Powerbelt bullets

Lucky Clucker

Old Mossy Horns
I think they verv accurate,have killed alot of deer with them also.
Most dropped and or feel in sight, I noticed some did not spill a drop and some,poured blood. One of my boys shot at a Doe today I,was with him heshot my new wolf,last time I,shot it was zeroed, the deer was broadside at 40 yards, he was braced and steady on a treeat the shot the deer ran off hard and jumping with tail up.all,signs,of,a,miss but found 3 hair atachedto,some skin,no blood never heard deer crash walked AMD trailed where it went for,overran hour.I hope,he grazed it and it survives,but hoping it was not one of those that don't bleed. Has anyone had trouble or noticed lack of blood from,a,Powerbelt compared to other bullets.
 

awcrow91

Spike
Was about to post a similar question. Doe I killed with a Powerbelt bleed enough Saturday night and piled up within 60 yards. Buck I shot Sunday night didn't bleed at all and was also down just out of sight 60 yards away. I was really frustrated because after looking for blood for an hour I began walking in the general direction he ran and walked up on him. Wasn't even that much blood where he went down. Evidently the stopping power is there but lack of blood trail has me thinking about switching to something else. Are you shooting pointed or hollow points?

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Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Lack of blood trail is a common complaint about them and has been for years. I've never hunted with them myself but have helped look for deer that others have shot with them. I've seen a few that performed well and recovery was easy and then some with no or very little blood trail. I mostly use Hornady and occasionally get some that leave little or no blood trail. My gut feeling is that happens far more with the powerbelt but it could be just a bad rap.
 

7mm-08

Twelve Pointer
Since lead conicals went away, I've not had consistent blood with any ML Bullet that is or looks like a pistol Bullet.
 

klim

Twelve Pointer
Every muzzleloader I’ve had shot them great, I’ve killed several deer with them but they sure don’t leave a blood trail. I think their too soft of a bullet.
In my experience Hornady XTP bullet is where it’s at.
 
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DFisher

Eight Pointer
They do a great job in my TC Omega, have killed deer from 30 yards to 150, and have never lost one. Only problem, there is never any blood, so hope it falls in sight, or prepare to grid-search. If I had not bought 4 packs of them I would have switched over by now. Just too tight to switch while I still have a stash.
 

mann919

Button Buck
What kind of muzzleloader are y'all shooting the hornadys out of. I bought a box for my encore about a month ago and it won't hold a 6" group at 100 yards. So I switched back to the T/Cs. I'm a big hornady fan, shoot it out of about every rifle I own but my encore doesnt seem to like them.

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buckshooter

Old Mossy Horns
Shot several deer with that projectile. Like its been said blood trails with some , some without blood. I shoot the 295 grn hollow point in my Optima.
 

mann919

Button Buck
You shooting the tc shockwaves
Yes 250 grain shockwaves with 150 grain 777. Keep saying I'm going to switch to Blackhorn 209 but haven't done it yet. Wonder if 777 is the problem but it does really good with the shockwaves

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Tunanut

Ten Pointer
Every muzzleloader I’ve had shot them great, I’ve killed several deer with them but they sure don’t leave a blood trail. I think their too soft of a bullet.
In my experience Hornady XTP bullet is where it’s at.

^^^^^This^^^^^
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Hornady bullets have been good for muzzleloaders for a long time. Dont discount the maxiballs either.
 

csmacken

Four Pointer
Shot one of my better bucks a few years back with powerbelts. No blood at all. Found him a week later doing some scouting. Shot placement was pretty good. have recently switched to hornady SST's
 

jboi72

Eight Pointer
I shot power belts in my .45 caliber optima I had, every deer fell right there or within sight but only one left a trail that was easy to follow. The damage they did on the inside was tremendous though. When I went back to a .50 cal I switched to the tc bullets.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Ive not tried the sst bullets. I was curious as to what expansion tbeg would have considering the soeeds.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
I shot a buck last year with the green tips. He fell to the shot, regained his footing and ran away. My hunting partner and I found a few specks of blood and looked for the deer for 2+ hours. We did not recover the deer. The same buck was later saw in person and on trail cam. He recovered from the shot and was alive at the end of the season. No more power belts for me.

<>< Fish
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
Harvester Scorpion’s try them with crushed rib or high pressure sabots depending on your load. You won’t have any problem finding a blood trail if you even need one. They are destructive!!!


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Lucky Clucker

Old Mossy Horns
Harvester Scorpion’s try them with crushed rib or high pressure sabots depending on your load. You won’t have any problem finding a blood trail if you even need one. They are destructive!!!


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They good killed a Doe with one a few years ago.
 

Rock_61

Four Pointer
Hornady SST is where it is at! All I shoot out of my muzzy... They have not failed me yet. Knock,Knock
 

Lucky Clucker

Old Mossy Horns
Dam gun shot 4 inches high and 2 to right at 50 yards,not sure how it got lots locked off that bad,resighted about 1 inch high now. I guess it was thegun and not him.
 

tritonbuck

Eight Pointer
I stopped shooting Powerbeats because I hit a nice 8 at 75 years that ran off with no signs of being hit. Looked for blood trail and finally gave up thinking I had missed. Found his skull the next year. I have shot Barnes the last two years and killed two bucks. Both were DRT.
 

Tunanut

Ten Pointer
So the moral of this story is there are 2 kinds of powerbelt users. Those that have had a heartbreaking experience with them, and those that will have a heartbreaking experience with them.
 

Ol Copper

Twelve Pointer
I've seen lots of guns that shot the PB's beautifully on paper, but the terminal performance just isn't there consistently. Been shooting the original Barnes expanders since they came out, no need to look for your deer, just start dragging.
 
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