dbowling

I shot a decent 10 point opening morning(20 in. outside spread, 4 in. brow tines) here in Indiana w/my new CVA Optima .50 and 348 gr. powerbelt hollow point. Up until this time I have always used Hornandy .44 cal XTP pistol bullets w/sabot and had excellent results, but the Optima wouldnt shoot them less than 4 in. at 100 yds, as a matter of a fact the 348 gr. powerbelt was the only one that it would shoot good and it put 2 shots into a .50 in. group at 50 yds. 3 times in a row, so that was good enough for me.Well the powerbelts are the most explosive muzzleloader bullet I have ever shot period, I shot this deer at 50-60 yds through the point of the shoulder and the bullet went through one lung literally exploded 1/2 of the heart, blew off half off the other lung while going into opposite leg and turning the whole top shoulder and foreleg to jelly, i have never even had a slug do this much damage.The bullet never excited and there were fragments lodged in the skin all under the hide along the ribs, the top of the heart looked as if it were hit with shrapnel as there there slices all through it where fragments had passed through. The deer made it to 20 yds in front of my stand for a total run of maybe 65 yds. or so and fell over dead w/his legs straight up in the air.This is a awesome bullet w/awesome performance, now I have to try the 295 gr. ones out in my Ruger 77/50 as it really likes them, anybody else shooting these bullets and whats your experience w/them. GOOD HUNTING/DEAN

3DTHUNDER

I shot a huge doe at 151 yards the other day and got a pass through with the point of inpact going through the shoulder and making a mess and exiting aroung the last rib. Did a great job, she still ran about 120 yards and hopped a fence to my suprise but I blame a lot of that on the distance I shot her at and the loss of energy at that range I guess. I have shot several deer with the Barnes Expander/Knight Red Hot 300 grain bullet and as good as the PB did, the Red Hot is by far the most destructive bullet i have ever used on deer. I killed a 6 point last year and it looked like you had spraygunned blood on the trees the entire 25 yards it went.

Indiana Dude

I`ve used Powerbelts and they shoot great and load easy.
Awesome bullet as long as you dont care about weight retension, they dont
hold together very well after expansion.
O.K. I`m ready for the bashing I know is coming

Tomster

I was using the PB 295 grain in my CVA Firebolt 50 cal. but made the switch over to the TC Shockwave 250 grain. This move was mainly due to a recomendation regarding the Shockwave on this board and plus the cost is somewhat less. I went to the range this past weekend and sighted it in and the Shockwaves did very nicely so I think I will stay with them on the Firebolt. I also tried these on my flint and what a time I had loading them in. I was shooting round ball but I think I will try the Powerbelts in my Traditions Deerhunter 50 cal the next time I go to the range which will be after the regular rifle season is over, DEcember 13th.
The PB were definately easier to load than the Shockwave.

Tomster

whitetails & muskies

IndianaDude...no bashing, just a comment on my first hand experience. I have stated this on a few other threads relative to powerbelts and bullets in general. I took a really nice 5x5 elk this past September with the 348 powerbelt aerotip. He was only 80 yards out when I shot, and hit a tad bit high, but he side stepped twice and tipped over like a ton of bricks. At a slight angle, the bullet passed through about 3 feet of animal and lodged against the hide on the opposite side and the bullet was a near perfect mushroom with nearly 100% retention...awesome bullet performance is what my buddies also said when we skinned/quartered him out.

MaxWell

Opening day useing my .50 caliber Huntsman loaded with 90gr of 777-2F and 348 PB aerotip took a little 6point. The shot was about 70 yards, double lung with complete pass thru. The buck ran about I' d say almost 100 yards before dropping with an outstanding blood trail. There was some exspansion on exit hole, but the only bone hit was rib bones. With this load, this gun is very accurate out to 100 yards. The powerbelt bullet is what I prefer to shoot out of this gun and it performed pretty well on this deer...

Indiana Dude

When I experimented with the powerbelts, I couldn`t get much more than
50% retension, but this wasn`t the aerotip and it was when they first came out so
things may have changed.
Soon as I get my digital camera I will post some pics of them after the shot.
I haven`t shot any Powerbelts into deer though. I was shooting different
bullets into a cardboard box filled with wet newspaper to see what bullets
penetrated, expanded and held together the best. I`ll try some aerotips
and see what happens

Bill the Dog

I got a 5X5 bull in Colorado this year using a Powerbelt. I was shooting the 348 gr. Hollow Point in front of 110 gr. of 777 out of my Encore. This combination will shoot 2-3 inch groups all day. I hit the bull at 95 yards in the ribs as he was quartering away from me. The bullet did a full body penetration and ended up on just below the hide on the far shoulder. It was a double lung shot. The bull ran for 85 yards before expiring. The bullet was recovered as a very nice mushroom, but it had almost exactly 50% weight retention. I did not find any other fragments during the field dressing. Overall, I' m very happy with the accuracy of the Powerbelts and how well they load, but I' m a bit skeptical about the weight retention.

Bill the Dog

mauser06

why do they seem to go so far???? im new to muzzleloading and made a bad hit on a doe this october...i couldnt see all the brush in the way becuase it was so dark in the forest even though it was sunny out...barely any blood...i think i hit the brisket or hit above the lungs below the spine...i think the deer lived...havent found her yet and never smelled it or anything....2 days i looked for her with a very very very sparse blood trail....drops the size of a pin head is all i found...a few times she layed down and left i found maybe a few big drops but that was it.....and i didnt push her because that was over 100 yards from wehre i shot her....why do they seem to go so far even though they are so destructive? just becuase they dont have as much shock as a say...3006 flying 3000fps or what?? im new to muzzleloading...i am wanting to learn....i hope the next one leaves me with some blood to trail.....and ill do my part to make a better shot....after a misfire i was shook up and didnt see the brush till the next day....