Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Strike 2 for powerbelts

PB's are the sorriest muzzle loader bullets you can buy and use

good lord, this again? lmao. You'd think after all the posts made and the help ive offered, it would be easy to not choose the 245gr powerbelt.

Best ones you can use are the 250 & 300gr aerolites

245gr conical is puny for a .50cal. Add in soft lead, huge hollow point. mmm mmm

do anybody use round balls like I do=never missed a shot yet but then again I wont shoot unless I have a head shot instant kill--the ball can stay in the head don't eat that part lol

Powerbelts have remained one of the top-3 selling ML projectiles, for like the last 25 years. The bullet benefits from not being pushed hard. I used 80 grains Goex FFF recently. That's my maximum charge - for my maximum distances are 150 yards.

Powerbelts would not keep/ maintain annually, that high retail sales rating across the USA, if they didn't do the job most-all times, when not pushed too hard or too lightly. For instance: They are not a bullet for magnum charges between 120-150 grains. They are not a bullet for 90+ grains volume charges of Blackhorn 209.

Again, don't use below 295 grains copper-clad. Don't use lead versions unless they are 405s on elk, 345 on deer. Any sized Platinum is a good bullet....ie.... 270/300/338. I have no experience using the Aerolites, but I trust poster BigBlock's advice on them.

What bullets am I taking to the woods tomorrow...... roundballs, Hornady XTP 300 in 44-cal for my Omega and Precision QT Polymer Tip 50/40 in 185 grain, which I will continue experimenting with in my 1:66 twist roundball gun. I'll reserve my 295gr Copper HP Powerbelts for muzzleloader season in December.

Everything I write about Powerbelts are only my opinion..... what I've experienced.

Dont use a 245gr but a 250gr with a larger hollow point is ok. If you think 5gr is gunna make 2 chits worth of difference you are dreaming.

What a bunch of crap. Does CVA still send you free stuff to push this line of bull?

We resighted our rifles using the Hornady's 250 SST's. They are more accurate than the Powerbelts, at least in our rifles.
I cut apart one of the PB and Hornadys. The PB is all lead with a thin copper covering. The Hornady has a nice jacket that increases in thickness as it gets closer to the base. It should be a more durable bullet. Hopefully we will get another chance this year.

The 250 sst has about as good a record as powerbelts. Especially when it comes to expansion and blood trails!

We resighted our rifles using the Hornady's 250 SST's. They are more accurate than the Powerbelts, at least in our rifles.
I cut apart one of the PB and Hornadys. The PB is all lead with a thin copper covering. The Hornady has a nice jacket that increases in thickness as it gets closer to the base. It should be a more durable bullet. Hopefully we will get another chance this year.

Its not just a 5 grain difference but a completely different bullet design. The aerolite is meant to leave a large massive hole in an animal. Its more streamlined and is a longer bullet. The olkd aerotips are very short and stubby.

This was either 100 or 110gr blackhorn209 on an 80 yard shoulder shot on a buck when i first tried out the Aerolites. 250gr version. Entrance hole.


Easy to follow blood trail,


I have plenty of pictures of the 300gr aerolite in action on deer and elk, but I wont even bother posting that as it won't do any good for some folks
Another round ball made of powerbelts/no excuses that i used on a 175-200lb hog back in march. Soft lead, expands very easily, without a hollow point.

245gr conical is puny for a .50cal. Add in soft lead, huge hollow point. mmm mmm

This is the same story as all the guys shooting C&C bullets out of magnum centerfire rifles and then complaining the bullets don't hold together.

You are using a bullet that was designed to preform at modest velocities and over driving it velocity wise. Of course it is going to over expand or come apart.

If you want to push bullets from a ML in the 1800-2000fps realm,then buy tougher bullets.This isn't rocket science.

The whole concept of using muzzle loaders was intended to be a primitive season using lead bullets that were typically used 100 years ago or so. Now shooters are complaining that those type of bullets don't preform well in the newer inlines designed for mangnum loads.

