Powerbelt Bullets?

[crowebird]

I was wondering if anybody shoots them and what you think of them?

[.300Savage]

I have been using them for 3 years now. I like them a lot. They seem to be very accurate, but have a lot of knock-down power due to their heavy weight.


Rocco

[gates]

I use them and like them. I found that in my CVA .45 bolt that 90 grains of pyro and the 225? grain hollow point shot 3" groups at 150 yards. with about 9" of vert deviation. I shot a 185lb buck last year at 75 yards and he went about 40 yrds and fell. heart lung shot and when I dressed it it was a hard hit. barely a piece of lung left. I bought some of the 195 grain PB's this year and some of the pyro pellets, 30 and 50 grain. I will post the best combo I find for my gun when I shoot it with the pellets and the new lighter PB bullets. Possibly next week. I tried some of the PB's with the plastic point and they did not shoot as well as the hollow points in my gun??? don't know why. I think I may have been deforming the plastic tip when I was pushing it in???? I also tried some of the cleen shot and it did not shoot consistantly. I was getting 15" groups at 75 yards.

James

[Flintlock54]

I tried them in my Black Diamond 50 cal and could not get consistant groups at 100 yards. I suspect blow-by as the culprit. I now use a 300 grain XTP 44 cal pistol bullet from Hornady and a green sabot pushed by 90 grains of Triple 7 = cloverleafs at 100 yards. Salty told me this AM that I could use his mold and mold some 44 cal 310 grain pistol bullets. I've only got 5 left. If I get them molded the XTP's will stay in the locker.

[ez]

i shoot a 45cal. 255gr maxi ball out of a hopkins-allen under-striker put-it yourself together kit w/60gr.powder and have been using it the last 10 years with no optics and killed deer almost every year..........last year i tried the new powerbelt bullets that they offered out of the cabela's cat. and they shot very well on paper............i have not used them on any flesh yet to see how they operate in the field........50-100 yds......right on the money........i'm glad to see someone else shooting a 45 cal......a pretty potent round in my book............never had one get away.......neck-em!!.........i still like the maxi and have not decided to use the powerbelt in the field.........ez

[Flintlock54]

ez:
I had a HA several years ago, even shot a few matches with it. I can't remember the load I had for it but it was a fairly accurate gun. I sold it because my forearm was getting eat up with cap splatter. Wasn't noticable in the winter with longsleves but very noticable in the summer.

[Big58cal]

I've tried them, but don't like them. The ones I tried were in a Knight .54 cal. and were hollow point. I tried different powder combinations (all FFG black powder) from 55-100 grains in 5 grain increments. Nothing really worked with them. I finally got down to about a 4" group at 50 yards (I know, that sucks) and decided to hunt with it. Shot 3 deer last year with them. One was a facing body shot, one was a neck shot, 1 was a broadside lung shot. None of them really impressed me.

The best bullet that I've ever shot out of that gun was a 350 gr.(?) lead bullet in a purple sabbot. They were from Knight and they quit marketing them. I can't find the things anywhere! Talk about lethal!!!!! Clover leafs at 100 yds. and flat knocked the crap out of whatever it hit. Not to mention being able to bust through brush with little deflection.

I'm going to try some .45 cal Barnes X-pander bullets this year. I've always heard good things about them and have been wanting to try them. That's probably what I'm going to be doing tomorrow (if it's not raining).

[Boss Gobbler]

Hey Big I shoot a bufflo bullet that sound a lot like what you used before, except they have a yellow jacket. If you get a chance check them out.

[Big58cal]

Where can you get them at?

[Boss Gobbler]

I think I got mine from Redhead or Cabelas. They have a picture of them in the catalog. They are all I shoot.

[gates]

Shot the new 195 grain PB hollow points last night. I tried a few different powder loads but ended up with 130 grains of pyro pellets and the 195 grain PB HP. I shot a clover leaf at 150 yards just to the left of dead center. At 100 yards I am shooting just over 3" high and 1.5" high at 50 yards. Didn't have time to move the target out further. I am shooting .45 cal. CVA hunter bolt mag. I like this gun and load. Now to find an old buck and get him within 150 yards.

James

[ez]

just my opinion; but you're using to much powder ( pellet ) and not getting a full burn and blowing half the powder out the end of the barrel..........is this factory spec you are shooting? .....if it is keep on what your doing...........with my 45-cal i shoot 60gr. with a 255gr. bullet and getting good results..........ez

[gates]

ez,

I shot with 150 grains and it was inconsistant and blew flames. Last year I was shooting 90gr loose powder and 225 grain PB HP with best results. I shot 90, 100, 120, 130 ,and 150 with the 195 gr PB's. The 130 gr load shot 1 " higher at 150 yrds than the 120 grain load. So I think I am burning some of the powder or the 2 50gr and 1 30 gr pellet combination burns faster than the 4 30 gr pellet load????? When I shot 150 grains the pattern at 150 yards went to over 9". With 130 grains of pellets I shot 2 3-shot groups at 150 yards. One of the groups was just over 1" and the other had two holes touching and a hole about 3" low left(was probably me). I shot with 3 other guys at targets from 50 to 150 yards. The only other guy that patterned well at 150 yards was shooting 100 grains and a 295 grain PB HP in a .50 cal Remmington. He had over 9" of vertical travel between 50 and 150 yards, 2" high at 50, dead on at 100, and 7" low at 150. I have about 3". I may be blowing some of the powder out the barrel but the gun is consitant, fast, and easy to reload with that setup. We were benching the guns down.

