IMO, the XTP is MUCH better than the PB bronko. They have a very good reputation for both accuracy and terminal performance. The thing with PB's, they usually fly well, but terminal performance is spotty. Way too many reports of failures. I don't want to take that chance, even if its a small one. My .02 fwiw

If Powerbelts were the only subbase bullet on earth for MLs, I would use the Platinums, nothing else. They hold together better than the rest in their lineup.

Holding together better than something bad is what...sort of bad?

best use for powerbelts: drill a hole all the way through them, use them for weighs when Carolina rigging for bass.
they are undersized, no way will a black powder gun create enough pressure to expand them to fill the rifleing
RR

Not to start a powerbelt tread, as they get long and the horror stories are numerous. All I was saying in my post was, I shot 245 grain powerbelts out of my Optima and the accuracy was very good. The person who sent me them did so because they would not hunt with them due to a bad experience. But again, they shot excellent out of my Optima. But that is not saying I would recommend them. There are too many other bullets out there, that work better and cheaper. One bullet I especially like is the .452 300 grain Hornady XTP in a MMP HPH24 sabot. Cost effective to shoot, and accurate.

But let me state, I have NEVER shot a deer with a sabot load yet. The buggers just would not cooperate on days I was hunting with a sabot. Conical bullets and patched round ball, you bet.. killed a lot of them. And I intend to shoot a deer with a sabot, before my hunting days are done. I will probably use a XTP or a Parker Extreme, if I hunt the hay fields it will be a 200 grain Shockwave pushed hard. I have a lot of those bullets in stock.

But due to lack of field experience I can not endorse any bullet for hunting yet. Only for accuracy. The fun of a muzzleloader is trying different bullets and doing tests on media.

I especially like the water jug tests that people do. Does that mean if it goes through three gallon jugs of water its a good hunting bullet? Well I can't say. But it sure is fun to watch the jugs bounce.

:lolabove:

Powerbelts are great for killing paper. The Areolite is one of the most accurate bullets i've ever shot from a CVA.

I'd use them if I was hunting paper. When is that season anyway?

It began when you picked up your first muzzle loader; it hasn't ended yet.

I have taken many deer with saboted bullets, my favorites are the 260 gr, MML lead saboted bullets, the shockwave and its hornady counterpart, and the APB by Parker (I think was sold by traditions)



from 16 to 267 yards my results have been very acceptable as far as accuracy and terminal performance, sadly I don't hunt much with my mzzldr anymore due to no time off during season so haven't gotten to test many of the newer bullets.
RR

I would agree on not using PBs but not because they wont obturate. You may find that people shoot jacketed bullets sabotless and win matches at Friendship quite often using Blackhorn209.

Mark Miller used a Knight Mountaineer 45cal in the most recent Inline Hunter match and did very well with a sabotless jacketed Parker Ballistic Extreme. This match goes out to 300 yards IIRC.

The Unlimted match was won by a sabotless Parker with Blackhorn209. 2nd and 4th places were also a sabotless Parker


I really enjoy the Parker 275gr BEs for deer hunting but i wish they held together a tiny bit better. Expansion can be very violent and damage quite a bit of meat unless you wait for a good shot angle. Accuracy though has been outstanding and putting a BE were it belongs has been great for me.