I like Barnes. But planning on trying these and purchasing some sabots separately. They are cheaper to buy that way, and they are tougher bullets with thicker jackets than the SSTs. Win/win.

http://www.hornady.com/store/45-Cal-.452-250-gr-FTX-for-450-Bushmaster/

Oh yeah, forgot to add:

Powerbelts SUCK

WAUGH! All you powerbelt shooters are liars! You most likely have to shoot the poor damn deer half a dozen times before running up to it and having to stab it to death with your ramrod!

What bullets am I taking to the woods tomorrow...... roundballs, Hornady XTP 300 in44-cal for my Omega and Precision QT Polymer Tip 50/40 in 185 grain, which I will continue experimenting with in my 1:66 twist roundball gun. I'll reserve my 295gr Copper HP Powerbelts for muzzleloader season in December.

I guess I have to cut these PB's in half so they won't kill as dead The elk are not as hard to kill as deer I guess.\

Are you using the lighter weight or the heavier PB's?


Light powder charge?

Lung shooting or shoulders.

Just curious, but I suspect it all makes a difference.

Im not sure how I have killed elk with PB but people cant kill deer.

It's one of the mysteries of the universe, has something to do with the space-time continuum.

While shopping for bargins yesterday picked up a couple of packages of 250 grain Barnes MZ flat points. Our shots will never exceed 50 yards so the flat points should be fine. If they are capable of shooting into a 1.5 inch circle at 50 yards will try them next season. This way between the wife and I one will be trying the Hornadys and the other Barnes.

At least the Powerbelts are accurate enough for practice and gong ringing. When we sighted in our rifles with the Hornadys they were more accurate than the PB's at 50 yards.

I didn't even get to strike one. They were tumbling out of my TC for some reason.

Between the terrible TCs and the sh*tty powerbelts, it's a wonder we ever kill anything.

TC's are one of the worst brands to buy when you want to shoot conicals. TC even used to tell you their rifles were designed for sabots, not conicals. Their QLA system was a poor set up and causes huge accuracy problems with conicals.

That's funny there.My Hawkin's original barrel did not have the QLA, the subsequent two they put on after I wore the barrels out did. All three shot darn good. My two in lines ,have them and they shoot darn good. The Black Diamond will not shoot maxi-balls ,but talking to TC they reccomended the Power Belts, which IMHO is a conical also. I remember they said the inlines different twist and need for a more accurately made bullet than the maxi-ball was the reason. They never told me they would not shoot conicals well and were designed for sabots. Yes,I actually talked to TC a number of times.

I've been shooting Power Belts for about 15 years. I shoot 295gr hollow points with three 777 50/50 pellets.

some sorry mofo shot a good 10 pt buck in area 44a with a fugging pb on nov5 ran into him and dipshit buddy on the 6th said they jumped it 3 times from its bed trying to find it and they said its leg was flopping. i just listened fuming inside cause it was about 600yds as the crow flies thru heavy mature pines and undergrowth from where i hunt

bout an hour before i ran into these dipchits on the 6th
i was hunting the fringe of a bedding area with plenty of fresh scrapes and rubs and around 10 am i heard what sounded like heavy labored breathing about 200 yds away for around 4-5 minutes thought it strange
then i ran into dip and chit on the way back to my truck and this is when i gleaned the info from them
i showed dip and chit what a barnes ml expander is and told them pb,s aint worth a pisshole in a snow bank then i show dip and chit a shed i found not 75 yds outta a spot i hunt and dip says he looked like that only somewhaat bigger

im fuming in my mind.........

the shed i found scored 72 inches.........



went back on the 10th no fresh sign on the fringes of the bedding area scrapes all covered in leaves
place is shut the fugg down......

im pissed the spot is shut down cause that 10 pt is wounded im thinking

go back on the 11th hunt a spot probably with 100 yds of where i heard the heavy breathing sounds

see buzzards in the area

still dont dawn on me

go home
then realize it probably was that buck and it took him a couple of days to die maybe

i need to get back in their this weekend and poke around
see if i can find this dead deer

fugg powerbelts and fugg people who cant shoot worth a dam.................

Flip flop much?
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8146046/3

Yes you did get plenty of free and greatly reduced priced stuff from CVA and Traditions. Then you turned around and sold a lot of that stuff. You even admitted it on Huntingnet. You sold a freebie rifle to Muley. Thats called a profit in case you failed basic economics class. Traditions sent you no less than one free newer inline for review work.I know for a fact you got lots of free PBs and sold many of them on forums.

