Powerbelt Bullets
 

Hello,
I am a newcomer here, newcomer to muzzleloading as well.
Bought an Optima a couple of weeks ago and killed my first deer on monday using a 295 grain powerbelt.
In reviewing some of the threads here, there seems to be some dissatisfaction with powerbelts.
Could you please enlighten me? The performance in my one use, a 295 g hollowpoint in front of two 777 pellets, was very, very good.. Full penetration and good accuracy.
As I said, I have very little experience here and have only shot the gun enuff to sight it in and the one shot kill.
Thanks in advance.
Hank

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Some people love them, others hate them. It all depends on the rifle. Groove depth, twist rate, width of land and grooves, all these thing determine whether a particular rifle will shoot a particular bullet well. Not all 50cal rifles measure exactly .50 Some manufactures make their barrels .504 Sometimes that .004 makes the powerbelts fit a little too loose to work well. I have read compaints that the powerbelts can have a tendancy to break up in a hard impact. I have seen this happen, but then I must admit the deer was dead so the bullet worked.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I'm a big fan of the powerbelts, been using them for 4 years. If they work for you, don't worry about what some other guy thinks

By the way, green is my favorite color, why isn't it yours? :)

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I shot some out of my CVA Staghorn and they did not shoot well because I had them too hot. I cut the powder charge back and shot some of the 348 aero tips and they really shot excellent then.

The bad comments I have read on the powerbelts from those that hunt with them is, the hollow points do not get pass through. Meaning they do not blow a hole all the way through the animal. This can sometimes cause a poor blood trail should the animal run off from where it was first shot. They also claim that the bullet fragments too much on impact making shots such as shoulder blades risky because the bullet would tend to not penetrate deep and make enough of itself in for the wound channel. Well all this means is the 295 hollow point did exactly what it was designed to do.

Those that are looking for the deeper penetration and more controlled expansion are going to the aero tip bullets. These will still provide excellent accuracy even at long distances, retain good energy for clean kills, and give pass throughs for the blood trails in the event the animal runs any distance.

I personally think I will be hunting with a 360 grain 100% pure lead minnie ball out of my CVA. This big conical will pass through anything it hits in 99% of the cases. It should expand real well if it comes into any bone contact, and if not, it will still poke a 1/2 inch hole through all the necessary vitals to produce a fast clean kill.

If your happy with the way the 295 hollow point dispatched the animal this year, and the way they shoot, I could continue to use them. By the way congratulations on taking the deer with the rifle...Was it your first muzzle loader deer? If so, how far away was it, and how far did it run after being hit?:D

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Hank,

I have shot the 295 grain aerotip powerbelt from my CVA Firebolt inline, 50 cal and it did very well. I recently switched over to the 250 grain TC Shockwave which is also an excellent bullet for my inline. The Shockwave was less in price and did very well at the range.

I tried using the 295 grain aerotip PB in my flint Traditions Deerhunter 50 cal and I loved shooting them. I was shooting roundball but will convert to the PB during deer season. They shot so my better than the roundball and were very easy to load, used my thumb. I took a shot at a deer, trotting away from me and dropped it in it's tracks. The PB went right through the spine.

The only complaint I have is the price of the PB. It is almost $1 per bullet and I think the Shockwave was almost half. Other than that, they shoot great.

Tom

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I am comfortable with the bullets, I have some XTP sabots but have not shot them yet. Several people, far more knowledgable about muzzleloaders than me, have warned me off the sabots due to the plastic deposits in the barrel and associated problems. Also, seems like a .50 gun should shoot a .50 projectile rather than a .45 or so.
I may play around with them this summer and give the XTPs a try next year.

The deer I shot was around 90 lbs and was the first I had ever tried to shoot with a muzzleloader. A broadside shot at about 45 yards. The deer ran about 40 yards and fell in a heap. Bullet went in just aft of the heart area(I had to shoot left handed and probably pulled a bit to the left of where I was aiming) and punctured both lungs.
Thanks
Hank

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Wow, great shot Hank... As for the concern of the plastic. Well there is an issue with plastic deposits from sabots. There is also a concern with lead build up, copper, and other objects in the barrel. That is why I use a brass brush and a quality bore solvent called Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber.

I run water through the barrel to wash out the powder fowling, then a patch of the bore scrubber. After that I spray scrubber down the barrel and run the brass brush through a few times. Follow that with some additional patches of bore scrubber and then then a dry patch or two and the barrel is spotless. Before I store it I run a patch of Birchwood Casey Sheath in it. Works for me.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

i didnt kill a deer with them....shot a deer with them......but must have hit a branch and hit bad.....very very little blood at all.....i had to get on my hands and knees to track it.....and never found it......pin drops here and there for a few yards then it would stop then id find it ect........but i found where it laid down for a few minutes a few hours later(i left and came back when i knew id need help) looked for days....never smelled it or found another sign of it.....and i small game hunted for weeks later while it was really warm so i think i would smelled it....and i didnt push it.....searched the waters and thickets hard and found nothing....i really think she made it......on paper it looked ok....i shoot a flinter and was gettin 3 or 4 inch groups at 50yards.....not great but i dont even shot that far....i didnt have time to play with loads.....only shot it 3 times at the range...once wasnt even with powerbelts...but im not using them anymore....not because of the deer....but because my bore is so tight...i could not load a second round....it took me 5 minuted of fighting to seat the bullet.....i had to clean between every shot.....i dont want to have to do that while hunting so im switching this year........my friend killed 2 with them......both were lucky neck hits..(he didnt mean to got lucky) but he butchers his own and said he never found the whole bullet.....fragments all through it though....i dont know if the bullets exited or not.....but he said there was alot of fragments in it....weather or not the main lead kept going or not i dont know.....but i hear they are a great bullet........congrats on the deer......stick with them if your gun shoots them well and you feel they did the job.....a one shot kill id say they did.....

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

If you do a search, you will find several other threads started on this topic with info.

I like them. A nice 5x5 elk took one from me this past season and he side stepped twice and tipped over. (100 gr. of 777 2F and a 348 Aerotip)

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I don't use them but I've had clients use them on elk. The result was less than satisfactory. The power belt were exploding on the ribs and didn't stay together very well. One bull was hit in the shoulder and that became a total mess. We spent the rest of the day trying to get another shot to put him down. The bullet broke the bone but no futher penetration. It was like the elk was shot with a v-max bullet from 22-250. One client did have good penetration but that bullet went between the ribs. One out of four shots preformed.

whitetails and muskies said his worked fine. I would like to hear other success stories might improve my image of the bullet.