PowerBelt shooters, I have a question

[Gus]

Brand spankin new to muzzle loading here and I just picked up a gun this week. I held off on buying powder and ammo so I could do a little research first.

I read a bunch of reviews of PowerBelt bullets on cabelas HSOforum and a lot of them pretty much echoed this summation: They shoot great, load great, but they tend to blow apart upon hitting a deer instead of mushrooming. Many times not passing through on even 20 yard shots nor producing a good blood trail.

I was pretty surprised by those reviews as I was under the impression that these were very good bullets. What do some of you think? Has anyone seen this problem when hitting the animal?

Any input would be greatly helpfull.

[gorrilla]

I'd have to disagree with those reviews based on personal experience. They've performed great for me and will probably never shoot anything else.

[hookset]

I wont say i always get a pass threw but I get a big enterance wound. some times the hise on the far side will stop the bullet from exiting.

I wont use any other bullet.

[metrojoe]

I'm not sure how many deer they shot, but a coworkers hunting party all use the Power Belts and non of them got a pass through this year. One shot was 30 yards. All the deer went down, but some went quite aways.

Is this only happening with a certain grain?

[Whoaru99]

I feel like I am about to step on lots of toes, but remember, it's only an opinion...

I've never shot them, but everyone I normally hunt with does. To me, they are overpriced for what you get. I read on one HSOforum that the plastic skirt can be removed and they shoot just the same - no real magic there. Of course, everything you read on the web is true, right? But then again, it might be true, I've never tried it to say for sure.

I've been using the Barnes Expander MZ and both deer I shot were complete pass-though. One about 75 yards that nearly gutted the deer, and one about 150 yards that went though both front shoulders and pretty much dropped the deer where it stood. Personally, I'll be sticking with them next year. They are cheaper and VERY effective based on what I've seen in my 1st year of ML hunting.

[lunker651]

Like mention, they are over price and they do tend to blow apart on impact if you use magnum powder charge. If you are going to use them I would recommend using 295gr. and over. The bigger bullets seems to work better for some of my buds. I myself shoot speer GDHP and it has perform flawlessly. Way less cheaper and performs better too, in my opinion. I get a pack of 50 for 13.50 and then get a pack of sabots for 5.99 and it all totals to a little over 20.00 buck and I get 50 shots to practice and hunt with. Shot one of my biggest buck this year and it drop him like a ton of brick. The bullet mushroom prefectly and did a ton of damage. Another bullet I would give a try is the hornady XTP, they are pretty good performer in muzzy guns and they are cheaper than the speer. I don't know that much about muzzleloader but you need to try lots of bullet combos and you should be able to get what you are looking for.

[Mr.Seaguar]

One of my buddys was shooting the Powerbelts on a bitterly cold day. the belt didnt seal and left the gun with a loud whirring sound, hitting the ground about 60 yds away. I can never use powerbelts because any issue and I will get the big ITYS. I use some Speer cheapo handgun bullets. 210 grain .4295s. Have killed several deer with them. Large bloody exit wounds. Have also heard good things about the Hornday .4295 240s. Make sure and get the correct color sabots. Its funny to watch someone try to use the wrong color. Muzzleloading is awesome.

[lcornice]

There is a very good evaluation of the Powerbelt bullet[note from admin- no links, please read forum policy] In comparison to the other stuff that's out there, PB's are definetly at the low end of the spectrum. My personal favorite is the .429 300 grain Hornady XTP behind 100 grains of powder. Since 1991, it's taken well over 20 white-tails and 1 elk.

[gorrilla]

I usually hunt with powerbelts near the Canadian border at temps often down to 20 below. I usually shoot from 3 to 6 shots at deer per year and 25 to 50 shots at the range. I've never had bad groups, bad performance, and most shots in the ribs do pass through from my .45 caliber. The ones in the shoulder or neck at close range generally drop them better than a .300 Weatherby. This is based on NUMEROUS real deer encounters and not "I read on the internet" or "my buddy says."

[Mr.Seaguar]

Sounds like you need better loads for your .300 Weatherby.

[Gus]

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up buying some to try out along with some TC Shockwaves and some Horrnady SST's. I figured I should just do some shooting and testing. now.. does anybody know of an open metro area rifle range at this time of year??? !!

[slick814]

Metro Gun Club in Blaine...I think it's still there.. if that's an option for you.

Otherwise, maybe the Bill's Gun Shop & Range might work. I Don't know if they let muzzleloaders in the indoor ranges or not.

I found this thread very interesting & helpful. I'm buying my first one in a month or two, and I've been wondering about the Powerbelts vs. other brands. I know someone who swears by them, but another guy who can't stand them. Maybe the amount of powder & bullet grain makes a lot more difference than a newcomer would think.

[gorrilla]

Seagar, I expected intelligent input like that from a guy in Iowa...

[Whoaru99]

Quote:

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Seagar, I expected intelligent input like that from a guy in Iowa...

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In all honesty, I was kinda thinking the same thing - seeings how a 300 Weatherby churns out roughly 50% more energy than a .50 ML, depending on the load of both, of course.

[gorrilla]

I guess you guys are feeling nitpicky today since all I was trying to say at close range, the deer I have connected with have dropped like a rock when hit with my 295 grn. powerbelt. I wasn't feeling the comparison was going to be scrutinized to the amount of ft/#'s of energy or anything. If people feel like having smartazz comments then go ahead, I'm going to go fishing tuffguys...