So oh yes you got paid alright. Just like Randy and Toby get paid....with free stuff.

How fast you forget what you post. Maybe if you were not hyping products from sponsors on countless forums you would remember all the crap you spewed out over the years.

I use 260gr Precision Rifle sabots for my first shot from my Knight. Use 348gr Powerbelts for a quick loading second shot as they hit exactly to the same spot as the PR sabots out to 75 yards.
Will never use Powerbelts as my first shot as I have been disappointed in their performance.

SIgh

Never forget the first mule deer I smacked with a White 460 grain super slug at 125 yards more or less. All four feet sticking up in the air and a blood bath on the offside that Helen Keller could see. I don't like gimmick bullets and a PB is a gimmick bullet, I do not like the base design.

I use 260gr Precision Rifle sabots for my first shot from my Knight. Use 348gr Powerbelts for a quick loading second shot as they hit exactly to the same spot as the PR sabots out to 75 yards.
Will never use Powerbelts as my first shot as I have been disappointed in their performance.

Sooo if the first shot doesn't DRT the deer...and I need a quick finishing shot, I use the Powerbelts. They do load easy.

Honest question - how fast can you reload and fire said second shot with the PB?

Follow-up question - what is the time difference between the PB reload and a reload with the primary bullet/sabot?

Never took a dime my friends. I've shot powerbelts long before i ever knew anyone at cva. Started out with an old cva blazer and tc maxi balls which turned out to be crap ( although the 50 cal version seems much better)

If'n i ever got paid, i'd tell ya so, along with, You got something against Americans earning a pay check? LOL

I've shot more powerbelts that the folks at powerbelt most likely. You've got to get an education and learn them, learn the fault lines, how to improve them. Once that's done you can decide if you want to shoot them or not. Im back with a fur hat, percussion & flintlock with round balls. Its a whole lot more enjoyable to me now days. Inlines no longer interest me and why would they if you think of it.

ya you never get "compensation" for the 10,000 sites you are on spewing your "prostaff opinon".... wow you also have a fur cap wgaf....


"primitive" been their,seen it,done it,got the t-shirt.....

SIgh

Never forget the first mule deer I smacked with a White 460 grain super slug at 125 yards more or less. All four feet sticking up in the air and a blood bath on the offside that Helen Keller could see. I don't like gimmick bullets and a PB is a gimmick bullet, I do not like the base design.

Local store didn't carry Barnes so picked up some Hornady 250 gr SST's. Maybe we will get lucky to shoot another deer with these before the ML season ends Friday evening. Will test fire them later today and see how accurate they are.

SIgh

Never forget the first mule deer I smacked with a White 460 grain super slug at 125 yards more or less. All four feet sticking up in the air and a blood bath on the offside that Helen Keller could see. I don't like gimmick bullets and a PB is a gimmick bullet, I do not like the base design.

Other than that, I shoot Hornady XTPs in 300gr (44-cal). Also use Precision Polymer Tip QTs in 185gr (50/40s blue sabot). I recently purchased a 50-pk of the Horandy FTX in 200gr (44-cal). They are being saved for the range in 2017 spring. I heard they shoot real well in Knight inlines, using the green Harvester Crush Rib sabot.

First mule deer I shot with a 348 PB at 130 yards did exactly the same thing. So did my buddy's elk this year, and one or two I've shot in the past with the same bullet.

I got a set just like that.Although not as shiny.

WAUGH! BORE BUTTER. You cook good rabbit pilgrim.

Not trying to be argumentative, but i used the 338 grain Powerbelt Platinum with 110 grains of Blackhorn 209 Dec. 19th to kill a big Iowa whitetail at 111 yards. The deer was quartering toward me, and I hit him just off of the onside shoulder. the bullet penetrated 18-20 inches and made a bleeding hole through the offside ribs and hide. The bullet got hung up in the hide, and was found while caping the head and hide. This is the expanded bullet. I'm very satisfied with the bullet performance.

Ron