# Why I will never shoot powerbelts again.



## the ben pearson hunter (Sep 17, 2012)

During last year, our group of friends killed 4 deer on one hunt with muzzleloaders loaded with powerbelts. None of them achieved a pass through regardless of distance. One deer was spine shot which caused it to drop in its tracks and another was shot straight into the shoulder bone which also dropped it but one guy lost a buck and my dad almost lost a doe on this one hunt. We also know some people with horror stories of their own from last season.

Dads Deer: He shoots a small doe at 10 yards from a tree stand and the bullet doesn't exit.

Zane's deer: Shoots a buck broadside at 40 or so yards and the bullet doesn't pass through.

Another one of our friends shot a buck THREE times behind the shoulder and it didn't bleed a drop. Thankfully he watched it bed down and die after 20 or so minutes. 

Again somebody else we know shot a doe broadside at 25 yards and the bullet did not pass through or produce a blood trail.

I don't know what the deal with them is but their product quality has dropped significantly. As for all 6 of us involved in this nonsense we will not be shooting them any longer.


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## Supercracker (Sep 17, 2012)

what did the recovered bullets look like?


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## RipperIII (Sep 17, 2012)

I killed a buck with the platinum aerolites 275 gr.
No pass through either,...but not needed, that buck bled out a "red carpet" for the 20-30 yds he ran...Stevie Wonder could have followed that trail.

I can't imagine a thumbsized hole not leaving a blood trail, unless of course you bust the heart, not much tracking there either.

Not all bullets are designed to pass through, some are designed to expend all of their energy with in the animal.


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## the ben pearson hunter (Sep 17, 2012)

I dont recall removing the rounds but the deer barely, if any, bled. All of the deer were hit well and did die. The one I said he lost we actually recovered but he was bloated up and all i saw was a picture. However the buck that was shot three times had three holes low and tight to the shoulder.


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## Dutch (Sep 17, 2012)

I've never had a issue with the .45 powerbelts. I have killed 10 deer with them and yes I have had some that did not exit, but I was able to recover the deer.

Here's the buck I got last year...using a .45 Traditions LD shooting a 225gr Aerotip in front of 100grs of Pyrodex RS. Deer was shot at 40 yds and you can see the entrance hole in the shoulder. Deer ran 50yds and was down. Last pic is the recovered bullet from the offside of the deer.

I like Powerbelts...but I haven't had a issue with them like some have. YMMV.


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## tcward (Sep 18, 2012)

I have said it before, power belts are the worse muzzleloading projectile ever made bar none! I would rather use a roundball!


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 18, 2012)

Hard to beat a bore-sized solid chunk of lead. You don't need plastic bullets. If I shoot anything besides a roundball, it's a 350 gr. conical T/C maxi-hunter. They go all the way through and leave a trail that Ray Charles could follow, if the deer even goes anywhere. I've seen a lot of white bellies when the smoke cleared using them.


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## diamondback (Sep 18, 2012)

we have shot several with powerbelts with mixed results.Last year shot a big doe at 10 yards broadside.she ran off.gave her a few minutes got down found blood pretty quick followed about fifty yards and decided to back out and give an hour.start back go about 100 yds and find where she laid down,blood everywhere.After that it was a drop here and a drop there for about 200 yards thru a bottom.find her still alive and put another in her to finish her.Shot placement was perfect and exited .this was the 2nd time this happened as well as once when the deer wasnt recovered.They seem to perform better on hogs,maybe because the hogs are just tougher and the bellet expands better ,IDK


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## 35 Whelen (Sep 18, 2012)

I switched from powerbelts to Hornady FPB muzzleloader bullets (350 Grain).  Here is some good information:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/hornady_FPB_bullets.htm


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## donald-f (Sep 19, 2012)

No exit = not enough powder


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## Ronbow (Sep 19, 2012)

*Killed a lot of deer with them never had a problem, Its all in shot placement 95% of the time*


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## SakoL61R (Sep 19, 2012)

Had a failure to expand years ago with a .50 pbelt/110grain load.  Really irritated me.