[Mr.Seaguar]

Calm down bud, you said something silly and you know it. I wonder if the difference between all this is barrel inner diameter. Sounds crazy but I have had 3 different muzzleloaders and using the same bullet/sabot combination, there was a marked difference in how hard it was to push the load to the breech. This could be the exact same thing with cartridge guns but we never push a bullet through so how would we ever notice.

[Whoaru99]

Quote:

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I guess you guys are feeling nitpicky today since all I was trying to say at close range, the deer I have connected with have dropped like a rock when hit with my 295 grn. powerbelt. I wasn't feeling the comparison was going to be scrutinized to the amount of ft/#'s of energy or anything. If people feel like having smartazz comments then go ahead, I'm going to go fishing tuffguys...

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I don't really know why I'm writing sort of an apologetic post because I didn't think anyone said too much nitpicky stuff.

There was a comparison mentioned about a 300 Weatherby vs a muzzleloader and it struck me as odd, so I commented on it - no more, no less. It was not my intent to offended you by questioning your post, only to further understand that basis of comparison.

[bigbucks]

I have used Power Belts & they shoot very well out of my Rossi, but I'm not impressed with the damage they inflict. I shot a doe at 40 yards this year in the soft part of the body. The bullet mushroomed well & stayed together, but was stuck under the skin. She bled well internally, but very little trail.

As far as the diameter thing I agree. I couldn't load some of the TC bullets, they literally wouldn't go down the barrel. A couple did & then I got one stuck loading & had to have a gun smith drive it out. I also tried Noslers & they were almost as bad, neither would pattern worth a darn in that rifle, they were everywhere. I realize the Rossi's a low end ML, but it was ridiculous.

[Neiko]

Personally I love them. I get a good shot group and of the 2 deer I have shot with them, one stopped dead in its track and the second one went about 50 yards. A .50 cal leaves a nice entrance hole. If you want a deal on them check out Walmart after the season and they clearance them out really cheap.

[Borch]

The powerbelts perform well n deer sized game. However, there have been probelms with the .245 gr fragmenting. I know they've been working on the issues with the light PB hollow point. By the soound of it there may still be some issues. Either that or guys are still talking or shooting the old .245 gr.

I've never had an issue with the .295 gr. I also know a few guys who are using them on elk with excellent results. Again the heavier bullets.

[slick814]

Borch, do you know if the powder load made a difference with the smaller bullets? what I'm trying to ask is if you use 100Gr. vs. 150Gr. of powder, did that make a difference in the bullet fragmenting or not?

As I said in my previous post, this is all new to me, and while I realise that there's going to be some experimentation on my part to figure out the load and bullet I want to eventually use, I want to keep it to as little as possible.

I was originally planning on going with the 245 Gr. bullets and 100 Gr. of powder, but now I'm thinking maybe go with the 295 Gr. bullet and 100 Gr. of powder.

I'll be doing most of my hunting in pretty heavy woods in Northern Mn, so I'm thinking that I may not need the extra charge behind it, as it seems that the biggest reason to use the extra powder is more distance related than for knockdown power at close range (usually 50-75 yards at most). Am I wrong?

[shinde]

I experienced the fragmenting with a powerbelt last year. About 70 yards, no pass thru, only recovered fragments. Was a 295gr with 100 gr triple 7. Apparently can't post links, but if you do a google search for ("Powerbelt Bullets" Randy Wakeman) you should find the article first hit.

If you want to use belted saboted bullets, our local muzzeloader expert suggested using the Saber Tooth bullet, mfg. by American Harvester. Same easy loading, but not supposed to fragment like the powerbelts. Again, you can find a review by google search (Beauty or beast belted bore size bullets).

From my experience, you won't learn anything on the range unless you're shooting into something solid and try to recover the bullets. I've found both powerbelts and Saber Tooths to be very accurate on the range, but accuracy isn't really the discussion here, it's fragmenting. Unfortunately, didn't shoot a deer with muzzleloader this year, so don't have any first hand experience yet on actual performance of the Saber Tooth on a deer.

[finspat]

I wanted to say that 245 gr, shoots extremely flat.

The 295 gr, has a good arch in it's trajectory.

I am new to this, what turned me on to powerbelts, is the fact you do not have

to clean your gun every shot!

At the range I found that it works best when cleaned evry

time. Now I hear power belt have issues?

I shot a doe at 115 yrds, shot her in the neck.

when skinning this deer, the head darn near fell right off!

The bullet shatterd 3 vertebrates!

This load was 100 grns of 777 , 245 powerbelt.

I shot this gun over 75 times at the range.

I have a question what is fragmenting?

The bullet comming apart in flight? or on impact?

going to be a long wait for hunting again!

fins

[basskid]

fragmenting is when the bullet blows apart on impact

[charliepete2]

I shot a bear with a powerbelt last week at about 10 yards pushed by 100 grains of 777 FFG. I got no exit hole or blood trail. The bear didn't go far. While butchering I found the bullet on the inside of the off shoulder and it had pretty well disintegrated. I'm thinking I'll be finding another bullet after reading all these similar reviews. Too bad. It patterned nice and and loaded easily.