# Powerbelt hollow points



## outdoorsman 52 (Oct 1, 2012)

What do you think of these bullets?


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## Hooty Hoot (Oct 1, 2012)

outdoorsman 52 said:


> What do you think of these bullets?



Not much. Never seen a Powerbelt provide an exit wound.


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## hoochman2 (Oct 1, 2012)

run from them


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## outdoorsman 52 (Oct 1, 2012)

I shot two deer and both hit the ground but no blood what so ever . Just looking to see if it was just where I hit or if other people where haveing the same prob.


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## tbrown913 (Oct 2, 2012)

of the four i have shot with them out of my .45, one dropped where it stood, the other three ran.  I never looked for blood, because they all fell within twenty yards, and I could see them from where i shot them.  lots of complaints about them, but, its the same thing with why people, me included, dont shoot core lokt bullets.  we think that there is better out there, even though what we are using works.


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## snuffy (Oct 2, 2012)

tbrown913 said:


> of the four i have shot with them out of my .45, one dropped where it stood, the other three ran.  I never looked for blood, because they all fell within twenty yards, and I could see them from where i shot them.  lots of complaints about them, but, its the same thing with why people, me included, dont shoot core lokt bullets.  we think that there is better out there, even though what we are using works.



I love them 180 grain Core Lokt in my 06. But won't use ANY Power Belt again. I like 2 holes in my game.


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## Back_40 (Oct 2, 2012)

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=711506


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## Skyjacker (Oct 2, 2012)

I gave up on power belts 7 years ago after three specific instances of perfect shots without pass throughs. Deer died and found but their performance was weak in my opinion.  Switched to Thompson Shockwaves and never looked back.


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## tcward (Oct 2, 2012)

Pure hype and most of all JUNK!


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## 44magpastor (Oct 3, 2012)

outdoorsman 52 said:


> What do you think of these bullets?



Will never again use a Powerbelt bullet.

Nearly lost my first muzzleloader buck because of them.


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## RipperIII (Oct 3, 2012)

44magpastor said:


> Will never again use a Powerbelt bullet.
> 
> Nearly lost my first muzzleloader buck because of them.



funny, I killed my first buck ever with them...


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## RipperIII (Oct 3, 2012)

44magpastor said:


> Will never again use a Powerbelt bullet.
> 
> Nearly lost my first muzzleloader buck because of them.



funny, I killed my first buck ever with them...note the blood just under the near shoulder and splattered under my sling


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## Luckybuck (Oct 3, 2012)

I use a 45 cal with hollow points and have taken many deer using powerbelts.  Most of time deer drops in tracks, if not maybe 10-20 steps and they are down.


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## Skyjacker (Oct 3, 2012)

RipperIII said:


> funny, I killed my first buck ever with them...note the blood just under the near shoulder and splattered under my sling



I've killed deer with them.  But it took that long before Shockwaves were mass sold.  Power belt performance stinks.

I shot this buck in 2006 in Oklahoma which was my last year using Powerbelts. First shot was a double lung hit where the bullet didn't exit after it passed through and lodged in the bucks opposite shoulder. The deer started grunting loud and walking away with his head down.  I poured a quick load in the barrel, ramrodded it down, put the gun up and shot again.  Second shot was quartering away entered from the opposite side as the first hit, hit the liver and went through lungs. No exit wound. The deer walked 15 yards, head down and making the most awful noise you can imagine.

I put another load in my gun, got the sights on him, and right before I pulled the trigger he finally fell over.  When we cut him open you could see that the power belts didn't have any controlled expansion. It was like shooting a deer with either a field tip arrow or #7 shot, depending on if you hit a rib going in.


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## Buford_Dawg (Oct 4, 2012)

*Between my 2 sons and I...*

we have taken 8 deer with the 245 grain powerbelts pointed.  5 pass thrus and 3 on the opposite shoulder.  Farthest deer ran 15 steps.  I would rather a deer fall within sight than run without a blood trail, therefore we continue to use them.  We have never lost a deer using them and have never had to track a deer with them.  They are the most accurate for our rifles after much testing.  We will continue to use them until they fail us.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Oct 4, 2012)

snuffy said:


> I love them 180 grain Core Lokt in my 06. But won't use ANY Power Belt again. I like 2 holes in my game.



