause they loaded easy, only heard from a handful of knowledgeable shooter who claimed good accuracy, then the poor terminal performance reports started coming.
a bullet that performs very poorly whether it hits its quarry or not is better used for a fishing sinker.
RR

Seems to me a bullet that shoots well at 300 yards in a OEM rifle IS obturating. It seems to me the Parker BE or E-MAX jacket is tougher than a copper clad Powerbelt and would be even harder to obturate into the rifling.

Both have cores made from fairly soft lead. Ive shot some great 100 yard groups with 300gr 45cal PowerBelt Plats but they fell short in terms of holding together.

Me either. I don't digest paper very well :o Fact is I can get MOST ML bullets to hit fairly well. Granted not to MY standards but fairly well. That's just not all there is to a hunting bullet. If they perform poorly in terminal ballistics, they are, as RR put it, fishing weights! If all you are doing is punching paper then fine and dandy. But I would NEVER trust a bullet that blows up as easily as a PowerBelt. I quit using the Shockwaves after 2 blowups on shoulder. 1 is a possible "eh crap happens". 2? uhuh, nope, nadda, not gonna do it. My TC likes hot loads for the most part so I need a bullet that's going to hold together on close up shots. Hopefully this new Barnes T-EZ 290gr will do the job well. Granted the Whitetail here in Illinois aren't armor plated but they aint little bitty fellas either. Need a good strong bullet for these big strong beefy deer!

Quite often? They did in the May match this year. Last year's overall winner was shooting pellets and jacketed bullets.

The match shoots steel chickens at 200 meters and pigs to 300 meters. The only yardage shooting was 50, 100 and 200yds.

That's an interesting chart GM54. I note the 50% of all shooters listed were using real black powder, as were 50% of the top ten.

Results from 2014. Darn thing. Just click on the "no photo" and you'll see it.

LMAO, Barnes it looks like the "Hunter" class whooped the poop out the "unlimited" hacks on that one! I think we outta send ole 1878Sharpshooter out there to schoolum!

The only thing that separates the "Hunter" class from the "Unlimited" class, is the weight of the rifle. Hunter is anything under 10#, Unlimited anything over.

Send him out there this next spring. God willing, I'll be there again.

LOL I'd have to guess here but I would imagine there is a LOT more going on with them unlimited "custom" ML'ers other than just weight! That was kind of like saying the only difference between a Bench rifle and a hunting rifle was weight! :s11:

Surprisingly, some of those rifles that shot well in the Hunter class, were completely custom rifles with custom .45 barrels. Brux etc. The weight of my scope put me in the Unlimited class.

How so?

169-8X for Unlimited winner vs 164-6X for Hunter class? The top 4 in Unlimited beat that.

The top 4 in Unlimited shot 10 out 10 pigs and chickens. Only the winner shot a 10 out of 10 in Hunter.

What am i missing here?

Swiss is a great powder. I have no need for most subs either since i can buy Swiss locally for about the same price as Triple7. BH209 or Swiss are all i care to use in my smokers until i get a chance to try Olde Eynsford. Its way cheaper than Swiss and gaining in popularity quickly with BPCR shooters.

Its no real surprise, Doc Whites team shot nothing but conicals with real black at matches. They set records for the Manufacturers Match that still stand today.

http://whitemuzzleloading.com/designing-for-accuracy/

Was talking about Barne's group not yours GM. Click on his where is says "No Photo" and it will bring it up.

Ah ok, that is what i was missing.

You may be interested to know the rifle used my Stewart is about as far from a normal MLing rifle as you can get. Even the stock is more than likely the top of the line McMillian to achieve the Hunter class weight restriction. The entire rifle is well over $2500 and built on a Rem 40X action.

Jim Stewart is/was also captain of Ultimate shooting team. Shooting 248 out of a possible 250 is fantastic.

It all depends on the day and the shooter. Most all of the Hunter class rifles have been modified in some way, or complete custom barrels, which many actually listed as "custom". Some did not.

The Knights cleaned house this year along with an Omega. They had custom barrels. Greg was shooting that Omega with a Brux.

Jim was shooting the same rifle I shot, just my scope put me into Unlimited, being larger and weighing more.

Mark Miller's Knight Mountaineer 45 had a factory 1-30 barrel. :p IIRC Mark sells complete "accurized" Knight rifle packages. Seems he knows his stuff too.

Im pretty sure Rick Weber and Gordy also used factory GM barrels in the Hunter class. Although Gordy's may have been a new or older 1-18 twist. I know Gordy used to own one of the older 45 1-18s and Knight is currently testing the new ones.

Bottom rifle.......