I kill stuff with dead centers and ultimate conicals in .50 and .54 from
http://www.prbullet.com/

'nuff said.


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## snuffy (Sep 19, 2012)

http://muzzleloading-bullets.com/


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## FrontierGander (Sep 19, 2012)

Thor Bullets for me.


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## RipperIII (Sep 20, 2012)

FrontierGander said:


> Thor Bullets for me.




do these require sabots?


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## FrontierGander (Sep 20, 2012)

Nope, they are full bore conicals.


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## watermedic (Sep 20, 2012)

shot placement means dead deer. No way to shoot a deer "tight behind the shoulder" and the deer be alive an hour later.

Most powerbelts do not exit but kill deer effectively.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Sep 20, 2012)

the ben pearson hunter said:


> Another one of our friends shot a buck THREE times behind the shoulder and it didn't bleed a drop. Thankfully he watched it bed down and die after 20 or so minutes.




You mean the buck hung around and let the guy shoot it 3 times?


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## RipperIII (Sep 20, 2012)

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> You mean the buck hung around and let the guy shoot it 3 times?



...I was thinking the same thing,...roughly 30 seconds between each shot...


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## donald-f (Sep 20, 2012)

the ben pearson hunter said:


> I dont recall removing the rounds but the deer barely, if any, bled. All of the deer were hit well and did die. The one I said he lost we actually recovered but he was bloated up and all i saw was a picture. However the buck that was shot three times had three holes low and tight to the shoulder.





northgeorgiasportsman said:


> You mean the buck hung around and let the guy shoot it 3 times?



He must have been using the new, just on the market, never seen before, automatic muzzle loader..


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## tcward (Sep 25, 2012)

SakoL61R said:


> Had a failure to expand years ago with a .50 pbelt/110grain load.  Really irritated me.
> 
> I kill stuff with dead centers and ultimate conicals in .50 and .54 from
> http://www.prbullet.com/
> ...



Those Dead Center bullets are awesome!


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## the ben pearson hunter (Sep 26, 2012)

Yes the deer did let him shoot it. It just kept walking along. Also I don't see us needing to shoot anymore than 100 grains of powder or pyrodex to get a pass through.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 26, 2012)

Here`s a .490 pure lead ball that was pushed with 70 grains of FFFg out of a Lyman Plains rifle. This is the only one I have ever recovered from a deer. Every other deer I have ever shot with both that rifle, and my 50 caliber flintlock which I load with 60 grains of FFFg, have always been complete pass throughs. All have been shot behind the shoulder except for the one which I recovered the ball. It was shot in the neck.


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## grouper throat (Sep 26, 2012)

I had the same problem with powerbelts. Grab ya some TCs and you'll never buy another powerbelt again


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## mark101 (Sep 26, 2012)

Same results also with the pb's,lost one buck due to bad blood trail.Shot a spike at 30yrds right behind the shoulder,and he ran 90yrds with very little blood.The bullet did not exit.I switched to shockwaves and i have got pass thurs with every shot.Even loaded down to 70 grs of 777,for my son.


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## Lorren68 (Sep 26, 2012)

tcward said:


> I have said it before, power belts are the worse muzzleloading projectile ever made bar none! I would rather use a roundball!




Thats funny, I would rather use a roundball over any other muzzleloading projectile made.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 26, 2012)

Lorren68 said:


> [/COLOR]
> 
> Thats funny, I would rather use a roundball over any other muzzleloading projectile made.



That and true blackpowder is all I have ever used. With no problems at all.


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## Huntin 4 More (Sep 27, 2012)

PBs are junk.  Use a Barnes bullet, either TMZ or TEZ.  You will get a passthrough.


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## DP308 (Sep 27, 2012)

I use barnes t-ez best i have used always get pass thru


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## ReelAffair (Sep 27, 2012)

I switched one year from the Hornadys to the Power Belts to try them, big mistake.  I lost a good buck that my buddy's found a couple months later while running hogs with dogs.  I never found a drop of blood.  He was hold up in a big palmetto thicket.  Never again will i use them.


