Powerbelt Bullets Read Up

There has been a lot of talk on forums of people shooting deer sized game and have either no blood trails, no recovered game, bullet failed ext.

This forum was mainly started to help these Powerbelt Users out and set them up with a load and bullet combo that will help them to drop their game within easy sight range and have an easy to follow blood trail.

A lot of the complaints i have read typically start out as: I was using a 295 grain powerbelt, over 3 pellets "150 grains" and i shot a deer at 50 yards. I found some blood and hair but the blood trail didn't last long and i ended up having to track the deer 200 yards.

Or...

Powerbelt bullets dont shoot worth a crap in my TC,KNIGHT, Ect. This can easily be due to the following:

Thompson Centers QLA "false muzzle to make loading sabots/conicals easier to load" Often are misaligned and offer nothing but headaches to the shooter that has to use a full bore conical. Powerbelts are usually the best option to use in these rifles when needing to use a conical as the plastic gas seal helps seal off the bore and keep the gases from escaping around the projectile. Cutting the QLA off completely is the best option to the conical shooter who owns a TC muzzle loader.

One of the biggest problems today are the "150 grain magnum" letters that are Stamped into todays inline and even Traditional style muzzle loaders.

Powerbelts often choke on these powerful loads with close range shots and this is when you hear all of the horror stories. You can ask the person why he uses 150 grains and the common story, Because thats what my rifle says it can shoot.

Rather than take the time to properly start off at lower powder charges and work their way up to find which is most accurate, Some often just cram 3 Pellets down the bore and settle for poor accuracy. Common response from a lazy muzzle loader shooter: "If i can hit a pie pan @ 100 yards i'm good to go!!"

This In my opinion is not good accuracy. If you are hitting all over that pan while your rifle is on a solid rest, You've got problems!

When using these bullets in your traditional muzzle loader, You are forced to use Loose powder. Pyrodex, T7, Pioneer. Ext.

In an email from Powerbelt bullets, i was in need of some information with what kind of FPS/Engery i was getting with the hunting load i was set up for.

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Powerbelt bullets Recommends using a charge of 60 to 90 grains MAXIMUM with loose powder. Their response was usually any powder charge over 90 grains often partially tore the plastic skirt off the bullet and if it stuck to the bullet, could cause a the bullet to change POI greatly.

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I did some testing with a 225 grain powerbelt "45cal" with 100 grains of goex, I was able to recover some bullets and found that this stiff charge did in fact partially blow the skirt off and the other half stuck to the base of the bullet. My accuracy was also on the poor side.

Now to borrow some words off Powerbelts website under the FAQ'S button
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Q. Is muzzle velocity the only thing to consider when choosing a bullet?

A. Whereas velocity can help make shot placement
easier at unknown ranges, terminal bullet performance is the most
important aspect of choosing a bullet. PowerBelt Bullets are made of
pure lead and will expand uniformly on impact. This is very important
to the efficiency of energy dispersion to the target. If a projectile
exits the far side of the target animal and continues downrange it is
carrying energy with it that could have been displaced in the target
animal.

I also believe in this and prefer that the bullets push in deep and if it doesnt exit, it does not make a difference for me. I also feel that if the bullet is under the hide, thats great for me because I now can see exactly how that Load works and the bullet will tell me all that I need to know.

After testing these bullets in freshly cut logs such as Cedar, pinion, soft wood such as Ponderosa pine, These bullets when driven with lower powder charges 70-80-90 grains perform flawlessly and have out performed other bullets i've put them up against, Including conicals that were 50 to 75 grains heavier than the Powerbelts i was using.

Others have also had excellent results with Powerbelts when using these lower charges.

I prefer 80 grains powder Maximum for the lighter weight 223-225,245,295 Aerotip and Hollow Point. I think 90 grains is a little to close to the safe range to push them. If 90 grains is to be used, i would recommend doing so with Only the heavier powerbelts such as the (.45cal) 275g Aerotip and 300 grain (.45cal) Platinum Powerbelt. In .50cal 90+ Grains can be used with the 270gr Platinum +, 348 Aerotip Copper Series,405 Aerotip Copper series. The biggest Copper series Powerbelt Offered is the 444 grain Flatnose which is a huge beast and that bullet i have not tested but am Confident that big boy can handle the magnum charges easily. The only question is, Can you?

Can 150g Pellet loads be used?

Of course! But you just have to remember that 150g pellet loads were designed to give you a little more grunt out to 150+ yards, Not for close 20 or 30 yard shots!

My Doe of 2007 Shot with a 225gr Powerbelt Aerotip & 80gr 3F Triple 7 loose powder at a distance of 80 yards. She left a blood trail 5 yards long before kissing dirt with her internals destroyed.