Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Powerbelt Problems - Need Bullet Suggestions

I've been hunting with Powerbelts the past few years, both because of their phenomenal accurancy in my .50 Knight, and because of the ease in loading them. Of the four deer I've shot, however, not one bullet has exited, and two of them resulted in some difficult tracking jobs. A couple of weeks ago, a buddy hit a doe with a Powerbelt at 90 yards; we found only two drops of blood and no deer, after looking for hours. A poor hit is possible, but unlikely, since he is a great shot, and took a slow shot from the prone position.

Is there any other bullet out there that loads as easily as a Powerbelt, gives comparable acuracy, but has better terminal performance? The sabots I've tried have been quite difficult to load.

Try Hornady FPB full bore bullets. They are a full caliber slug. Don't know about ease of loading, but the ones I've shot are pretty accurate.

maddog

I found that the Precision ML QT 295 grn in mine are more accurate than the powerbelts and will drop one in their tracks. Steve

try Red Hots 50 cal 250gr they are made for knight The hollow point opens and does a fine job of cutting a hole.I have shot several deer with these four dropped where they stood,none went over 90 yds The blood trail was easy to follow. good luck

Try the Barnes T-EZ...they are specifically designed to be easier to load. I've found them to be very accurate. They load well in my Triumph (notoriously tight bores) and terminal performance was great on my WT buck this year...70 yd quartering away shot...good exit wound and blood, devastating damage to the vitals. Down within 40 yds, no tracking necessary.

T/C Shockwaves with the EZ Glide sabot are awesome. Solved my Powerbelt problem too

great shots arent always that. If it hit the deer in the lungs, you'd have found it.

What weight of bullet and charge was he using?


www.thorbullets.com load easy and are solid copper.

Try these....BB turned me on to these.
They load easily.

Another vote for the Hornady FPB. Currently they only offer a 350 gr, but will have a 300 gr out early next year. Powerbelts are basically pure lead bullets. If pushed too hard or hit hard things, they can come apart. The FPB is a lead allow so it allows for a more controlled expansion.

Some people seem to think the FPB are hard to load, but they are easy after the learning curve. You need a short bullet starter. First position the bullet at the muzzle. Then put the short starter over the bullet and wack it with your palm. These bullets have a rear metal skirt that are OVERBORE sized on purpose. With a wack of the starter, you custom size them to your barrel. Then you can push them down the rest of the way with your ramrod with firm, but doable pressure.

As stated the Thor bullet is a great one as well. More expensive since they are pure copper, but they WILL hold together.

go to the powerbelt forum and get some hp aluminum plugs . the guy that makes them sent me 200 to try . i didn't think it would make them exit ,but we have killed 4 deer and they all had exit wounds. i killed one last week at 160 yds with the 295hp in my triumph . hit him at the base of the neck . bullet exited with a 1 1/2 in hole.

Good to know srwshooter. Of course, with powerbelts (or any pure lead bullet) you usually get better penetration at lower velocities (the bullet holds together). And a long shot (160 yards) has a lower velocity than a close one. Any 25 yard shots with the new set up? That will tell you about the penetration factor.

here's a pic

Bigblock, my buddy was actually using a .45 caliber, and he was shooting 225 grain Powerbelts over 2 50-grain pellets of Triple 7. Admittedly, his shot could have been bad, but he had plenty of time from the prone position, and is an excellent shot.

I'm absolutely not convinced about finding a deer hit in the lungs. I hit one three years ago broadside at about 40 yards with a Powerbelt, and it ran over 100 yards into the thick stuff before dropping. There was no exit wound, and I found only a single drop of blood before finding the buck. That recovery was part persistence and part luck.

The distance they run after hit doesn't mean a lot. Or the amount of blood on the ground. I hit a muley buck square in the ribs, broadside standing still, double lung shot at 30 yards with a 348, and he ran well over a hundred yards. Didn't recover the bullet, but it left an exit wound a couple inches in diameter and there was blood and lung tissue on the sage 25 yards behind the spot where the buck was standing. He was dead on his feet, but got well over a hundred yards on me.

Another time I was using a 348 and hit a big cow elk in the shoulder at 60 yards. I found only one drop of blood, didn't find her until the next day because I shot her right before dark, but the meat was still good. The bullet went through the near-side shoulder bone, through the chest, and was perfectly mushroomed under the off-side hide. She went about 150 yards but again, dead on her feet but no blood.

I'd say that if you're not sure where the animal was hit, you can't necessarily conclude that the bullet failed.

dave, heres a doe i hit with the 225gr aerotip powerbelt and 80gr 3F Triple 7 at a distance of 80 yards. I dont want to say, oh it was a bad hit thats why you didnt get the deer back, ect ect. But after tracking a wounded elk for 4 hours and well over a mile and a half one way, normally when theres a weak blood trail, that animal isnt hit hard enough.

But rather than make excuses or calling eachother names, lets just take a look at getting the job done the right way, the next time out

Bullet under hide,






Heres a doe i got this year at 125 yards with the 348gr powerbelt. This bullet used the insert that SRWshooter talks of. Its hard lead insert with threads. The threads bond to the soft powerbelt lead as it mushrooms and controls the bullets expansion.
Just go to the link for those doe pics,
http://thepowerbeltforum.powerguild.net/custom-tip-field-testers-f27/348gr-ct-powerbelt-t614.htm

Also, heres a great bullet and load for you to try out! If you shoot the .45cal, Marty over here can help show you a good load!
But check out this .45 load!
http://thepowerbeltforum.powerguild...-drops-whitetail-on-opening-day-t685.htm

And SRWSHOOTER, if you've been able to test those inserts out in the field, Stop over and give us a detailed story on those animals! Im building the .50cal mold again so if they need any adjustments, i'll be able to do it now.

Bigblock, those inserts sound perfect, and would most likely address my problems with overexpansion, but they are not available yet. I'd like to try some, but guess I'll have to wait until they're available.