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## dixiecutter (Sep 27, 2012)

lost a dead but not bleeding doe last yearand the same on a buck the year before. hit'em hard knock'em on their butt they get up.run off and die but without bleading. but those were maxi balls. funny thing is- i switched to pb's last year to try to avoid that. i never shot a deer with them but i was discouraged wjen i pulled out the ramrod the bullet came out stuck to it and left the skirt down in the breech. then i had to re-seat the bullet and hope it didnt blow up in my face. it was scary. at the end of the hunt intead of shooting vianna sausage lid like normal i took the gun down and poked the crappy bullet out the breech. no more walmart-belts for me.


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## FERAL ONE (Sep 27, 2012)

i have killed a pile of deer and a few pigs with powerbelts. includin' 8 in one season, out to 175 yards.  only reason i switched was to find somethin' that didn't cost so dang much. i shoot em over 120 grains loose pyrodex.  i may not even pull out the inline or my rifle this year because i would rather hunt with the PRB and the old style guns but if i do i would hunt with a powerbelt if i had it. all the detail lies in where you poke the hole.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Sep 28, 2012)

I just find it amazing (call me a skeptic) that a deer would just "keep on walking" after being shot not once, but twice behind the shoulder.  Even with a quick loader, you're looking at a bare minimum of 20 seconds reload time, and that's on the range competing against the clock.  In the field, looking through smoke to see where the deer is, probably much longer.  And the first two shots had so little effect on the deer, he just kept walking???


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 28, 2012)

Nicodemus said:


> That and true blackpowder is all I have ever used. With no problems at all.



Now Nic, you know that them old archaic lead marbles won't kill a deer nowadays. People shooting them may have nearly completely exterminated the whitetail deer from the eastern US back in the day, but they worked better then.  They won't work now. Deer are tougher and smarter nowadays, and they want to be shot with fancy bullets.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 28, 2012)

NCHillbilly said:


> Now Nic, you know that them old archaic lead marbles won't kill a deer nowadays. People shooting them may have nearly completely exterminated the whitetail deer from the eastern US back in the day, but they worked better then.  They won't work now. Deer are tougher and smarter nowadays, and they want to be shot with fancy bullets.





That`s why I always carry my flint knife and my Tabor Blade with me.


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## anhieser (Sep 28, 2012)

We sight in rifles every year and say "I can hit a quarter at 100yds"  Don't be scared to take a good ole neck shot.  Works every time.  Drop on the spot.  Besides, I have NEVER had a deer run closer to my truck after being shot.


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 28, 2012)

anhieser said:


> We sight in rifles every year and say "I can hit a quarter at 100yds"  Don't be scared to take a good ole neck shot.  Works every time.  Drop on the spot.  Besides, I have NEVER had a deer run closer to my truck after being shot.



No, but I've seen a few deer over the years that were neck shot drop like a ton of bricks, then get up five minutes later and take off to never be seen again. It happened to me once, and has happened to several other people I know. I'll never aim at a deer's neck again. I shot another buck in the neck unintentionally once that was quartering away from me and was a good ways away. It got up and tried to come at me when I went walking up to it, and I had to pop it again.


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## Lorren68 (Sep 28, 2012)

Nicodemus said:


> That and true blackpowder is all I have ever used. With no problems at all.



Thats all I use, and at $14.00 per lb its cheaper too.


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## one hogman (Sep 29, 2012)

I have killed deer and Hogs with the powerbelts but was never impressed with them, in my Inlines I went to the Hornady SST 250 gr LDHS sabot, more accurate and better penetration,  and in my Caplocks the 385 gr Great Plains bullet does the job. The powerbelts IMO are WAY overpriced and not good performers on game, they come apart too easy.


