Accura at the range for hunting season...
 

I got a chance to get my Accura to the range day before yesterday... I wanted to test two different bullets with the same powder charge. Two IMR White Hot pellets with the 270 grain Powerbelt Platinum and 250 grain Aerolite. The Platinum's shot a 2 1/2" three shot group at 100 yards. The Aerolite's however shot really well... Two of them went into the same hole with the third an inch away from the other two.


I have never shot a critter with the Aerolite... so we will see how they perform on deer and hogs. I have several stands that range from 100 yard shots to 45 yards and closer. Good luck this year guys!:guiness:

You'll grin from ear to ear at the entrance hole that 250 Aerolite leaves.

Yep just like any varmint bullet reacts.

dont diss what u dont know anything about homie ;)

The facts and your own description are the proof.

Sectional density of 0.143 with a bullet weight of 250 and diameter of .500".
Large hollow point
Soft lead

How else is it going to react when shot much faster than a 50A&E?

Its not, its going to react just like a varmint bullet as indicated by your first post. There is a reason not a single ammo company offers a 250gr 50cal copper plated bullet with a huge hollow point. People typically dont want a varmint bullet in their 50cals.

yep my proof is just that. Proof of using them all and a high success rate!

These were some of the tastiest water jug tests ever!

Im simply agreeing with what YOU said in 2013. Not sure why you want to bring the 300gr into the discussion. We are talking about the 250gr correct?

Sure sounds like how a varmint bullet reacts to me.

yep but I hadnt tested them. Its fun shooting into sand and water jugs, but as I now know, its nothing like shooting into the real deal.

I found that out to be even truer in Oklahoma when a .50cal round ball dropped a hog that was close to 200 lbs right on its face.

Don't try to school me on powerbelts. Ive put more work and research into them than anyone I know, including powerbelt bullets.

???

Your words not mine. Was this a lie back then? YOU said they fragmented into hundreds pieces 99% of the time. You even posted a pic of a tiny fragment on a gut pile?

Typically I don't want a bullet that explodes on impact. Unless I'm shooting at something that I don't care about the meat such as varmints. We had this discussion about that 300gr bullet as well MD and in my opinion, even though the deer went down, that bullet failed miserably. If a bullet explodes like that on a RIB shot just what in the hell do you think it's going to do on a SHOULDER! It's going to blow up and not penetrate worth a tinkers damn! Plain and simple. Powerbelts do fly incredibly well out of most barrels but I like a bullet that performs well on impact, penetration and expansion are just as important as accuracy.

That was a shoulder shot on the deer. High shoulder

You posted this pic in the EXACT same post. IN THE FIELD testing as you called it.


Yep reacts like a varmint bullet.

'tis a fast expanding bullet made to start a blood trail faster.

Plenty of penetration.

You test any Aerolites out and have some pictures or videos?

Didn't think so ;)

Next time you're in Colorado, grab some 300gr Aerolites and an elk tag and I'll show you how its done. Maybe some of my good luck powerbelt charm will rub off onto you and the powerbelt gods will bless you with a miracle!

I dont need to test a 50cal 250gr soft lead HP bullet with a poor sectional density to understand it has major limitations and a high cost.

The wise choice would be to shoot a 250gr Thor if i chose to go down that path.

Its really crazy how in 2013 you complained of poor penetration and even made inserts but now....its a whole other story. ;)

No I didn't say the 295gr powerbelt, I said the 300gr Aerolite.

The inserts were an amazing thing, to this day I still get emails asking if I sell them LOL. If they werent such a pain to make, I'd offer them.

Not sure how I complained, you saw my reactions in the video. Sure didn't complain about the bullet, other than the deer not being the monster.

And SURELY, that elk video wasn't any complaining going on!!

Now todays we have bullets MADE to explode and fragment inside animals.

Berger being one of those.

You can pick a Powerbelt that will exit or pick one that will expend all of it's energy inside. The Aerolite, much like any ballistic tip bullet, uses up most of it's energy inside causing a lot of damage. There will always be two schools of though on this... and I like having both options available depending on the game hunted. Our deer are 100 to 150 lbs for the most part... I like the 250 Aerolite for deer like that. If I were after really big hogs or bear with a short shot (say 50 yards to a feeder) I would opt for maybe the 348 or 405 Powerbelt.


