Powerbelts- What's your opinion?

[shaggy430]

Last year I started using the non-jacketed hollow points in my .54 Knight. I was amazed at how easy they were to load. The accuracy was amazing as well.

I won't go into details, but I had a bad experience on a deer with these. It appears that it disentigrated upon hitting a rib bone and did not even penetrate to the vitals at 30 yards.

Anyone else had an experience like this?

 

[littlecleo]

Yes, I had the same thing happen on a Buck I shot several seasons ago. I stopped using them right there, bought some Hornady XTP's with Sabots, and have had great results on whitetail deer using them.

 

[oklahoma caveman]

huh. iv had the opposite experience. iv shot 2 large bucks. 172 pounder and 220 pounder, went through at least 1 shoulder on each and was found under the hide on the far shoulder in each. neither deer ran more than 50 yards and both left a good bloodtrail

 

[bucktail]

I got good accuracy with them in my .50, but I changed to saboted hornady XTP's due to cost. I've used 200 gr .40's, 240 gr .429's, and 250 gr .452's and never had one fail to exit. My understanding of the powerbelts is that they're pretty soft, so I'd go heavy for caliber.

 

[Olympus]

I tried the platinum series Powerbelts and was not pleased with their accuracy whatsoever. I was shooting them out of my Encore Pro Hunter. I found Hornady SSTs to be by far the most accurate out of my gun.

I've heard people say that because they're not as tight in the bore as a true sabot, they're not as accurate and don't have the speed as a sabot. Don't know if it's true or not, but I know the Hornadys sure are tight to load.

 

[bucktail]

The theory behind powerbelts is that they slide home easily. The belt is supposed to seal the bore well enough to cause the bullet to expand, engaging the rifling, and further sealing the bore. If you arent' running enought pressure, it won't expand the bullet. Too much pressure, and it will deform the belt. The other thing that caused me to ditch them is that since they seated so easily, I just couldn't get a warm fuzzy about them staying seated.

 

[scrat]

Tried them at the range. The results were very very good. Accuracy was excellent.

 

[justice4all]

They aren't as accurate as sabots, but they are still plenty accurate for hunting. They do disintegrate too easily, IMHO, but the bear I shot never knew what hit him, as all the energy from the bullet was dumped into his skull.

 

[ArmedBear]

Not sure if they're legal here for muzzleloading season. We've gone to much more restrictive rules to define "primitive", but I'm not sure how or if any Powerbelts fit into them.

They're not really sabots, they're plastic-based Minie Balls, but even the lead ones are not made only of lead as our rules require.

Anyone know what Idaho F&G says about them?

BTW anyone just try Minie Balls? I know a guy who has a few nice elk mounts shot with them. Proven technology, for over a century and a half.

 

[bucktail]

One of their selling points used to be that they were legal in some states where sabots weren't. Can't speak to the legality in ID. The only advantage that I can see with the over Minnie Balls is that you don't need lube.

 

[Cpt. America]

Great Bullet. A little pricey though. I'll stick to my Great Plains for $9.50 a box.