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## F.A.R.R. (Sep 29, 2012)

Nicodemus said:


> Here`s a .490 pure lead ball that was pushed with 70 grains of FFFg out of a Lyman Plains rifle. This is the only one I have ever recovered from a deer. Every other deer I have ever shot with both that rifle, and my 50 caliber flintlock which I load with 60 grains of FFFg, have always been complete pass throughs. All have been shot behind the shoulder except for the one which I recovered the ball. It was shot in the neck.



Very cool picture-I recovered a .490 ball from a doe one year-it was double lunged and was pretty much still all togather -just flat on one side-I keep it down at the cabin.

One of my huntin buddies has had bad experiences with Powerbelts also.  For In-lines Dad and I have had very good luck with Hornady XTP .44 cal pistol Bullets with a Sabot in front of 100 grains of powder.  We have recovered 3 of these and they expand well but stay togather pretty good.  One time Dad hit a doe and not sure how it happened but the bullet hit the spine and ran up the middle of it for about a foot.  We found it when butchering it.  For shots 100 yards and under these have worked well for us.


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## collardncornbread (Sep 30, 2012)

Before we had inlines we debated weather we should use pillow ticking or our shirt tails for patches. Bore butter or spit patches. .45-.50-or .54--. all the t.c. rifles came with a bullet mould in the box. and many of them was only kits. 
We fired them out every eavening after the hunt, and washed them that night. fluffed them out the next morning before the hunt. We sat around the fire and compared what we had in our possibles bag. If you are old enough to remember. And we all had fun. We all hit, and we all missed.
Some used round balls, some R.E.A.L. bullets, and some the Maxi.
The real question was will it fire every time. did you tap the side.
Keep your powder dry..your knife sharp...and shoot straight. Black Powder season as well as bow and arrow season is the season we sharpen our hunting skills. We enjoy the forest while the rest of the cousins look for 30 round clips, and C.B. Radios.
It DONT matter what bullet we choose. As much as it matters we have fun, and keep it going for our sons, and grandsons. 
Yep. I got an inline nowdays and shoot some imitation powder.. But I cant bring myself to spend $1 per bullet. No matter if they do pass through and whistle dixie and glow in the dark.
Good huntin to youns all.


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## ReelAffair (Sep 30, 2012)

collardncornbread said:


> Before we had inlines we debated weather we should use pillow ticking or our shirt tails for patches. Bore butter or spit patches. .45-.50-or .54--. all the t.c. rifles came with a bullet mould in the box. and many of them was only kits.
> We fired them out every eavening after the hunt, and washed them that night. fluffed them out the next morning before the hunt. We sat around the fire and compared what we had in our possibles bag. If you are old enough to remember. And we all had fun. We all hit, and we all missed.
> Some used round balls, some R.E.A.L. bullets, and some the Maxi.
> The real question was will it fire every time. did you tap the side.
> ...


 I remember those times well.  My first was an old kentucky rifle, that barrel seemed like it was 6' long. Then i bought a CVA kit.  After that one it was a T/C Grey Hawk (a cap carbine), and finally the in-line.


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 30, 2012)

collardncornbread said:


> Before we had inlines we debated weather we should use pillow ticking or our shirt tails for patches. Bore butter or spit patches. .45-.50-or .54--. all the t.c. rifles came with a bullet mould in the box. and many of them was only kits.
> We fired them out every eavening after the hunt, and washed them that night. fluffed them out the next morning before the hunt. We sat around the fire and compared what we had in our possibles bag. If you are old enough to remember. And we all had fun. We all hit, and we all missed.
> Some used round balls, some R.E.A.L. bullets, and some the Maxi.
> The real question was will it fire every time. did you tap the side.
> ...



Sounds like our deer camp now.