I believe the world record Grizzly was killed with a CVA Accura loaded with three White Hot's and a 405 grain Powerbelt... dropped the big boy on the spot if I remember correctly. I'm not concerned with an empty freezer at the end of deer season... I predict a lot of cube steak using the 250 Aerolite... :party0005:

"I predict a lot of cube steak using the 250 Aerolite"

And a lot of trimmed and thrown away meat. You might convince me that on a small whitetail, this bullet would be acceptable, but not on an elk. Yes, slip it behind the shoulder and it will make mincemeat of the lungs and a short tracking job, but it doesn't always work that way. Any bullet that makes a big entrance wound has some inherent problems. Just ask the original Mr. Nosler. Soft lead bullets blowing up when they hit a big animal was the reason he invented the nosler partition. That bullet still works great to this day. Yes, there are differences in speed of bullet, but any bullet that blows up on impact at muzzy speed has some problems in terminal performance in my book. To each his own

Im still not sure why you keep going back to the 300gr and in this case shot from a pistol at MUCH lower velocity. Lets also not forget that the WHC is sponsored by CVA/PowerBelt/Bergara and its unlikely they would give it a bad review.

The very simple fact is for $2 a pop there are bullets that don't have the sever velocity limitations of a light for caliber soft lead bullet with a huge hollow point.

After so many of us have had them explode on impact there really is not any question about that, they can be modified so they don't, but with them being the most over priced bullet on the market that's sort of self defeating also.

Anyone care to guess who said this in 2014?

It sure sounds like the person is unhappy with how fast it expands at impact. :wave:

Hornady FPB bullets have a front hollowpoint, but have a lead alloy rear section so, they are kind of the Nosler partition for the muzzy: front that mushrooms reliably and rear section that hangs together better. AND they are $10 cheaper per 15! I shot a cow elk at a severe uphill angle and hit the bone just above the elbow with an FPB. It held together and broke the bone and took out the heart. I have zero doubt if I had used the aerolite for that shot, she would have had a broken bone, there would have been a huge entrance hole, but not enough of the bullet would have entered the chest, and I would never have recovered her.

That said, they have a major design flaw when it comes to a lot of CVA rifles: they are too big! They need to come out with a smaller sized bullet for the small bore guns like CVA. In fact, those with CVAs should contact them and request that they do just that. Even thought I don't own a CVA muzzy, I just emailed them with that suggestion. I used powerbelts for about 15 years, but after trying the 350 gr FPB (and killing 4 elk with them), I would never go back

For those rifles there are still better choices than the aerolite for elk sized game. I would use a 460 gr No excuse or bullshop before I ever tried the aerolite. Again, reliable bullet and MUCH cheaper.

There is one time when I would probably pick the aerolite hands down: Shooting at paper! There is no question they are accurate.

MD, I swear you go back and forth more than a sprinkler head!! Is support from CVA that important to you? High shoulder on Elk and Whitetail is very light bone. A bullet blowing up on it tells me that bullet has major problems. Especially at muzzleloader velocities.

Over my many long years hunting big game, I have seen many bullets come to market advertising their superiority over anything else on the market and while a few have stepped up to their claims, powerbelts, barring accuracy, is by far NOT one of them! They are over priced fishing sinkers plain and simple. How the hell they are still in business I have absolutely no clue. I guess the clueless ones out there fall for the advertising (lies) and buy them. There are SOOOOOO many better options out there it's damn near ridiculous and at near half the cost!

I'd never take a shoulder shot on an elk with any bullet, centerfire or muzzle loader. Way to much valuable meat on an elk.

CVA is the #1 selling muzzleloader and Powerbelt bullets are the #1 muzzleloading projectile. Everyone can shoot what they like... you will hear no complaints from me,,, but it always amazes me that these two bring out such a reaction from the muzzleloading experts.


Who is buying these exploding guns and fragmenting bullets then?


I think it's people that just hunt and kill deer... dummies not in the know I guess.


Wait,,, what's that smell?? I think it's venison cube steak and gravy coming from one of those dummies' kitchen...:guiness:

Smell more like Troll Stew to me! :D :D

Another pitiful excuse and more than likely BS as we all know you will take any shot that you can secure an animal with. You won't take a shoulder shot on an Elk with powerjunks because you know they have a problem with blowing up period. But you are welcome to be a good little advertising agent for CVA and Powerbelt while the hunters that actually have a clue about our equipment will use better bullets so our shots aren't limited by 50% of target area.

I don't consider myself an expert by any means Flint, but what I do have is well over 3000 hog kills, over 500 whitetail kills, 46 Elk kills, 34 Moose kills, 28 Black Bear kills, 4 Brown Bear (actual hunts, add 2 self defense) and 2 Musk Ox. I've loaded my own ammo for well over 50 years so yes Flint I do have just a smidge of knowledge about terminal ballistics and how a bullet SHOULD perform. I'd pretty much bet I have taken more animals with a ML'er in years past than you and MD combined. And no all those animals weren't taken with a ML'er but a good portion was. Both the Musk Ox were. 11 of the Black Bear were. 8 or 9 of the Moose were. 16 of the Elk were. 40 or so of the Whitetails were. 200 or so of the Hogs were.