What ???????????


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## snuffy (Oct 4, 2012)

7Mag Hunter said:


> What ???????????



See post #5


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## stsid1 (Oct 4, 2012)

I will keep using my T/C  shockwaves or Hornadys XTP. Never liked the design of Powerbelt.


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## gahunter12 (Oct 6, 2012)

Never used the hollow points, but I have shot 6 deer with 245gr Powerbelts with 6 pass throughs. 2 of the deer were shoulder hits that messed up both front shoulders. After this season I'm going to try something else. I can only get 2- 2.5" groups at 100 yrds with Powerbelts.


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## Addicted (Oct 6, 2012)

I've been shooting the Powerbelt .50 cal/245 grain Aerotips for many years backed with 100 grains of pyrodex pellets.

I've been very successful with them and killed a bunch of deer with them. I've never lost a deer because they've always dropped instantly or fell very close.  Always with complete pass throughs.

As a matter of fact, I just picked up another pack today.


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## georgiahunter21 (Oct 7, 2012)

*power belt 295 gr*

shot them the last few years, i have killed deer with them but like alot of people said never found an exit wound.switched to solid bullets last year after having a deer last that i shot at 40 yards. very little blood after the shot


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## deast1988 (Oct 8, 2012)

Iv killed 7 deer with the 295gr power belts a combo of aero tips and hollow points. These were out of a black diamond and 150grs of 777 wounds were sporadic if anything from grapefruit exits to no exits to pencil hole exits. But I've seen the light Barnes spitfires 250grs all copper these things cause all kinds of internal damages and constant expansion over what I've seen with the power belts. 3 deer 3 Drts with the Barnes and 150grs of 777


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## shaun cichols (Oct 8, 2012)

every thing ive shot with them is drt!


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## pstrahin (Oct 8, 2012)

This is an interesting post.  I just bought a CVA .50 Cal Buckhorn.  It came with literature boasting powerbelt to be the best muzzle loader ammo on the market.  So what do you guys recommend?


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## deast1988 (Oct 9, 2012)

*Try them all*



pstrahin said:


> This is an interesting post.  I just bought a CVA .50 Cal Buckhorn.  It came with literature boasting powerbelt to be the best muzzle loader ammo on the market.  So what do you guys recommend?



Each gun is different! Iv tried power belt 270 platniums 295 hollows and aerotips. Shockwave 250 ballistic tips. I am now shooting the 250gr Barnes spitfire. It's personal chioce/ range time 1 might be the cats meow while others might not group close to point of aim just try a few see which your gun likes best. All will kill.


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## kurzrecord99 (Oct 11, 2012)

I've killed several deer with the hollow points with no pass through and no blood trail granted they didn't go far I changed to the aero tip and have killed 9 all with pass through. In my honest opinion the hollow points are junk but the aero tips perform great


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## pseshooter (Oct 12, 2012)

I'm not sure there has been such a split of likes and dislikes about a bullet like there is with powerbelts. I'm shooting and have been for years the 295 hp. Great accuracy and pretty descent performance. I have never lost a deer and tracking has not been much of a issue. Most fall drt. I was actually thinking about changing to the Barnes this year but nobody around here carries them or much of anything else for that matter. I did read a interesting article about the pb  terminal performance was best when shooting 100 grains of powder or less with 90 grains being the best. I'm not sure why that would matter. I will try to find and post a link. I shoot 2 50 grain pellets of pyro and a 295 hp. We will see if they work again this year. Hopefully in the am.


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## elmer_fudd (Oct 12, 2012)

Seems the magnum charges cause bullet to expand too soon, so not enough penetration.  I am going to try a 90 Gr charge with the 245 gr HPs.. and will probably try the Aero tips.

Here is a good post:
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/black-powder/222498-how-use-powerbelt-bullet-correctly.html


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## pseshooter (Oct 12, 2012)

That's the article I read.....interesting read.