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## bonecollector150 (Oct 8, 2012)

*Back When*

I remember pulling the trigger and there would be a sizzle between the cap snap and the boom. We would go down and hunt this WMA near I-20 where there was a sign in hunt for 3 days. This would give us a change to gun hunt early. Them were the good old days.
As far as what round I shoot in my Thompson encore, I shoot the Hornady Sabot 50cal 44-240 HP/XTP, I use the .50cal green/bullet size .429-.430 (.44cal) High Pressure Sabots with 150 grains of powder they are accurate and they pass trough at 175yds


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## JetFuelBurner (Oct 15, 2012)

collardncornbread said:


> Before we had inlines we debated weather we should use pillow ticking or our shirt tails for patches. Bore butter or spit patches. .45-.50-or .54--. all the t.c. rifles came with a bullet mould in the box. and many of them was only kits.
> We fired them out every eavening after the hunt, and washed them that night. fluffed them out the next morning before the hunt. We sat around the fire and compared what we had in our possibles bag. If you are old enough to remember. And we all had fun. We all hit, and we all missed.
> Some used round balls, some R.E.A.L. bullets, and some the Maxi.
> The real question was will it fire every time. did you tap the side.
> ...




Somebody pleeeeze buy this man a beer!!!


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## ALB (Oct 15, 2012)

*Pb .50*

I shot a small doe this past weekend 30 yds in the shoulder. Knocked here on the ground. she got up staggering and ran off. I found a few drops of blood and no deer. 245 gr with 100 gr of powder.


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## bwbb88 (Oct 15, 2012)

I shot a doe this weekend right behind the shoulder with a 250r power belt and didnt find any blood until I walked up on her still standing up and staggering, I could see where I shot her before she ran off. This was after 30 minutes of shooting her, she ran another couple hundred yards into the neighboring property and we never found her for lack of blood. I'll never shoot power belts again.


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## watermedic (Oct 15, 2012)

Any animal shot through both lungs will die in seconds!! Not minutes or hours.

Come on folks, most people on here have been around the hunting scene for a while.


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## robinsonfam1 (Oct 15, 2012)

i took two does last year with 100g of powder, power belt HP's in .50 cal.

niether bullet exited, niether stayed intact by any means. both completly fragmented, both does dropped. side by side as matter of fact. (they came in together, #2 didnt run after first dropped. lol)

im not overly inpressed with them by any means, but....100% of the energy was dumped into the vitals, and fragging the way they did causes more internal trauma. will i keep using them???? until the pack runs out, and i find another round that is just as accurate. (wicked accurate from my CVA)


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## killerv (Oct 15, 2012)

I've never had an issue with them. Never lost a deer with them. 

It doesn't bother me if it doesn't pass through. Staying in the deer means that deer took all of that bullets energy and that is devestasting.


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## Skyjacker (Oct 17, 2012)

Power belts are junk.  The TC Shockwaves perform better, And Barnes perform even better.


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## davemann16 (Oct 18, 2012)

*so far so good*

I'm new to muzzleloading and have only used the 245 grain powerbelts recommended to me at my gunstore. I spun a 150 lb hog from about 50 yards with one. No exit hole but the boar didn't go anywhere.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Oct 18, 2012)

Skyjacker said:


> Power belts are junk.  The TC Shockwaves perform better, And Barnes perform even better.



I bought some of the Shockwaves and sighted in with them.  They grouped well, but they are far and away the hardest to ram down the barrel of any sabot I've ever used.  And yes, the barrel is clean.


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## FrontierGander (Oct 18, 2012)

shockwaves have just about as bad of a track record as powerbelts do. Shockwave horror stories, No bullet expansion, pencil entrance/exit, very little to no blood, Bullet blew up, no exit, no blood, ect.

Barnes I would agree, are the best out there but expensive. A great alternative would be the Harvester Scorpion PT Gold in 260 or 300 grain and very cheap in price.


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## ReelAffair (Oct 18, 2012)

FrontierGander said:


> shockwaves have just about as bad of a track record as powerbelts do. Shockwave horror stories, No bullet expansion, pencil entrance/exit, very little to no blood, Bullet blew up, no exit, no blood, ect.
> 
> Barnes I would agree, are the best out there but expensive. A great alternative would be the Harvester Scorpion PT Gold in 260 or 300 grain and very cheap in price.


