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.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

cherokee_outfitters.... I am wondering if they were using the hollow point type of powerbelt or the aero tip. I could see the powerbelts doing exactly as you described. I think they are intended to fragment on contact with any hard object. The aero tips from all that I have read seem to be the ticket for the thick skinned critters like elk and moose. I have never used the aero tips on them. I have only shot them. I figure when I book my elk hunt I would use the 348 grain aero tips or my hand cast conicals in the 320-360 grain range. I feel the big conicals should hold up real well.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I shoot the 295 grain Aerotip Power Belt in my TC Encore. I use 2 pyrodex pellets and a 209 primer. When I first starting shooting the bullets, I tried them with 150 grains of power. The accuracy wasn't that great. When I dropped down to 100 grains, I was getting 1.5" groups at 100 yards.

I have shot whitetails and a caribou with this setup. The Woodland Caribou was 95 yards away and the bullet did it's job. There was no passthrough, but I didn't need a blood trail as I watched the stag buckle and go down. It weighed 300 lbs so it was a fairly large animal. Although caribou seem to be easier to put down than whitetails (and I'm sure elk) in my experience.

I will continue to use Power Belts as I have been happy with them. In regards to sabot bullets, I have had good luck with the Knight Red Hots.

. . . Rob

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

The bull I shot was on a pretty good angle. The bullet travelled through approximately 3 feet of elk before it lodged against the hide on the opposite side. I found the slug when we skinned it out and it was nearly a perfect mushroom. Almost 100% retention.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

My dad is a blackpowder hunter ..........

He hates the Copper Powerbelts.........but loves the lead versions. He has been getting passthroughs with the lead ones at shots between 110 and 120 yrds on whitetails with 100 grains of Pyrodex. Says he'll never shoot anything else !! I'm pretty sure he's dropped every deer he's shot with the leads...............he had several hard 150-200 yrd tracking jobs with the coppers !!

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I can't see how copper covered bullets would perform any less desirable than pure lead. The copper covered is simply a solid lead bullet covered by a thin sheet of copper and copper is harder than lead, isn't it? Seems like if anything they would be more protected than the solid lead.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I was using the 295 gr lead in my Optima Pro and my T/C Hawken with its 1:28 Green Mountain barrel but switched to the 245 gr hollow point. Accuracy was good and the doe I harvested this year with the Hawken went about 75 yds after a double lung hit. No expansion to speak of but I'm real happy with the way they shoot.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I shot a doe in our early muzzleloader season here in PA last fall with a .50 caliber 295 gr. Powerbelt hollow point, and the deer dropped in it's tracks and didn't move. Bullet went in behind the shoulder on the near side and went through the far side shoulder bone and buried in the hide on the far side. I was totally impressed with the killing power! Bullet was perfectly mushroomed, but lost a small sliver of metal when it passed through the bone on the far side. I tried some 348 gr. Aero Tips today, and they shoot nearly to the same point of impact as the 295 with 2 50 gr. Pyro Pellets (about 1" to the right). I think this will be my bear load when I go to Maine this fall! I like 'em, and think they are worth every penny!;)

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I shoot a CVA eclipse muzzleloader with the 295 PB hollow point bullets with 100 gr. pyrodex pellets. I've killed three deer this yr and one last yr with that load. The knock down power is awesome. Every deer I've killed dropped dead in their tracks. Except for the four point I killed yesterday. It dropped in his tracks, but kicked for about 10 seconds before he expired. 2 out of the 4 were pass thru shots. The four point yesterday, the bullet almost made it out the other side. I shoot my muzzleloader with open sights, I love this gun. Plus its the gun my wife bought me for a wedding gift. Last week she also bought me a new summit cobra treestand. I'm one lucky man.

Congrates on your first kill, and hope you have many more.

Chad

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I also shoot the P/B's and love them.you just have to work up the load for your gun. if it shoots them well as you have it now,stick with it.
congrats on the deer.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Thanks Chad, and congrats! I also have a very understanding mate! In fact, she bought me a Lyman GPR flintlock for x-mas! What a gal!!!!! Good hunting!

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Hank
Been using the PB's for a few years now and cannot say enough good things about them. This season they took a doe between the eyes at 65 yds and another thru the neck at 117 yds (by the gps) Guess I dont have to tell you that they shoot well from my CVA and I have the utmost confidence in them and where they will hit. I must admit that the "tweener" was a surprise to me when I walked up to the spot. Thought that I had scared the hell out of her or pierced and ear.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

Hey guys,
I have been trying to post a response for a couple of days, for some reason the site would not allow me access.
I took another deer on Saturday evening, last 10 mins of the last day of the season.
The shot was about 75 to 80 yards in fading light. I am not sure if it was my fault, the bullet, the fading light or the scope maybe having been bumped, but my shot went about 6 inches higher and maybe an inch or two to the right than my point of aim. The hit was very effictive, high in the back just behind the shoulder blades. Fair amount of tissue damage and broke the back resulting in a solid knockdown immediate incapacitation. Followup shot ended things, but would rather have not had to do business that way. Don't like "sloppy" and can't live with flyers (mine, the gun's or the bullet's) that range more than a couple of inches.
I'll do some extensive shooting at the range to experiment with some loads and rounds. I think the aerotips look like a good bet.
Thanks
Hank

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

I tryed powerbelts in my T/C .50 3-4 yrs ago - Terrible results. I set up and sighted a friends new T/C .50 last year with same results in accuracy - Sucked! We tryed various powder loads (Loose Clean Shot) and bullet weights. I finally bought a bag of Precison Silver Lightning 300gr,Poly Tips. Wow - what a differance. 1-2" groups at 100 yrds. We gave away all the .50 powerbelts we had.

Having said all that - I have a Knight .45 (Sweet Gun). The Hornaday is a pain in the butt to load, but extremely accurate and performs very well on Deer. I wanted to switch to sabot a bit easier to load with no loss in accuracy or knock down power/energy.

I couldn't find my bullet of choice, Precisions X-Tended Range QT Polymer Tip. All I could find were 195gr powerbelts for the .45 cal. Well - I was shocked at how easy they load and very accurate. I've taken 3-4 deer with the Powerbelts in the 195gr HP,130gr loose Clean Shot with no pass thru's on deer, none have gone past 50yrds. I've heard other smoke pole owners say the powerbelts are a Go or No Go in some guns.

I finally found Precisions X-Tended Range Polymer Tip in 215gr for my Knight 45. I'll be using these next year after a good day at the range.

RE: Powerbelt Bullets
 

unfortunately for us who hunt Colorado, we have to use a conical, sabots are not allowed, so it is powerbelts or some other conicals. Precision silver lightening bullets are not legal.