I think I will like the pellets for hunting.

PS. I shot 31 shots that afternoon, over 6 hours of shooting, I bought 40 bullets. I've got 9 left but I only need 1 more!!!!!

James

[shogan]

I treid them tongiht. Boy was I excited to see that sleek looking bullett and couldn't wait to get in the gun. Shot 20 rounds of the old sabot to use it up and make sure I was shooting right. At 50 yards figured I should be on the paper so in went the 100 grains of pyro pelletes and the new 195 grain 50 caliber powerbelt in my cabelas in line special 50 caliber gun. Boy it really went right down to the bottom it didn't slide down on it's on accord but I didn't have to break my back either. Put my cap on and pabloom off it went. First thing I noticed was the lessor degree of kick (attributed it to the lower grains) but No hole anywhere. Hum I thought. So I loaded it up again shabloom again lessor kick and it looks like significant powder shot out the front taking a nose dive. Again nothing on paper. So I went back to the sabots and it shot like always. Whats up! Do you all experience less kick? Do they go in your gun easier than sabots? Do they shoot so much different I need to start back at 10 yards? Somebody please help!

[shogan]

Sorry that was 245 Grain aero tip 50 caliber Powerbelt bullets

[Big58cal]

Yep, start back at close range. In my opinion, the things suck! Don't pattern that well and don't do a very good killing job. Granted, dead is dead, but you would think with a neck shot that some bones would break!

[shogan]

Maybe next year Im not going through all the freaking ammo again. shoot clean shoot clean shoot clean

[shogan]

No I tried them again. These thing just come out of my barrell to easy they poof right out no pressure build up. It comes out before the the powder burns. I can't figure it. Maybe I got a bad batch going to call powerbelt.

[LoneRanger]

Your probably shooting the wrong caliber.....dah!!!!

[Multidigits]

Shogan, sounds like you've cleaned your m.l. too much. It's now a .51 caliber. Lay 'em on the ground and swedge 'em with a hammer before you load them!

[gates]

My wife took a 120+" 8pt this weekend with me on our farm. It was at 80 yards and she hit him high and back. The bullet went just under the spine. The buck ran 75-80 yards and crashed up in a brush pile. It weighed 235 lbs live and 180 lbs dressed. It has a 17.5" spread and was 3.5 years old. She was shooting my .45 cal hunter bolt CVA with 130 grains powder and 195 grain power belt hollow point. The gun was loaded friday night and shot sunday evening. The gun was packed around and pulled up in to some tree stands with a string, barrel down. The bullet and load performed well.

James

[Multidigits]

Gates--Good deal on the buck! Sounds like a pretty good one. DON'T let Shogan clean your rifle!!!!

[shogan]

LoL,

How would one turn a 50 cal into a 51 cal with brush, jag, and solvent. ((Maybe I should not have used that drimmel to polish those swirrelly defective marks out of the inside of barrell darndest things you ever did see)).

[raktrakr]

well im shootin the 225 pb hp's and have tried different loads and cant seem to get any consistancy'85gr seem to work best but still not consistant.i read gate's post about the cleanshot not shootin consistant. could this be my problem or should i try different grain bullets. BTW, i bought the CVA firebolt ultramag .45

[shogan]

For sale .51 cal In Line. Be the only guy on the block to have one!

[shogan]

Am talking to Powerbelt now it will be interesting to hear what they say. Whats more likely my 50 cal in line from Brolin arms that shoots sabots ok is slightly out of Cal or. The Bullet from powerbelt is slightly flawed. One thing I notice is that Powerbelt claims the bullet is suppose to expand and meet the Barrell Cal(That clearly is not happening with me. Maybe I'm putting the bullets in wrong side up.

[shogan]

Hum after powerbelt asked the questions about what color skirt, size of bullet, what gun and how much powder (basically looking for user error). they quit asking questions and stopped emailing.

My 50 cal jag with a piece of cloth fits in it nicely

[thunderstorm]

Shot one deer last year and one this muzzleloading season with the powerbelts and they worked great.
All 50 Cal rifles are not made the same. My wife's TC Firehawk is alot tighter than my Knight Wolverine. No problem with the powerbelts so far..knock on wood.

[shogan]

Powerbelt still not talking.

[raktrakr]

i would say they're crap but i wont. my ML just doesnt like them. i done some shootin yesterday and at 40yds i get better groups with ball and patch. the thing is, ive heard the round ball wont hold accuracy with todays inlines so ill be trying some type of sabots

raktrakr
>>----->

[Multidigits]

I use a 385 gr. Buffalo bullet. It doesn't have the long range of a sabot, but they are deadly on deer at 100 yards on in. Very accurate with a 90 to 100 grain load.

[raktrakr]

that all im lookin for.anything past 100yds ill buy a centerfire

raktrakr
>>----->

[ahood]

I have used them for about a year now and I get great results! I have a Knight "American Knight" .50 caliber and I shoot 100gr. of Pyrodex powder and 295gr. HP Copper-Clad bullets. I get great groups out to about 120 yards.They just blow sabots out of the water when it comes to accuracy.

-Andy

Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It is much more important than that!

[Big58cal]

I'll stick with the Barnes X-pander bullets! Shot 4 deer with them this year. The first 1 dropped in it's tracks, the second was behind the shoulder and ran about 40 yds, the 3rd & 4th were neck shots, with the last one traveling through the air about 3-4 feet (side ways)after being hit from 80 yds away! These were the 325 gr. bullets.

Much better group and damage than the Powerbelts.