Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

Went to the range today to test fire some 295gr HP Power Belts and it didn't go so well. I had to leave scratching my head with confusion. I am shooting a TC BD topped with a Weaver V10 2x10x38. Keep in mind that I have made several recent trips to the range shooting my regular loads of 240gr XTP, Mag express Sabots over two 50gr Pyrodex pellets (lighting it with 209's) and had been getting consistent 1" - 1 1/2" groups at 100yd.

For my test with the Power Belt’s I kept my load the same, as mentioned above. I started off by finding my zero at 50yd. (2 shots), I was 1" high. Next I moved to 100yd and the first shot was no where to be found. I shot again and found it about 8" to the right. I went back to 50yd and shot about 5" to the right. Again at 50yd, I dialed the scope over and shot dead on again. Back at 100yd my next shot was on line but low, followed by one more shot about 4" to the left. I immediately wrote it off as a scope failure, however, I couldn’t help but notice the bullet holes at 50yd were enormous and somewhat oblonged left/right, yet the 100yd holes were tight and round. The only thing left to try was to shoot my regular saboted XTP load for comparison. At this time I only had enough pellets for 5 more shots. At 100yd it took three of those shots to get my back near zero. Note, I made scope adjustments between each of those three shots and the scope tracked perfectly to the adjustments. The final two shots were side by side, less than ½” apart perfectly at my 1” high zero.

I don’t know how accurate this is or if it means anything but I checked my scope adjustments with the use of my boresight. First, I made sure the crosshairs were even moving with the adjustments, they were. Second, I made sure that the click adjustments were consistent by adjusting several clicks one direction and then making sure the same number of clicks in the other direction would return the crosshairs to there original position, they did. Third I tapped the turret adjustment knobs with the but of a screwdriver to see if the crosshairs would shift from the impact, they didn’t.

What do you guys think could be going on? Is it the scope or the new bullets? I am buying more supplies tomorrow and heading back to the range one more time before I start swapping scopes.

Thanks,
Toby

RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

FIRST I WOULD SAY GO TO LOOSE POWDER.THEN MAYBE YOUR M/L DON'T LIKE THE POWERBELTS BULLETS.I HAVE A 50 CAL. AND WHEN I TRIED THE POWERBELT I ALWAYS HAD A FLYER ON PAPER AT THE 100 YARD TARGET MAYBE A DIFFERENCE OF 5 INCHES .3 SHOTS WOULD GROUPE THE NEXT ROUND A FLYER @ SO ON.WHAT I FOUND IS THE PERCISION SABOT THAT I SHOOT NOW IN MY 50 CAL.@ MY 54CAL M/L.ARE THE BEST.WITH A QT 40 SABOT IN 235 GRAIN POLT TIP AND A CHARGE OF 110 GRAINS OF PYRODEX SELECT @ A NO# 11 CCI MAG CAP.GUN SHOOT AT THE 100 YARD YARGET 3 SHOT GROUP INSIDE A 3/4 SPREAD OR BETTER. BETWEEN SHOT CLEAN WITH A WET PATCH(WATER)OR SPIT AND FOLLOW WITH A DRY PATCH.USE NO CLEANING SOLVENTS ON PATCHES.CHECK OUT THERE WEB. PAGE PERCISION BULLETS YOU WON'T GO WRONG

RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

It appears that for some reason, the Power Belts are not being spun sufficiently to fly point-on from your barrel. They are on the ragged edge of stability. It is possible that your twist is too fast, the grooves too shallow, or the bullet is not being swaged up enough on firing to take the rifling like it should. I am using the Power Belts in a .45 and a .50 caliber rifle, both of which have slow, round ball twist rifling, and these shoot Maxi Balls (370 grain .50's and 240 grain .45's) and Power Belts pretty well. I use the 295-gr. .50 and the 275-gr .45's in my rifles.

Keep yore powder dry!!

RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

I think eldeguello is right on with his assessment. About your only choice to make these bullets work for you probably is to slow the round down by either switching to the heavier 348gr version or by reducing your powder charge to the 80 to 90gr level.