I've personally witnessed the horrendous performance of powerbelt bullets on game. Had to chase down quite a few wounded animals for friends that fell for the ads thinking the powerbelts were the cream of the crop. Again I will say it, they are usually fantastic as far as accuracy for a Full Bore bullet and hell I'd probably use them for competition but on live game? Hell no. Just too many bullets out there that fly well enough and outperform powerbelts terminally for half the price.

As far as your comment about the safety of CVA barrels and such, I think I'll let their record of law suits and payoffs speak for itself there.

That should about do it......:party0005:

I've seen poor shots with 300 win mags. Does that make them junk too? :D

A poor shot with a bullet, is a lot different than a bullet failing with a well placed shot.

Promote the bullet as much as you'd like but, rest assured, we know how that bullet performs. Of all the lost animal complaints you can find on the internet, that bullet ranks #1.

Two things you won't find anywhere, except at the bottom of the list, in any competition or accuracy match, are "that" bullet and CVA rifles.

Competitions normally run aftermarket barrels. Thats what it seems like on facebook site anyway.

I surely don't see 100% stock rifles shooting them but if they do, they are normally at the bottom lol.

I don't shoot competition, I shoot for meat and for thrill.

Ditch them scopes and get you a sidelock if you want the right to brag IMO. Those rifles sort out the real shooters with skills.

Ok, if that's what you believe. There's a lot of completely stock rifles shooting but, look for all CVA at the bottom of any list. Its just fact, they can't shoot, that's why they're never represented. If a target shooter can't/won't shoot them, why should a hunter? Tell that to the boys you deal with at CVA, then see what they actually do,,, not say.
I don't believe anyone posting has been bragging. Now you're trying to turn it around.. again :rolleye0011: I see you didn't comment about the worst bullet for failure ever posted on the internet. Its all over the place....... powerjunk makes good fishing sinkers. I wouldn't even give them away to someone I didn't like.

LOL what ever makes you feel better about yourself hun.

Guys, by all means shoot what gun and bullet you like. If you will think back, my original post was about getting my gun ready for hunting season. Not about whether PowerBelt bullets or CVA for that matter is your personal choice. I'm in no way advertising for any company...


About ten years ago I was in Wal-Mart looking at the muzzleloading section,,, A guy walked up and we started talking about bullets and powder... he said I really like these for muzzleloader season,,, and pointed to a package of 295 Powerbelts. I said... I don't know about those,,, he then pulled out a perfectly mushroomed Powerbelt from his pocket and said... he never took a step. Hard to argue with those results from a real deer hunter.

yup.

Just wait till I post what I'll be hunting bear with. hooweee! Its gonna be a mad house.

I really hope you do seriously try those 250s. Internal damage makes you take a step back and look down sideways LOL.

I already know what you SAID you were going to use, and I told you you may want to step up to your .54 if you are going to use PRB. I told you that for YOUR OWN SAFETY since you are going after an animal that can rip you limb from limb! CAN a .50cal PRB placed well take a Black Bear? Sure it can, hell many were harvested with little .32cal PRB's! SHOULD you go after one with a .50 with a PRB? Having taken many Blackies with several different platforms I can assure you that you are pushing your luck a tad bit MD if you meet up with some of the bruisers I have seen in your neck of the woods! Bravery and stupidity go hand in hand.

Oh my goodness... You boys better quit your bickering or I'm gonna have to put you all in time out!
But while we're on the subject of PBs let me tell you this. I used them one year prior to using saboted bullets. I shot them out of my T/C Hawken flintlock in PA's late season. The PB I used was a 245 gr HP and the charge was 100 gr of FFFg Goex. I was positioned on a strip mine bank and by friend pushed a very large doe into me. She came through the brush and stopped below me at about 20 yards and the PB slammed her about center lungs. It was a complete pass thru, blood all over and she went about 60-75 yards. That big old doe dressed out at just a tad over 160 lbs.
I was happy with the performance.
But since then I've read too many horror stories about them that I am reluctant to use them again. But my friend plans on using 295 grainers on our NC hog/deer hunt in Oct. I'll try and take pics of his kills (if he finds them)..lol

:)





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Then you are a much better and accurate shot than me. Under hunting situations, the reality is that things go wrong, animals move. Very seldom do you really get that standing ideal broadside shot from a benchrest. For those shots that aren't perfect, I want something with a better punch and follow through.

Example, on the cow I shot that the bullet hit the top of the elbow bone, for the steep angle up, the placement of the bullet was perfect to take out her heart at the angle presented. But either I flinched or she moved her leg back a bit, and because of my bullet choice, she went down within 30 yards.

Flint, glad you have had good luck with this bullet. However, if you ever decide to go elk hunting, I hope you give it some serious thought about bullet choice before you head to the mountains.