PowerBelt Bullets

[rmtaylor]

I have been doing a lot of reading and IF my barrel ever gets back home I think I am going to start with PowerBelt 245 gr aerotip bullets and loose 777 powder. Anybody used the Powerbelts in their Huntsman?

Richard

[bubba]

I use 90 grains of loos pyrodex and the 245 aero tip. The shoot excellent. At 90 yards last fall dropped a nice doe in her tracks with that combo.  I can rag one big hole with them at 75 yards. They are a great projectile, but, if you shoot any amount they are expensive.

[tscott]

Excellent advice by Bubba!!! Nothing for me shoots like Powerbelt!
I to use 90gr. 777. While the 245 aero tip shoots great, I use the 295
copper hollowpoint. I once taught at West Point, and the rifle coach always told me, "use hollowpoint bullets whenever you can, compressed
air makes a more accurate point". Not being too technical myself, I have
had great success on deer. Powerbelt's are much easier to load / unload.
The downside is the price!

[WNY_Whitetailer]

I shoot 295 gr hp Powerbelts out of my CVA ML...Very accurate over 100 grains of Pyrodex...Look for deals on the new now that it is off season.  You may be able to find a good price out there somewhere.

[Mad Dog]

Had my huntsman for two yrs., now.  I've been using the 295 gr. powerbelt since I started.  At first, I was using 2-50gr. pyrodex pellets, but wasn't totally happy with the accuracy.  Switched to 777 loose powder[90 gr.], and that has been my "go-to" load for the last 2 deer seasons.  I still hunt with a shotgun, here in Indiana, but the last 2 yrs., I have taked 2 does, one at 45 yds., and one at 80 yds.  The powerbelts flat put the hammer on both of them[dropped in their tracks]!  You can't go wrong with the combo-IF it is accurate in your gun.

Mad Dog

[rmtaylor]

I also so on the Hogdgon sight that they will be offering 777 pellets in 50 grains. I wonder if they have made the 15% reduction in the pellets that they suggest in the loose powder???

Richard

[Primer]

Rich,

Don't have to worry about the 15% reduction with the 777 pellets, like you do with the loose. Hodgdon designed the pellets to equal the Pyro pellets.
Only factor to be concerned with is the design of the H&R breech plug. The deep counter bore makes for a long flame travel for consistant  primer ignition of these pellets ( 777 pellets do not have the black powder coating on one end like the Pyro does to aid ignition). The use of a hot primer is about all one can do to help insure against a misfire.

That said, some have reported not having any problem with misfires using the 777 pellets. Guess you would have to try them and see what you think.

[ELMO]

I have had good luck with 348gr AT powerbelts with 90gr of 777-2F powder charge. Took a nice 6pt last deer season at a distance of about 70 yards. It was a double lung shot and the deer didn't run too far. I haven't ever used the pellets, always loose powder. My little huntsman is one accurate rifle..... :-)

[Longcruise]

One of my hunting partners drove a 295 copper jacketed HP powerbelt from stem to stern on an elk and exited the back of the ham after breaking the hip.  Loaded 115 of ffg.

Then he had a powerbelt from the same pack fail to exit on a 100# hog (no shield to speak of) with 100 ffg :eek:

I didn't see the elk shot but was present at the hog "autopsy" when we found pieces of the powerbelt in the chest cavity of the hog.  Killed the hog dead on the spot, but if those bullets arre that erratic in performance I won't be shootinjg them!

[cattleskinner]

In the past, when I had my blued huntsman, I used the 295gr copper clad HP powerbelts behind 80grs of T7.  That was the season before this past year, and I dropped a mature doe, and a yearling doe both with one shot apiece, both where they stood.  The yearling performed the most spectacular acrobatics show I've ever seen(somersaults and all), after taking the shot quartering towards me.  The doe dropped where she stood after taking the shot a bit high broadside in the chest.  Both shots were 80, and 100 yds away.  I couldn't recover either bullet as they were both pass throughs, but the exit holes both showed good expansion(about the size of a half dollar).  I used the Win. Plat. Tips this year, and they worked great, seeing as how I have never used sabots before this year.  The cost is the most prohibitive aspect of powerbelts for me, although they shoot great for me.  One thing I do want to bring up, and not to get anyone's blood boiling, but where did the powerbelt fail?  The animal died in both cases, and the hog dropped where it was standing.....in my opinion, it did all that was asked of it.  Granted, shooting the length of an elk is impressive indeed, I would have to say that dropping a hog where it stood, and preventing it from charging you, and possibly hurting someone in you hunting party is just as impressive for me.....text book mushroom, or not.

~~~cattleskinner

[Redhawk1]

One thing I do want to bring up, and not to get anyone's blood boiling, but where did the powerbelt fail?  The animal died in both cases, and the hog dropped where it was standing.....in my opinion, it did all that was asked of it.  Granted, shooting the length of an elk is impressive indeed, I would have to say that dropping a hog where it stood, and preventing it from charging you, and possibly hurting someone in you hunting party is just as impressive for me.....text book mushroom, or not.

~~~cattleskinner

My friend and I both use powerbelts. Both of us killed 2 deer each with them. All deer recovered, the furthest one went after being shot was 30 yards. As cattleskinner said, where did the powerbelts fail if both animals were killed cleanly???

[Longcruise]

One thing I do want to bring up, and not to get anyone's blood boiling, but where did the powerbelt fail? The animal died in both cases, and the hog dropped where it was standing.....in my opinion, it did all that was asked of it. Granted, shooting the length of an elk is impressive indeed, I would have to say that dropping a hog where it stood, and preventing it from charging you, and possibly hurting someone in you hunting party is just as impressive for me.....text book mushroom, or not.

No offense taken here.

On the face of it, the hog kill would seem like good performance but the problem as I see it (and this is purely my personal view) was that the bullet that admittedly killed the hog so smartly had actually performed more like a varmint bullet than a big game bullet.  For a 100# hog to be hit in the chest cavity with an exploding bullet, that's gonna be instant lights out.  OTOH, a 100# hog is not much of a hog.  A 250 or 300 pounder with a well developed shield of 1 to 2 inches probably would not have lost his vitals to the shot and may never have been recovered.

The elk on the other hand was fully penetrated with a slug from the same package.  If the elk had been hit by the same slug that hit the hog he probably would have covered some ground and may not have been recovered just as a large hog might have done.

The powerbelt is a great design, IMO, but the quality control seems to be missing.