Crop Damage Doe and ML

[EatBugs]

so I was helping out a farmer with crop damage permits...

I was using my ML that was sighted in to 100 yards with 100 grains powder and a 270g power belt platinum with aero tip...

I shoot a doe at around 110 yards... when the smoke clears she is just standing there... a few yards from where she was but just standing there... looking at us... I was about to put a second round in her when my friend (without warning) shoots her again with his ML... and gut shoots her because he is hard on his equipment and constantly drops his dang gun(and he wonders why I get pissy if he touches my gun) his bullet entered the gut and exited the hind leg knocking her over... We go up to her to collect and inspect the shots...
I did not miss... there was a nice clean bullet hole in the rib cage right where I was aiming... but no exit wound! and the bullet passed between the ribs... I have never not had a bullet do a pass through... that doe was hit and did not know it... the guys tell me I should have been using 150 grains of powder... but my user manual tells me to never go above 100 grains...

BTW..

2008 TC omega 50cal
100 g powder
270 aero tip platinum power belt bullets

I really like my set up as is, its very accurate and low recoil... But,is my set up too weak or was this just a freak incident?

will using 150 grains of power ruin my gun?

oh.. and I was wearing a pink tanktop and pretty sunglasses... imagine that! hunting in a pink tanktop! lol

 

[Art Eatman]

This seems to be more of a blackpowder question than a hunting question, so it's Mayflower Movers time.

 

[wombat13]

Your problem wasn't the amount of powder and it certainly wasn't the rifle (you hit the deer). The problem was your bullet. Powerbelts load easy, but they are not great for terminal ballistics.

To make a very long story short. I shot a wounded deer from 40 yards and the Powerbelt (270 gr. platinum aerotip over 100gr pyrodex) didn't get the job done. She was lying down and I wanted to put her out of her misery so I shot her. She jumped up and ran into the woods where she eventually died from her prior wounds (hit by car, gut shot). When I found her I could see where my bullet hit her in the chest. Rather than penetrating it glanced off the rib and rode the rib under her hide up over her spine where it exited.

I will not rely on Powerbelts next year. I've switched to Barnes Expander MZ. Super accurate in my rifle (CVA Accura) and, from everything I've read and heard from friends, I'm confident it will get the job done.

One of my buddies shoots Barnes Expander MZ for his first shot, but carries a field reloader with a Powerbelt in case he needs a follow-up because he can't get the Barnes Expander down his barrel without cleaning it. I may have to do the same.

 

[arcticap]

Even the 270 grain Platinums can fragment if loaded with too much powder and then won't pass through the deer.
They can actually perform better if loaded with only 80 grains of 777 (which is the equivalent of 15% less of other powders).
The heavier 300 & 338 grain Platinums aren't quite as susceptible to fragmenting and should penetrate better.

 

[Ratdog68]

Typo?

... if loaded with only 80 grains of 777 (which is the equivalent of 15% less of other powders)...

Wouldn't that equal 15% MORE of another powder?

 

[arcticap]

I meant that the 80 grains of 777 is the 15% less equivalent of the volume of other powders, which in this case would be about 94 grains of another sub. powder.

 

[[email protected]]

The boys that shoot round balls will be turning over in their graves!!!

 

[mykeal]

Not to mention hopping around the gun room foaming at the mouth.

 

[Ratdog68]

Hmmm... "GIJoe's" (sporting good retailer that folded) had a screamin' deal on some Power Belts last fall, so I snagged some up in .50 and .54. Different model than described in this post... but, I'm thinking they'll remain as "range fodder" now. So far... patched RB has been more than accurate enough for me... and countless critters've dropped from RB hits.

 

[robhof]

robhof

I took my 1st deer with B/p in Ky last year using a sabot barrel Hawkins and 80gr of 3f 777. She lasered 127yds and I couldn't get closer, so I aimed slightly high and fired, she dropped like she was hit by a truck. It was a high shoulder shot with a large exit hole on far shoulder. My bullet was a 300gr PTX .429 in a sabot. These bullets came with the barrel I bought used and they target shot well. I got 75 bullets and sabots and they'll be expensive to replace for target shooting.

 

[Hellgate]

Eatbugs,
Don't feel too bad about your load (although I am unfamiliar with the powerbelts as they are illegal for ML hunting here in Orygun). I had thought I missed a nice 3 pt (6pt eastern count) mulie that walked away, then trotted, then ran bounding away. I shot the last roundat it on the bound as it rounded a ridge and I found it piled up where I had last shot at it. The first round went right where I had aimed behind the shoulder but it went between the ribs and made a 1" hole out the other side. The deer went down because the second strike (and about the 6th shot) knocked his horn off, cold cocking him and he finally bled out by the time I got to him. The first shot was with a 30-06 @ 100yds from a sagebrush rest. Maybe a softer lead bullet would have opened up a bit more after hitting your deer. My bullet missed all the important plumbing like the heart, spine, and major vessels so the deer looked not too concerned. Sorry to speak heresy and mention a centerfire but my point has to do more with the concept bullet placement than performance. Had you hit a rib, heart, aorta the deer would have known something was wrong as the bullet would have more likely opened up and the deer would have acted like it was hit.

 

[sonier]

Round ball guy here......

 

[tango2echo]

I'm shooting the TC Omega with the Nikon BDC scope. I gave up on the Powerbelts due to poor groups and terminal performance.

My best load is the TC Shockwave Slickload 250gr with three 50gr 777 pellets. Cloverleaf groups at 100y and inside of a clay pidgeon at 300. All 24 deer shot with this load (from 70-270y) have been DRT. Keep your bore clean and make sure you seat each load exactly the same with the same pressure.

t2e

 

[jbkebert]

I have not had good luck with the powerbelt line of bullets either. Like you I found a great deal on the 270 grain platinum bullets and bought a bunch of them. I have to M/L rifles that I hunt with my Traditions hawkin I have found that a PRB in front of 62 grains of 777 will stack balls at 100 yards. I can't shoot much further than that with open sights accuratly. My T/C Encore likes either a 250 grain Shockwave Super glide in front of 85 grains of 777. The other load I like for the T/C is a Hornady FPB 350 grain propelled by 80 grains of 777. I have experimented with about every bullet type and brand that I can get my hands on. These seem to shoot the best. The magnum loads in any rifle M/L or centerfire rarely produce the best groups. You gain a little velocity and more kick but they go all over. I shot a Whitetail deer from 50-60 yards with a powerbelt and found the bullet fragmented in 6-7 peices. I called powerbelt and the tech told me that was catastrophic bullet failure. Any way good luck with you hunting.