 I haven't heard any horror stories from the shockwaves.  On the one deer that i shot that did not drop in it's tracks, there was a blood trail a blind man could follow.


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## tbrown913 (Oct 19, 2012)

used a 45 cal powerbelt aerotip on an 8 point last night.  just clipped the back of the front shoulder mid way up the deer.  destroyed the lungs.  he ran less than 60 yards, good blood trail all the way to him!


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## Nannyman (Oct 19, 2012)

Many will never be convinced of PB failures. Thats ok. This is America. Truth is there are many, many stories about PB not passin thru and not leaving a blood trail.
My advice is that you "Always" want a blood trail. If you dont the bullet may have failed, or the exit has clogged. Pass thru is the only way to have a blood trail.


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## FrontierGander (Oct 19, 2012)

or the shot placement just sucked and there was no blood due to the placement.

Check out my hunt with the 250 Aerolite and tell me powerbelts wont kill when the shooter can actually hit what hes aiming at.
http://youtu.be/rmYgxUVAx14


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## watermedic (Oct 19, 2012)

All about shot placement.

I have never lost a deer yet with powerbelts. I have also never lost one with 370 grain maxi balls out of a TC Hawken.

Maybe I am just lucky?


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## FireHunter174 (Oct 20, 2012)

All of my powerbelts have done their job over the past 6 or 7 years I've been using them.  Killed deer and hog without having to track any of them.  No pass thru means they are doing their job- expanding and shocking their intended target.
Not promoting powerbelts, I just got a deal on a bunch of them a few years ago, so that's what I use.  Patch n' ball, conicals and PB's have all worked well for me in the past.

Shot one near the top of the shoulders last Sunday and dropped it in its tracks.  Tried to blame the gun for hitting high, and shot it later to make sure of my suspicion.  Ended up being my human error- the usual cause of our hunting mishaps.


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## GTHunter007 (Oct 21, 2012)

I shot a 187lb buck last Wed. evening.  No blood, nothing.  we searched for 2 hours and determined it to be a miss but would come back in the AM to search again.  After 2 hours of searching still nothing we dicided to walk one last trail out and 240 yards from the shot we found the buck piled up.  One hole right behind the shoulder...right where you want it, and another hole in his rear hind quarter.  The shot was clear and we still do not know how there were two holes in this buck.  There was barely any blood where he died either.  That was the last time a power belt will go through one of our muzzle loaders.  

6 years ago I shot one at about 40 yards high in the shoulder and he turned a flip in the air and never moved.  But I am not risking what happened last week to happen ever again.


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## benosmose (Oct 21, 2012)

Tracked a deer for a fella last wed he had shot the deer broad side with a powerbelt on top of 100 grains of triple seven the bullet dead centered the shoulder and broke it but stopped short of the vitals the deer was 40 yards from him .It took 600 yards of the dog tracking no blood before we bayed the deer and shot him again He was chasing the dog all over the place on three legs just dragging that front one.All this after the deer had layed up from 7 that tues eve till 12 noon wed so I was not impressed with that bullet I will stick to Hornandy 45s in a sabot.


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## JeffJLH (Oct 22, 2012)

watermedic said:


> Any animal shot through both lungs will die in seconds!! Not minutes or hours.
> 
> Come on folks, most people on here have been around the hunting scene for a while.



The bullet has to pass through AND hit both lungs. I've recovered PB's in the opposing lung before. This was on a small buck about 40 yards broadside with 100 grains of powder. Deer didnt bleed out the entry hole at all and ran into some thick briars. He didnt run far and luckly we heard him crash and knew where to look. IMO PB's expand to fast, using all the energy on the expasion won't allow em to pass through. I'm no bullet expert in any way, shape or form.

I shoot T/C's 250 grain shock waves now. I've upgraded muzzleloaders and shoot 150 grains of powder. I shot a small 8pt last year high on the shoulder and it pushed all the way through. He was a little less then 100 yards from me.  

I'll never shoot Power Belts again, neither will any of the guys I hunt with.


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