Powerbelt aerolites

[Ladys man]

I'm a fan of powerbelts and was wanting to try these out this year, hoping for a better blood trail, seeing if anyone has any reviews on them

 

[UpperTully]

Never seen a PB leave a blood trail worth a flip. I'd be curious to know as well.

 

[mike243]

It has been my experience that blood trail will be from 1 side most of the time but deer rarely makes it out of site ymmv

 

[Boll Weevil]

Used them for years and I'm not a PB fan. Poor penetration, poor blood trail, and every deer I ever shot ran further than he/she should have.

 

[Mike Belt]

I can't remember there ever being a more conflicting muzzleloader bullet than the PB. I've used them and they were very accurate. They also dropped the deer shot within feet of where they were shot. They also never made it all the way through the deer and seldom was there any type of blood trail. I loved the results but feared what could happen on any given shot and potentially losing a deer is not what I want to feel like before ever taking the shot.

 

[ROVERBOY]

I've never used them but, may try'em this year. I've got a pack of them that I got a while back.

 

[Hardwoodmaterials]

Too many really good bullets out there to be using PBs in my opinion.

Try BArnes Expanders. You will never look back.

Here is a couple 250gr Expanders that I got back from chest shots. Both were found around the hams on the deer. I have yet to get one back from a broadside shot. So far all have left blood trails that looked like they came straight out of a horror movie.

 

[Ladys man]

Does the sabot leave residue in the rifling, how hard are they to load?

 

[UpperTully]

Too many really good bullets out there to be using PBs in my opinion.

Try BArnes Expanders. You will never look back.

There's so much truth to this statement!

SST's are good ones as well.

 

[mattmillard510]

Does the sabot leave residue in the rifling, how hard are they to load?

They're all going to foul the barrel. In my experience, when I still gun hunted, the Expander MZ's were the most devastating I've used and I used a lot. You would struggle loading them after 3 or so shots but you shouldn't be shoot much more than that anyway.

Everyone liked Powerbelts when they came out because of the easy loading, but that easy loading also hurt accuracy and velocity. I've killed deer with them but they were all very poor blood trails.

I'll honestly say that the TC Shockwaves were the most accurate I've shot out of any of the muzzle loaders I had but they blew right through the animal with little to no expansion.

The Barnes, truly are the best. The Hornsby SST's have a good reputation too


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[Ladys man]

Can u change sabots out on them? Been researching the Barnes and some reviews say to change the color of the sabot? What does that do?

 

[gunrunner]

I am shooting 245 grain powerbelts out of a TC Encore 50 cal.I shot a 3 shot group at 150 yards that measured less than 1".The accuracy is definitely there,but you all are worrying me about bullet performance now.I would like to here more from some of you about your experience with these bullets.I tried the Barnes bullets and they were very hard to load and shot terribly out of the same rifle that I shot the 1" group with.I would appreciate your advice.

 

[Bgbuckhntr84]

I am shooting 245 grain powerbelts out of a TC Encore 50 cal.I shot a 3 shot group at 150 yards that measured less than 1".The accuracy is definitely there,but you all are worrying me about bullet performance now.I would like to here more from some of you about your experience with these bullets.I tried the Barnes bullets and they were very hard to load and shot terribly out of the same rifle that I shot the 1" group with.I would appreciate your advice.

The spitfire T-ez are much easier to load...the Sabot is smaller than the regular expander.

 

[Hardwoodmaterials]

Can u change sabots out on them? Been researching the Barnes and some reviews say to change the color of the sabot? What does that do?

The sabot that comes with the Expanders are tough to load in my gun. I swap them out with the Harvester short black sabots and they load much easier. You really just have to try them in your gun. The ones that come with the Expanders may fit your barrel fine but if they are too tight the Harvester short black sabots are a hair smaller. If the Harvester short sabots are still too tight you can try the crush rib sabots. Just remember you want them to be snug so they won't unseat themselves if the gun gets bumped or jarred around.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I would like to here more from some of you about your experience with these bullets.

Listen to these folks...it's the voice of collective experience...don't do it. Go to a Barnes or Hornady.

 

[Timber Ghost]

I shoot the 295 gr, never had any bad experiences with the heavier bullet.

 

[Mike Belt]

PB bullets are very accurate and will kill deer all day long. I hope those that use them never lose a deer... for that matter with any bullet or any weapon. The more deer you kill the better the odds become that you may face that situation one day. They have a notoriety. My advise is to get with some of your buddys that shoot different bullets and everyone swap some out at the range just to see what combos might work in your rifles...ones without the notoriety of "no pass throughs". This way you don't break the bank on buying a bunch of bullets you may never use while experimenting with bullet combinations you might otherwise have never tried.

 

[Deer Assassin]

348 or 405 are the only powerbelts worth a crap

i have killed plenty with 245 and 295 also