I see a lot of people bringing up the topic, telling others not to use powerbelts because they explode upon impact, They dont expand, very little blood trai,l exe ,exe.
When i first started using powerbelts i too used to send down a measured 150 grains of powder and either a 245 or 295 powerbelt. All shots were pass through lung shots and looking at the holes, there didnt seem to be any expansion from the bullet. I did a lot of testing this year and last year with shooting a lot of powerbelts at a rock cave and thick logs. All of the powerbelts i shot at logs out performed the TC maxi hunters i was comparing them too. Shoot at a log that was 16" thick, the 255 grain maxi hunters only gave me 8" into the log. The 295 powerbelts in 50cal and the 225 grain powerbelts in 45cal, driven by the same load of 90 grains Pyrodex rs, Blew completely through the logs and i recovered them in the "sand pit" at the end of my shooting range. They usually were either mushroomed or a slight dent on the tip.
The best way i could come up with to test the new bullet i wanted to use, A 225 grain aerotip powerbelt in .45cal, was to fix up a load that shot the best and take it hunting.
Pictures are graphic but is needed to show the performance of an excellent performing bullet. Wood,sand,logs,steel,rock,water, do not come close to showing us the Real performance a bullet will have on Meat/bone.
I wanted a bullet/powder combo that would allow me to shoot accurately out to 150-175 yards and be only a few inches low at those distances.
My final hunting load ended up being 80 grains FFFg Triple 7, CCI #11 Magnum cap and a 225 grain aerotip powerbelt.
Distance of shot was 80 yards.
Damage,
Entrance wound went through the center of the shoulder bone, broke 2 ribs, Took out heart and both lungs, Exit wound took out 1 1/2 ribs and exited just behind the shoulder and stopped under the hide.
Blood trail... AMAZING!
Distance the deer traveled after shot..... It walked/stumbled Maybe 5 yards where it then dropped and rolled a few feet.
After gutting i pulled the bullet out of the hide and was happy to see that it had expanded to the size of a quarter and lost almost no weight. I would weight it but it wouldn't be accurate on my electronic scale.
entrance shot below,
Exit shot below,
Blood trail from where she stood when she was hit,
Another blood trail,
Entrance shot wound, " Sprung a leak"
Bullet under hide " Above my index finger"
225 grain aerotip Powerbelt, Bullet recovered
And The little rifle that could,
The point of this thread?
STOP OVER CHARGING YOUR RIFLE WHEN USING POWERBELTS!
150GRAINS OF POWDER IS NOT NEEDED!
Next year i am upping the charge to 90grains triple 7 and am confident that the bullet will exit.
Another deer was taken with the same rifle and load that same day, But we'll save that for another success story