I've had impressive results with the 348gr aerotips out of my Knight, but the Lead HPs give me the same headache you describe. I still have about 15 of the little devils and 1 day I'll give it a go on figuring them out - just haven't done it yet.

Lonewolf also gives good advice. PR's QT bullets in 350gr have become my round of choice these days and I keep the Aerotips on-hand in case a quick 2nd shot is required when hunting (as they are very convienent without having to use a bullet starter).


"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)

Trust God..........but keep your powder dry!

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RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

Just a thought on your problem with powerbelts. I've had similar problems shooting them out of my M/L. If you read the insert that comes with the bullets carefully you'll see that they are actually under-bore sized. Made to fit a CVA rifle which is slightly under bore compared to your TC black diamond. They suggest fireing a squib round in all other guns before shooting the powerbelts. I'm not a big fan of this idea, to me the only consistent barrel is a clean barrel. Plus if you're getting 1-1.5 inch groups at 100yds with your old bullets why change. Heck they're probably cheaper, and those are pretty good results.

RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

Thanks for the info guys. I am heading back to the range this coming Monday with my "old faithfull" load to hopefully rule out the possibility that it may be the scope. I'll probably end staying with the "old faithful load" for this season. I hate screwing with things as it gets closer to season. I will say that after posting this on several different boards it appears that Bob-NY is the only one having success with these bullets in a Black Diamond. I have gotten several replies from BD shooters that had the same results as mine. Though, I may consider trying a heavier bullets, it makes sense.

I'll let you guys know after Monday.

Thanks again,
Toby

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RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

Toby,

I think I have these HPs figured out now (at least for my rifle anyway). It takes a reduced powder load (as compared to a similarly weighted sabot round) to spin them accurately.

Here's what I did......my typical load is a 348gr aerotip PowerBelt or a 350gr QT sabot over 95gr of 777. In order to shoot a 300gr XTP into the same spot accurately, I have to drop the load to the 80 to 85gr level. Well, after doing just that this weekend, I threw in a 348gr Lead PowerBelt HP with the 80gr of powder. Worked like a charm! <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> Three shots yielded a 2&quot; group at 50yds - all centered around the &quot;X&quot;. It would be my guess that a 90gr Pyro Load should do about the same for you.


&quot;Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat&quot; (Gen 9:3)

Trust God..........but keep your powder dry!

RE: Any have problems with Powerbelts like this??
 

Well I finally made it to the range for a follow up. I still have some concerns but the results were promising. First good thing, I didn’t return with the PowerBelts, if anybody wants to try them they can have the rest of mine. Instead I shot my original load 100gr of Pyrodex, 240 XTP & Mag Express sabot and also tested some the TC Cheapshots. My only concern is that the gun group well but the groups moved around. At 100 yds my groups were all within 3” with the majority around 2” – 2 ½”. My first group was slightly high and to the right, second group was dead on just about ½” low, third group was dead on just about ½” left then slightly high and to the left. I seemed to be shooting all around the target and just couldn’t get it centered 1” high. I was making slight scope adjustment between groups and everything didn’t go perfect today so I’m still not completely ruling out the possibility of a scope problem. I will say that I am far less concerned than before because the gun did consistently group well. I am also aware that it was 85+ degrees today I didn’t have the time too completely let the barrel cool between shot/groups. Could the groups moving around be the result of the increasing heat of the barrel? It just seamed a little strange. I know the increasing heat doesn’t help but I figured I would’ve gotten more erratic flight of individual shots resulting in poor groups vs. a moving group. What do you guys think?

The one big surprise, the Cheapshot test went exceptionally well. So good that you boys may find me hunting with them this year. I fired 4 (3) shot groups at 100 and all were inside 1 ½” and 2 groups had all three holes touching! I thought WOW! all this accuracy for only $5. Makes it all the more ridiculous I spent about $13 on the Powerbelts hoping for the same accuracy.

Toby