# Powerbelt Bullets?



## 88luneke (Jan 13, 2009)

This year I have switched to Powerbelt Muzzleloader Bullets. I am using a CVA Optima Magnum in which I load 90 grains of powder in and use a .245 grain bullet. I found the Powerbelts to be nice, but I have heard horror stories of their inaccuracies. Any comments on the inaccuracies that I've been hearing about or Powerbelt in general?


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## FishinJoe (Dec 8, 2003)

I shoot powerbelts out of 2 of my 3 muzzys, 1 in a T/C Scout 54cal and the other is a Remington in 50 cal and the accuracy is spot on at 100yrds. I also have a T/C Omega though and they won't shoot straight through that one to save my life. Just experiment and see what works best for you.

Joe


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

I have never gotten them to shoot well outta four or so muzzleloaders. Had some that shot decent, but never great. Always had sabots shoot better and the selection is much better as well.


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

They are somewhat better than throwing rocks anyway. I wouldn't be worried about the accuracy...you'll beable to find that out at the range. I would however be worried about their inconsistant performance on game. And unfortunately for both you and the animal, you won't know until to you pull the trigger in the field. Imo, there are too many better choices out there than to mess with a questionable product.


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## decoydog (May 12, 2009)

Try some Deade Center 240 gr sabots in your gun. I've shot them out of 3 different guns and they worked great. easy to tweak with the powder charge and Zero in the group. Cabelas sells them.


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## NoWake (Feb 7, 2006)

Like Swamp Monster said. There are many stories of mixed results when used on deer. Enough that I decided not to take a chance on them and switched.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

IMHO they are not worth the price of the powder to push them out of the barrel. I own multiple MLs and not one of them will shoot them with any accuracy at 100 yards. I have great success with 240gr Dead Centers; they are a DRT bullet/sabot combo.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

I'm not a ML expert by any stretch, I sold my ML a number of years back. I did use Powerbelts but didn't shoot it enough to notice any inaccuracies. Here's my question though,, why 90 grains? Don't the powder pellets come in 50 grains a piece?? I found it much easier and faster with less room for error/inaccuracy using the pellets.


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## glockman55 (Mar 9, 2006)

William H Bonney said:


> I'm not a ML expert by any stretch, I sold my ML a number of years back. I did use Powerbelts but didn't shoot it enough to notice any inaccuracies. Here's my question though,, why 90 grains? Don't the powder pellets come in 50 grains a piece?? I found it much easier and faster with less room for error/inaccuracy using the pellets.


The powder pellets come in 30 and 50 gr. in Pyrodex
The thing I hear about Powerbelts is their performance on impact is not good. as far as accuracy The guys I see that use them are real happy. Do a search on here, lots of opinions.


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

glockman55 said:


> The powder pellets come in 30 and 50 gr. in Pyrodex


Ahhh, ok. I didn't ever remember them coming in 30's.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Here's a link to pyrodex pellets. http://www.hodgdon.com/pyrodex-pellets.html

Here's a link to triple 7 pellets. http://www.hodgdon.com/tripleseven-pellets.html


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## QuakrTrakr (Apr 4, 2001)

Barnes Expander MZ's (Knight Red Hots) are the most accurate bullet I've ever used and by far the most devastating on game. I'm tired of the Powerbelt discussions. Do a search, you'll find dozens of threads on it.


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## iceassasin (Jan 27, 2009)

I switched from powerbelts a few years ago. They shot ok but I shot a deer and found the powerbelt in the shoulder, the hollowpoint didnt even mushroom. I switched to Hornaday sabots and havent had a problem since.


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## kbb3358 (Feb 24, 2005)

Powerbelt sure are easy to load and seem to be acurate. Don't know about how they do on game. Most game I have taken with maxi balls with hollow point (Hornaday). Talk about mushrooming in 54 and 58 caliber are size of a quarter and larger.:yikes:


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

For me, accuracy was good. Loading was easy. Those bullets seemed like the way to go. I had never put one through an animal until last year.

I hit a nice bear at 50 yards using 100 Gr of pyro pellets. When the smoke cleared, the bear was layed flat over on his side, as if he'd been tipped over. In an instant, he popped up and ran off. After two days of search, never a drop of blood, or anything. I did some checking and found many negative performance reports on them. I'll never shoot 'em again.


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## hoyt03 (Jul 21, 2003)

Run, run very fast from Powerbelts...You will not be happy with the
results after you put one in a deer.....I learned this the hard way...
Never again......


