switched from 245g powerbelts to 300g sst's with 100g 777 - shot several deer with the pb's but never a pass thru & lost 1 doe ( no blood trail) -- went out today for the 1st time with the sst's - very happy with the group - tighter grouping with the sst's then i ever got with the powerbelts. i dont shoot long distances with my mine - farthest i have shot a deer with it is 75 yards - area i muzzleload hunt 100 yards is about as far as you can see.
Powerbelt horror stories
- Thread starter Hook1
- Start date
moondawg
Well-Known Member
Interesting thing about the Powerbelt/Barnes deal.
My first 3 deer I killed were with .45 caliber 275 grain powerbelt aerotip. I watched two bucks run off and die. The other one was a doe that ran behind me, so I didn't see that one. No blood trail needed, but I lucked out in finding the doe, since she didn't run off very far. Neither of them ran very far. I thought I had found THE combo for me. I was impressed and happy.
The next year I shot a doe using the same setup. I don't know whether it was too far of a shot, a bad shot, or what...but the first shot wasn't a kill shot. I thought I had lost it, and began looking at the blood trail, which was very faint. After a while--with help from a dog--I finally found it. I had to shoot it 3 more times for it to die. I was horrified/disappointed by the bad performance.
I didn't know if this was an isolated incident, an error on my part, or what... but I decided to try something different.
Enter the .50 and the Barnes bullets...Knight Ultimate Slam 245 grain spitfires. I shot a buck and it left a good blood trail. I must've left my stand early and probably jumped him, because I found a good sized blood pool where he had laid inside a brushy fenceline. However he had run acroos a big field, leaving a faint blood trail...I actually had to have help with this one. I finally found him a few hours later after searching every bit of the thicket he had run into. I guess he had lost so much blood that he didn't have much of a trail to leave.
I haven't tried the .50 cal powerbelts. I guess they will be next.
My first 3 deer I killed were with .45 caliber 275 grain powerbelt aerotip. I watched two bucks run off and die. The other one was a doe that ran behind me, so I didn't see that one. No blood trail needed, but I lucked out in finding the doe, since she didn't run off very far. Neither of them ran very far. I thought I had found THE combo for me. I was impressed and happy.
The next year I shot a doe using the same setup. I don't know whether it was too far of a shot, a bad shot, or what...but the first shot wasn't a kill shot. I thought I had lost it, and began looking at the blood trail, which was very faint. After a while--with help from a dog--I finally found it. I had to shoot it 3 more times for it to die. I was horrified/disappointed by the bad performance.
I didn't know if this was an isolated incident, an error on my part, or what... but I decided to try something different.Enter the .50 and the Barnes bullets...Knight Ultimate Slam 245 grain spitfires. I shot a buck and it left a good blood trail. I must've left my stand early and probably jumped him, because I found a good sized blood pool where he had laid inside a brushy fenceline. However he had run acroos a big field, leaving a faint blood trail...I actually had to have help with this one. I finally found him a few hours later after searching every bit of the thicket he had run into. I guess he had lost so much blood that he didn't have much of a trail to leave.
I haven't tried the .50 cal powerbelts. I guess they will be next.
statelineRUT
Well-Known Member
Ditto on the 348's.
I have a friend that shoots 295 gr Powerbelts out of his T/C Black Diamond. His shots always drop deer in their tracks and the PB are very accurate in his rifle.
I have the same T/C Black Diamond that refuses to group Powerbelts worth a darn even though we are shooting the same powder charge.