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## Ronbow (Oct 12, 2012)

*Never had a prob with them and very acurate all this pass thru talk folks, its a 1200 to 1500 fps maybe rifle. Its not your 06 thats shoots 2900 fps ya know. ya just need better shot placement says Ronbow*


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## RNC (Oct 12, 2012)

If ya bust that heart its over ... no matter if its a powerbelt or not ;]


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## buck central (Oct 12, 2012)

Tried at first to shoot them from my Cva Wolf, couldnt get them to pattern at all, went to the thompson shockwave super glides 250 grains. getting 1 inch groups at 100 yards, gave my powerbelts to my buddy who has no problems with them, go figure???


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## Jdgreen (Oct 14, 2012)

My hunting buddy shot a deer yesterday with a 295 grain powerbelt.  The deer did a back flip, fell and layed there for about a minute.  The next thing he knew, it was back on its feet.  This was a really good size buck (8 or 10) 130 -140 from his description.

The deer ran (or crashed) down into a swamp with waste high undergrowth.  We looked for blood and did not find a single drop.  He aimed for the shoulder at 75 yards.  

We called a tracking dog service from GON.  He said if he could not find the deer, there would be no charge.  We searched for 6 hours and came up empty handed.  

Now waiting on the buzzards..  How do we feel about powerbelt.. Let's just say we'll be trying something else.

There was zero blood where the deer was standing. No hair on the ground, nothing.


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## JetFuelBurner (Oct 14, 2012)

I didn't plan on this being this long but once I got typing...

I wish I could say how they did on game for me but my CVA Acura reeealy didn't like any of the powerbelts I fed it.  I went through plenty of cash on 5-6 different flavors of the powerbelts, a full can of Black Horn 209 powder and a box of 209M primers.  Groups were all the size of a trash can lid at 100yds.  I'm using the Bushnell Trophy XLT ML scope.  No matter what I did, I couldn't get dialed in.  On at 100, waaay off at 200.

I tried heavy, I tried light.  I tried ballistic tipped, I tried hollow point.  They all sucked.

I called powerbelt they provided some info but none seemed to address my problem.  I called Bushnell, all their data used power belt bullets and 777 powder pellets.  Then I spoke with Don at Ram Shot (maker of Black Horn 209).  He spent a half hour on the phone with me.  We spoke about every aspect of shooting this smoke pole.  They never (up to that point) did any of their data gathering using a CVA Acura but he gave me a list of the projectiles that provided the best and more importantly consistent results.  That includes, TC Shockwave SP 250gr, 250gr Parker Jacketed Ballistic Extreme, Hornady SST/ML 250gr, Barnes Spitfire TMZ (250gr?...didn't note the wgt on that one but it seems right).

120gr volume measure of BH209=3 777 Pyrodex Pellets (a magnum load).  Don said to start around 70gr volume measure of BH209 and work your way up 10gr at a time.  Dial in at 100y and then shoot 200y.  If 200y is low, up the powder a tad.  

My Acura liked the TC shockwave so I stopped there.  It was the only one on the list that my shop had and with all the trouble I had, I was days away from the ML opener and still not dialed in after almost 2 months of work.

This year I went out to the range with my data, used last years half used can of BH209 powder, one of the TC Shockwave SP 250gr, a CCI 209M primer and a scope grid target at 100yds (it has a center bull the size of a quarter).  First shot, low 1/4" and right 1/4" at 100yds.  At 200yds, on center and high 2".  I put the gun in the case, went home, hooked up the camper and headed to the club!

The moral of the story is different guns like different fodder.

Although it isn't cheap, I will never give up my BH209 powder.  Very clean, non-corrosive and very consistent.  My gun loves it.

You can reach Don at Ramshot via...duh...
Don@Ramshot.com

He was very helpful and informative with the heart of a teacher.  I don't know if he's still there but if he is, he can give you a ton of info.

Good luck!!!


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## brianmorales189 (Oct 17, 2012)

I have found that powerbelts do not expand very well on impact. I have killed many deer and have lost many deer with them. Even the deer that i did kill the blood trails were very faint. My dad shot this buck on sunday with 250grain powerbelt and he thought he had missed because we could not find a single speck of blood. On Tuesday morning we saw buzzards circling the area and decided to check it out, and there he was 400yds from where he had shot him. Hornady makes alot better of a bullet and are just as accurate.


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