45 caliber powerbelt on deer

[rickyp]

How will the 45 caliber powerbelt 195 Grain, AeroTip work on whitetail deer out of an 26 inch 209x45 Encore?
I have them sighted in to be about 1.5 inch at 100 yards using 100 grs of black powder. how much of a drop should I expect out to 150 and 200 yards and will they work out to that?

This is the first year that I will be using such a small and light bullet
I normaly shoot a 50 caliber 300 gr bullet out of my rifle (Knight LK-93) so i have no idea what to expect.

[poncaguy]

I would say, go for the lungs with such a lite bullet.............

[rickyp]

I was thinking about following up the back of the front leg to just below mid line of the deer. this should put the bullet in the heart/ lungs and may take out the shoulders

[toytruck]

Rick,
I have killed four deer with the Encore .45 with 225 powerbelts HP, two pyrodex pellets, not the aero tips. Out of the four only one was a pass through, the others blew up inside or were found in pieces on opposite side.  The only blood trail was the pass through shot and it was a easy one.  Only buck out of the four was hit in back and had to be shot again to put him down.  That said all four deer died very quick and recovered within twenty yards of the shot.  All shots were between 50-75 yds also.

I haven't shot the 195 powerbelts.  The aero tips maybe alright, but I would recommend heavier bullets, not less than the 225 grain.  If I was going to use powerbelts again in 225, they would be the aero tips just to see how they perform as compaired to the HP.  Hope this helps and good luck!!

[Redhawk1]

I use 195 gr. Barnes expanders in my 45 Cal M/L and they work just fine. Not to light. I also use PR 195 gr. in my 50 Cal. Deer killers.  

[rickyp]

I am sighted in to be about 1.5" at 100 yards. I know I would not be taking a shot past 40-50yards out of my stand as that is a very very long way in the hard woods I hunt in and most  shots will be closer to 20 yards.
The only way I would get a long shot would be when I am leaving the stand heading back to my truck then I could maybe get a 200 yard shot.

I am not to concerned about them not leaving a blood trail.
I have taken many deer with a 12 ga shotgun and could not find any bloods. last year I used my Knight lk-93 with Barnes 300 gr bullets over 100 gr of blaack powder and shot a small buck at 10 feet and could not find any blood The deer was very easy to find he only ran about 20 yards.
for some reason the deer on the farm I have been hunting do not leave a blood trail  :x

[elkstalkr]

The wife and I shot 4 does this weekend both with .45 ML's.  She was shooting 175 grain Aero PB's and I was using 195 grain hollow point PB's

We recovered all 4 deer but none left a blood trail.  One deer we almost lost, very lucky to find it.  They either exploded inside the deer of left a very small exit wound on the other side.

All in all I wouldn't be afraid to shoot any deer with this load, but IF I was shooting at a large buck I would aim for the lungs, NOT the shoulders.

I think next year I will move my .45 up to 225 grain Aeros, cuz I like bloodtrails.  Makes those deer soooo much easier to find.  As for my wife, she needs a smaller bullet for light re-coil, but I might even look at bumping her load up to at least the 195's.

[rickyp]

elkstalkr,
First off I want to say how lucky you are to have a wife that hunts with you.
 If she needs a softer shooting load, try this get a limb saver pad for the encore. Then when you have the pad off get a mercury recoil reducer for shot guns and a can of srpay foam. Put a good release agent inside the stock and on the mercury recoil reducer so you can remove this stuff latter if you want. use the foam to hold the mercury recoil reducer in place then when everything is nice and dry install the limb saver pad.  This will add a little weight but should make the rifle shoot a whole lot softer.
I have yet to do this my self because I do not have much trouble with a full loaded muzzle loader. I have been thinking about teh limb saver pad though for when I move up in power

[TCAS]

I purchased some 45 aerotips but never shot them. My PR 195DC were so accurate I never bothered to try the aerotips.

As for 195 grains being to small, I don't think so.  Between me and my hunting partner we have taken about 12-14 deer in the last two years with the  PR 195DC at ranges of 10 to 225yards all shots were fatal, all deer recoverd, longest  runner was 80 yards, but 80% dropped with in 0-40 yard.

The 45's loaded with 195 grain projectiles  have significant recoil reduction compared to the 50's.

Should be hunting to day but rain, thunder and Lightning kept me in bed.

TCAS

[Neutron]

Using 45 cal 225 grain PB hollow point, 90gr Triple7, shot 7pt  buck probably went 175 or 180 or so liveweight, thru the ribs exited far side left some blood.  He went probably 70 yards down a steep hill and crashed.  I had a hard time finding him as his last bound was thru a downed tree and I got distracted by his running partners tail flagging which got me thinking he had gone further than he did.  Thought maybe I had bullet failure but it was just tracker failure.  Also shot a jake turkey at about 50yds with same load.  Entered just above thigh and clipped the top of it and exited thru middle of far thigh.  He did not go anywhere.  Massive damage and lost some breast meat, more than I would have thought.  I really did not think the PB would open up much on a turkey but it did.  Found some tiny pieces of copper jacket in the wound channel.  Will use the 225PB on deer again but will probably carry a roundball gun for turkey next time.