I have the same T/C Black Diamond that refuses to group Powerbelts worth a darn even though we are shooting the same powder charge.
gramps theres a lot of rifles that wont shoot them,my brother tried his best to get his to shoot them no luck.all my rifles are cva & shoot them pretty good.im going to resite mine in with 295g power belts over 130g of pellets.my cva bolthunter loves that load so we'll see what it does.i really want a savage this year but not sure i can sqeek the money out of my checking account with out my wife finding out .on a side note,my bolt hunter said no bullets over 300g when using the full 150g of powder,my elite didnt specify such,mike243
.on a side note,my bolt hunter said no bullets over 300g when using the full 150g of powder,my elite didnt specify such,mike243
iowavf
Well-Known Member
My encore shoots the PB's just fine and I haven't had any issues with lost deer, most drop in their tracks. I tried the shockwaves, but didn't like the idea of needing to clean the barrel between shots. I thought about trying some other bullets but I can't convince myself why as of yet.
I use the shockwaves and can shoot 5-6 without cleaning in between each shot and get a good 1"-1 1/2" group out to 100yds.
I just received the Hornady FPB's from Cabelas. I cant wait to get on the homemade range and do some testing/shooting. I allready placed 120 grains of pellets down the barrel and loaded a bullet to see if it was in fact easy to load as heralded. the first 2 inches was pretty firm but then it scored and went right on down with surprising ease! man i hope this is the killing combination it claims to be!!!
My concern is not how my gun will shoot on the range but rather how it will shoot in the field. I went and bought some of the bonded 300gr Shockwaves yesterday and now I am second guessing myself. They appear to be tremendous for paper shooting. My concern is with shooting at whitetails. From my readings on several sites, the Shockwave passes through but doesnt expand causing little to no trackable blood. Thanks to my trade with Poorboy - I have 2 packs of Powerbelt bullets - 1 pack is a 255gr copper and the other is 270 gr platinum. I dont know which one to use now.
CZ284
Well-Known Member
I shot 245 gr. Powerbelts for a couple years and had many of the same problems others have voiced- all dead deer but no pass throughs and difficult tracking if they got into thinck stuff before dying. I switched to 250 gr. Shockwaves last year (100 gr 777). Only killed three with them, one dropped in his tracks with a high shoulder shot, two does went no more than 60 yards with double lung shots, adequate but not abundnt blood trails. I'm sticking with the shockwaves again this year.
This was all out of a TC Encore 50 cal MZ.
This was all out of a TC Encore 50 cal MZ.
nock
Well-Known Member
I shoot the 295gr PB through my CVA hunterbolt with 100gr pyrodex. Shoots great patterns, I have only shot one deer with the PB's and it dropped in its tracks. His insides looked like a shredder had been inside him.
There is no doubt the powerbelt will kill deer. They just dont produce very good blood trails and where i hunt that is a must. They are not for me.
paradis1142
Well-Known Member
I shot a coyote trough the ribs at about 40 yards with the 245 grain aerotip over 2 triple 7 pellets and the bullet didnt even exit. Switched to the bonded shockwaves last year and had very good results. Two shots two recovered deer with good bloodtrails.
twostates
Well-Known Member
When PB's first came out I shot the 245 gr and the first five I shot all died in their tracks. Not one pass thru. Then I shot a big old doe in a group of six about forty minutes before dark. The deer ran in different directions and after the smoke cleared I didn't have a clue which way she went. Got down & found a couple of drops where I shot her. Found her the next day after the yotes did. She had gone about 80 yards double lunged with no pass thru & no blood trail. Shooting Hornady SST's now.
BowGuy84
Well-Known Member
lost a doe for several days this past year on a good hit. Liver and 1 lung. Never got pass throughs on all four I've killed. I'm changing..not sure to what.
HOOT OWL
Well-Known Member
I've shot 17 deer with powerbelts and never lost one. Some were complete pass thru's, others were not but left a good blood trail and never ran over 60-70 yards. Until I lose a deer, I'm sticking with what works for me.
iowavf
Well-Known Member
I shot the 223 platinums out of my 45 last year and they really did a job on the deer. I shot a buck @ 90 yards, didn't get a pass through, but the bullet was lodged in the ribs. The bullet was about the size of a nickel and made a mess of the heart and lungs, blood everywhere on the ground. No tracking required, deer fell where he was standing.
