# Sabots vs powerbelts



## RipperIII

I only have experience with the power belts, I like that at 100yds I can shoot 2" groups with a marginal rest, they load easy, and on the two deer that I shot with them, the terminal performance seemed very adequate.

Can someone who has tried both, tell me about the pluses and minuses of the sabots vs. the powerbelts in terms of 
1) terminal performance
2) accuracy
3) ease of loading
4) ease of cleaning


----------



## stevetarget

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There are tons of reasons on both sides to use one or the other. Other than #3, I don't find a difference. The sabots are tighter fitting in one of my guns.


----------



## jdmac

I have tried the power belts but could not get them to group @ all. have a friend that loves them. every gun likes a diferent combination. my tradition pursuit likes the 250 or 300 gr. shockwave sabots. they load easy and group very well, even @ 150-200 yds. also the shockwaves are alot cheaper to shoot. bought mine @ walmart on sale for $9 / box (15).


----------



## Marlin_444

Powerbelts "Load faster than a fat babies diaper" as my t-shirt says... 

No need to swab between critical follow up shots oh and give that a try with a sabot...  

I'd suggets in the off season, try them; you can draw your own conclusions.

See you in the woods!

Ron


----------



## castaway

Powerbelts loaded easy and fast for me, but they would not group worth didly out of my two guns so I switched to sabots and have had good results. That being said like steve stated "if it aint broke dont fix it"


----------



## yellowhammer

I`ve been through 3 smokepoles,two inlines,and a side-hammer.All 3 did best in all areas with Powerbelts.


----------



## photobyty

My CVA Wolf loves the 295gr hollow point Powerbelts & my CVA Optima Pro loves the T/C 250gr spire point sabots...go figure.  My groups improved drastically at 100 yards (touching shots) when I switched the Optima to sabots, but the Wolf hates them. The Platinum Powerbelts offer a little bit better performance if you don't want to change your mojo since you're already meeting with success;


----------



## FrontierGander

all of my rifles love powerbelts. The platinums will hold a heavier charge and + they have a larger gas seal for larger bore rifles.


----------



## WTM45

Sabots can give a better seal for some rifles, which really helps with BH209 results.
The sabot is a component that can be changed and experimented with in order to taylor a load to fit a specific rifle's bore dimensions.  
When you buy a Powerbelt, what you get is what you have.
Some rifles work well with them.  Some don't.


----------



## Jim Thompson

ripper, no reason to change if you are satisfied with teh performance.

when I started in smokers I tried powerbelts as well...and could not get better than about a 5" group.  switched to sabots and shrunk that down and have never looked back.

they both kill deer, just shoot whats good for your gun and you as a shooter


----------



## Phil

Once I started following the mfgs suggestions to use powerbelts, bore butter, etc, I started getting much more consustant shot groups and easier reloading.


----------



## RipperIII

Are the sabots that much more difficult to load/clean?


----------



## Public Land Prowler

1)Had them both knock the fire out of deer and hogs,but rarely got pass thru's with powerbelts

2)The PB's are accurate(for me),but I never tested them past 100yds.I can testify that sabots(atleast t/c shockwaves in a T/C omega,and T/C triumph)are accurate out to 150+

3)The PB's loaded easier for me than any sabot I have used..I was using them in a Traditions buckhunter pro .50 cal.

4)Cleaning seems about the same to me..

I would say if you are shooting a gun with a fast rate of twist like 1:28..my 1st choice would be sabots,then pb's..if you are shooting a slower twist like 1:32 or slower my 1st choice would be the PB's,then sabot's,maybe even a conical...if you are shooting around a 1:48 twist conicals may be best,pb's may do fine,round balls may be fine as well,and 1:60 would be best for round balls..ALL my opinion..from experiences I have had..Hope I helped!


----------



## GA DAWG

You wanna do a test. Get you a big thick phone book. Shot one of each into it. I will never shoot powerbelts. They get to thin to pass through a deer. Paper thin! I killed 2 hogs with one shot with a sabot this yr.


----------



## fishndinty

Even a tight sabot will load easy if you use just a bit of bore butter on the outside of it.

I have had bad experiences with Powerbelts.  Love Shockwaves and the TC hollowpoint 230 grain (my fave load with 100 grains of Blackhorn 209).


----------



## Public Land Prowler

I will agree with the one's who say the pb's flatten out,and don't pass thru..And yes sometimes leave bad blood trails,but I have only needed to blood trail one,and the other 18 or so animals fell in sight.

Here are a few extracted 295gr PB's


----------



## FrontierGander

http://gandersmuzzleloadingblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-did-my-powerbelt-bullet-come-apart.html


----------



## insanehunter

i got alot of tc shockwave 200 gr anybody used them? i havent tryed them yet


----------



## Huntin 4 More

An all copper bullet like a barnes will almost always have better terminal performance than a plated lead bullet like a powerbelt.  Powerbelts are easy to load and gave me great accuracy but the lack of pass throughs and lack of blood trails led me to try Hornadys, then TCs till I finalized on the barnes bullets.  If you are going to shoot powerbelts, go with the heavier ones but I would recommend you find a good copper bullet.