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## Sparty_hunter (Dec 13, 2007)

I started using a muzzleloader last year. The powerbelts were cheap enough and shot great groups at the range through my CVA Optima and 100 grains pyrodex. The muzzleloader drove a tack straight through the vitals of a doe at 60 yards and the bullet apparently exited the animal as a tack too. I was very displeased with the bloodtrail (sparse drips for about 250 yards and then deer) and apparent damage that the powerbelt aerotips did to the vitals. I have switched to a more traditional sabot this year to try and transfer more of the energy from the bullet into the chest cavity by way of expansion and friction, instead of having the bullet just cut clean holes through everything.


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## mossberg835 (Jul 30, 2009)

I shot 2 8 points with a 45 cal the same day, one in the morning, one at night, using powerbelts a couple years ago. The first-not a drop of blood-found it the next day looking for someone else's doe. The second, tons of blood about 40 yards from where I shot it that led straight to the deer. Both piled up about 60 yards away. I tried setting my dad's 50 cal traditions up with them, what a nightmare, no pattern at 50 yards, stayed on the paper though...I don't think I'll ever use them again.


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

I would urge you to rethink choosing powerbelts. I used to shoot them but had a couple of bad experiences (two lost deer and it wasn't due to poor shot placement). I just switched to shockwaves and couldn't be happier!


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## KalamazooKid (Jun 20, 2005)

Yes, but Mikey McMikey says they're the best!:lol:

Run from them and try a premium load (so what if they cost more, how many times will you shoot it?). IMHO Hornady or TC Shockwaves.


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## Huntmich (Sep 4, 2008)

I have a cva optima magnum also. I shoot 100gr of 777 with a hornady high speed low drag sabot. It shoots great groups and is dead accurate to 150 yrds. It drops probaby 18" at 200 yrds, although i don't remember exactly. The powerbelts in IMO are junk. I've tried them in 2 muzzleloaders, my uncle and cousin has used tried them in theirs. Our results were the same, couldn't hold good groups, and were very inconsistent.


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## jdawg240 (Oct 1, 2007)

Powerbelts shot well and loaded very easy in my .45 Omega. I shot several deer with them. Never lost a deer but on a couple it was a good thing I saw them go down. Blood trails were sparse.Never had a exit wound. 

I switched to Shockwaves, they hit much harder and leave great blood trails. And at 200 grains they fly fast and true with 150 grains of 777.


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## awfulpotent (Oct 14, 2003)

The best combo I have found yet is 300gr Hornady XTP'S and 2- 50 gr Pyrodex pellets six guys in our camp all use this combo and lable it the "deer hammer" the terminal qaulity of this round is excellant we have never lost a deer with this combo yet ,took a mature doe during the early season at 185yrd's the left lung had a golf ball size hole in it and the right lung was not there just a big glob of jelly
I hear guys have good luck with the Barnes Expander also but I am not going to fix something that aint broke


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## fightem (Sep 21, 2008)

Don`t open the package ...take them back to where ever you bought them.They should be illegal to sell.They will wound more game than you want to. Out of 8 deer I found 4. That`s a 50 percent kill ratio . They are not reliable.I am going to sabots this year and I don`t care how hard they are to load. It`s the first shot that counts period...!!! They shoot all over the place.I thought it was me and my shooting skills.I will never go back to power belts. I have heard people say that some guns shoot them well and some don`t. Don`t waste your time with them. they load easy but they miss or wound the game easier.....:rant::rant::rant::evil::evil:


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## PITBULL (May 23, 2003)

fightem said:


> Don`t open the package ...take them back to where ever you bought them.They should be illegal to sell.They will wound more game than you want to. Out of 8 deer I found 4. That`s a 50 percent kill ratio . They are not reliable.I am going to sabots this year and I don`t care how hard they are to load. It`s the first shot that counts period...!!! They shoot all over the place.I thought it was me and my shooting skills.I will never go back to power belts. I have heard people say that some guns shoot them well and some don`t. Don`t waste your time with them. they load easy but they miss or wound the game easier.....:rant::rant::rant::evil::evil:


If ease of getting them down the barrel is a concern try these
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true

Im using the 300 grain with 2 50gn 777


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## QuakrTrakr (Apr 4, 2001)

These are the sabots I use. They load easy and they come with the Red Hot bullet. Which is the Barnes MZ. http://www.knightrifles.com/productdetail.aspx?id=900126


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