Well, I'm going to simplify this a bit. Deer(and everything else) are killed by the diameter and passthrough. Diameter(expanded, if that applies) is what determines the overall diameter of tissue damaged.

Passthrough is important because of the length of the wound channel, and because exit holes bleed much more than entrance holes.

So, you need to find atouger bullet which will exit. Your bullet is exploding, which causes more damage where it explodes, but it carries a much smaller diameter to it's final resting place. It also causes it to not exit. Lowering your powder charge might help. Pellets will never give ideal results, theye are just easy. They are too coarse. Try loose powder somewhere between 100 and 150 grains. If you lower your charge down, the current bullet might hold together and exit on these close shots. With "quick loaders", you can load as fast as pellets and be more acccurate to boot. Also, you might look for a bullet designed for higher velocities.

the gang i hunt and i all use the 295 powerbelt. we all shoot 100grns of either 777,pyrodex or blackpowder. we have had no problems with killing pwer or the lack of blood trails. we've only killed somewhere around 175 deer with these bullets. i wouldn't go over 100 grns of any powder with powerbelt of any kind,these bullets do not have a true jacket like regular bullets. they are copper plated,just a thin coating to help the load easier.i dont like the real light weight muzzleloader bullets of any kind,with a 50cal.i'd stay up around 300grns of bullet.

i've been shooting some of the new blackhorn 209 powder lately in my triumph,i'm only shooting 80 grns because blackhorn is a hotter powder.

I was using the power belts out of my optmia elite with 110gr of powder. I only shot 1 deer with this load and it worked well, but the fellers in the blackpowder forumenlightened me that these bullets would fragment with this load and suggested that i lower my powder down to 80grs. This load shot so well i hated to lower my load and because sometimes i need to shoot at longer ranges. So i switched to shock waves 250gr bonded bullets. I shot a 8pt early this year and it performed perfectly to, a complete pass thru and the blood trail was perfuse. I know that you cant tell how good a bullet will be from just one kill, but the SW got off to a good start. I have muzzleloaded since I was 16 years old, but I have just started using the sabots the last couple of years, I have always used TC maxi's and super slugs out of my white shooting system rifle. GOOD LUCK

That is why I told him not to use more then 80 grains. I am having no problems with them, so I see no reason to switch. I tried using several different bullets, and I couldnt even get them down the barrel.

I've used Knight Jacketed .260gr sabots for ever. Those things work EVERY time, perfectly. I have a 1994MK-85....shooting 100gr pyrodex, and it is as accurate and hard hitting as anything I've ever used. I've killed deer with it from 20yds to 125yds....never lost one, and never not had a pass through with a good blood trail. I've never seen the need to even try anything else, and honestly probably never will. I can't possibly get better performance than what I get now.

Do yourself a favor. Get some Barnes bullets. They open up perfectly on flesh and make awesome blood trails. They are made of copper not lead and stay together. Everyone says they are expensive but they are no more expensive then Powerbelts. I have shot Powerbelts and Shockwaves in the past and they are not as good a a Barnes bullet. Nosler partition bullets are also very good. Powerbelts are accurate, easy to push down the barrel, and are easy to find.Thats why people buy them. If you want a passthru go with the 300 grain bullet. 100 grains of powder should be enough as well. Some of the Knight bullets are actually Barnes bullets packaged by Knight but I prefer the Barnes TEZ which Knight doesn't have.

I have found after 20+ years of muzzleloading (15 years with modern day MLs) that a plain jane soboted 45cal XTP from hornady (240 or 300 gr) does everything I want and more. Just get a box of bullets from a reloading supplier abd buy bulk sabots and you set. I could get the same accuracy whether shooting 100 grain loose or 150 grains pellets.

Unfortunately I have to cry foul on that statement. While many deer are harvested due to the wound channel and loss of blood that would be a very real scenario for archery. When shooting a deer with a firearm be it a rifle, pistol or muzzleloader the real killing power comes from the hydrostatic shock that is imparted as the bullet strikes and enters the target. Also bullets do not explode, there is no explosive charge in them, bullets fragment, some more than others. Like has been said the powerbelts are not the best choice for powder charges above 100 gr. I personally shoot a CVA Wolf and use 130 gr of pyrodex pellets and WW 209 primers pushing the 250 gr Hornady SST muzzleloader bullet. The T/C shockwave bullet is made by Hornady and is an SST with a yellow tip. I consistantly get 2-3" groups at 100 yds with that bullet/charge using my ghost ring sights. I'd suggest finishing up your season with what you have and during the spring and summer buy some different bullets and see what your gun likes best.

Shoot some Barnes Expander MZs/Crushed Rib sabots, 2 50gr Pyrodex pellets with Winchester W209 primers. GAME OVER!

i stopped using barnes bullets after a fired them into 8in of cataloges and the bullets still look new ,never expanded at all. i believe you coulda reloaded them and shot them again.