Once you decide on the bullet type, you have to experiment to find the best combination that works in your gun.  My gun hated Hornadys while they shoot great out of my buddy's gun.  The first barnes bullets I got were hard to load so I went to their TEZ bullets which are slightly smaller in diameter.   They group well with three 777 pellets.

I think the powder you use has more to do with cleaning than the bullet does.


----------



## idsman75

I'll just echo what everyone else said.  Go with what works.  The first bullet/sabot/powder combo I tried in my T/C Omega worked like a miracle and I've never looked back.  For the record, though, I always load a second shot after I hit a deer.  Sure, it requires a little bit more umph but not much.  I saw one deer I shot through the pumpstation go 50 yards after the shot.  The rest pretty much drop in place or at least within 10 yards or so.  I always load the second shot after the first deer I ever killed with a ML.  I shot a huge fat Iowa doe.  The doe she was tagging along with turned around and walked back to me just to check things out.  I could have put 2 in the freezer within 5 minutes.


----------



## PWalls

My CVA Optima loves the 295gr PB Aerotip. I get pass throughs on shots with most deer DRT. First year I shot it, I lost a deer shooting the PB HollowPoint because of explosive expansion with no exit wound and no blood trail. I get good accuracy out to 100yds (haven't tried to shoot further than that) with the power belts. I use a spit patch between shots. Even when simulating hunting situations and not doing a spit patch between the 1st and 2nd shot, the accuracy was acceptable. I haven't tried Sabots because like others have said, nothing is broke so I ain't gonna fix it.


----------



## Public Land Prowler

Something I should have mentioned earlier..I was shooting the PB's with 90pyrodex RS powder,and then 100gr of pyrodex pellets.150gr may push the PB's thru..


----------



## MathewsHunter1

I agree with a few that have said to shoot what works, but personally you couldn't give me a pickup load of powerbelts! Yes they are easy to load, because they are designed to, but take into consideration how they are designed. If the gas check on the rear does not function as designed you will have inconsistant pressures. Look at one of the gas checks after it has been fired, do you think that as it came off the bullet it caused the bullet to stray?? Inconsistant contact with the lands and groves will also cause inconsistant accuracy. There are many more bullets out there that will out-perform them on many levels!


----------



## RipperIII

wouldn't that be true for sabots as well?


----------



## 35 Whelen

I use 295 grain Power Belt Hollow Point with 70 grains of Triple 7 in my New England Firearms Huntsman 50 caliber.  Only had to blood trail one doe a long way, but that was my fault, bad shot placement, all others DRT.  I do not shoot over 60 yards with muzzleloader.


----------



## MathewsHunter1

RipperIII said:


> wouldn't that be true for sabots as well?



Sabots are not "Attached" to the bullet as are the gas rings of the PowerBelts. This is not to say that sabots are not the cause of accuracy problems as well.

Misaligned bullets going down the barrel are one of the biggest reasons for strays. Because of the design of Powerbelts they can misalign themselves coming out as well.

This is also why I do not use the Dead Center Duplex Sabots. They have to be loaded "Perfectly" or they will not shoot for ***t.

I am an accuracy nut, but I also don't like waisting money by throwing away sabots that don't load properly!


----------



## White Smoke

Powerbelts would be my last choice due to very poor terminal performance.  Read all the reports about them.  That is the #1 gripe from almost everyone that has used them.  Look at the Barnes line, either the Expander MZ or the Spit-Fire TEZ.  Hornady makes a couple of great muzzleloader bullets too. Probably one of the best is the .452 HP/XTP (which is a pistol bullet), either in 250 or 300-grain versions, in an HPH sabot that fits your rifle, either the HPH-12, HPH-24 or the 3-Petal EZ for really tight barrels.  Don't get the XTP MAG.  They are really not designed for the velocities produced by a muzzleloader and won't perform like the HP/XTP will.  If you don't want to use a sabot, look at the FPB line.  All of these are far better than a Powerbelt.  Use the one that shoots best in your rifle.


----------



## Great_White_Hunter

I shoot the 338gr aerotip Powerbelts with My 100gr of trip7 pellets. My holes are touching at 100 yards. I killed a hog about a month ago. Shoulder shot....It was a OVERKILL


----------



## Robk

I use the 270gr Platinum PB's.  much better results than the copper clads and they have a different base than the coppers.  I think that made the difference in my ML.


----------



## smokeblower

I did not get a pass though on the only deer I have shot with a powerbelt and was lucky to be able to track the deer in mud since there was not blood trail.  I switched to sabots so that I could experiment with different bullets and have settled on the 300 grain speer gold dot.  I shot a good boar this past weekend behind the shoulder and got complete pass through and expansion with 95 grains of 777.  I've also used 45-70 bullets in a .458 orange mmp sabot and have gotten pass though with those as well.


----------



## RipperIII

Robk said:


> I use the 270gr Platinum PB's.  much better results than the copper clads and they have a different base than the coppers.  I think that made the difference in my ML.



I killed two deer last season with the 270gr platinum PB's, 100gr. of 777 pellets.
I hit my buck just behind the elbow at about 65 yds, no pass through but a "red carpet" blood trail".
I hit a doe the next day at about the same distance and got a clean pass through,...either way, I took home fresh meat.


----------

