Why not power belts?

GregK said:

Powerbelts, especially the copper clad bullets have a bad reputation for fragmenting on impact when pushed by more than 80gr ( by volume ) The Aerolite is a better bullet & there have been very good results using 100-110gr of BH209. That doesn't mean I would make them my first choice. You are paying more for those bullets than you do for Barnes or maybe Lehigh as well & The Aerolite can't even come close to comparing to either of these bullets

My feeling is this. If you're going to invest the time & the money to hunt, continue that investment with what you shoot from your gun. Besides, you owe it to the game you hunt, Greg

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Actually, I believe the opposite is true. The original powerbelts are the ones who have a questionable reputation on fragmenting. The aerolite actually fragments easier (it is DESGINED that way). They say it is a better bullet with 100 gr (vs 150 gr). It has a bigger hollowpoint so it explodes more easily. They fly great, but I would only use them at the range. Others use them with success and I say power to them, but I won't. FACT: there are tougher conicals out there.

One option: Hornady FPB. It is a lead alloy (vs powerbelt that is a pure lead bullet). Between my brother and I we have killed 4 elk with this bullet. On at least one of them, if I had been using a powerbelt, I believe I would have lost that elk. If you use pure lead, use a bigger one and less powder. For pure lead bullets, I use a 460 gr no excuse type bullet and push it with 90-95 gr of BH 209.

That said, if you use moderate charges (80-100 gr) and a bigger bullet 348 and up, you should OK using powerbelts. But why when you can get a tougher bullet cheaper??

One other thing about BH 209. As stated above, it requires a snug bullet to work. You can have hangfires/misfires if it is not seated snuggly on the powder. Most guys with powerbelts will provide sufficient compression to get this done. However, with powerbelts or ANY conical that is not pretty durn firm on the bullet, you should periodically check to be sure the bullet hasn't slipped off the powder a bit.

I agree on using the FPB instead of Powerbelts. It's what I have in mind to use this year. I'm sure i'll have to resize them to get them to load.

I believe PB's are popular, because they load easy, and are easily available almost everywhere. There's better bullets, but I don't think PB's are as bad as some make them seem. They've killed a lot of game.

Yes they have...I have killed 4 deer with them back when I owned a encore. All deer died, but no exit wounds and when I had to shoot a 8 point twice to kill him I stopped using them for hunting. Granted the first shot was high an hit him in the spine, which should have killed him there. He started to get back up I reloaded an hit him again in the shoulder which ended it.

I only use pure lead conicals now, no problems so far!! 8) 8)

GUYS,
Thanks for all the info - I am impressed with this site and appreciate everyone who took the time to contribute to this thread.

Price vs performance=Terrible...A cheap lead conical performs as well or better with less powder.

Would you load a 500S&W with a soft lead 250gr bullet, shoot it at a similar speed and expect it to hold together on deer sized game?....Probably not, even a 300gr 50cal is borderline. Neither have the sectional density needed to reliably hold upto that kind of impact. Add in the HUGE hollow point of the Aerolite and its a recipe for disappointment.

Deer are not usually classified as varmints and we should not use bullets that perform like varmint bullets when hunting them.

Something is going on with the lead in Powerbelts. It doesn't act like soft lead. The FPB is lead too, and performs well. The Powerbelt should perform like any other lead bullet, but it doesn't. Not sure why?

toytruck said:

Yes they have...I have killed 4 deer with them back when I owned a encore. All deer died, but no exit wounds and when I had to shoot a 8 point twice to kill him I stopped using them for hunting. Granted the first shot was high an hit him in the spine, which should have killed him there. He started to get back up I reloaded an hit him again in the shoulder which ended it.

I only use pure lead conicals now, no problems so far!! 8) 8)

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Spine shots will often act that way. Even with a .300 mag. It shocks them, and knocks them down, but they can get back up if it doesn't cripple them.

A deer hit in the spine cannot ever get up ever again. It may be able to pull itself with front legs, but it cannot get up ever. It will be there till it dies of thirst or a coyote eats it. I know you know this, so i guess you wrote a spine shot meaning a non-spine shot that just hit close?

Muley Hunter said:

Something is going on with the lead in Powerbelts. It doesn't act like soft lead. The FPB is lead too, and performs well. The Powerbelt should perform like any other lead bullet, but it doesn't. Not sure why?

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Actually, the FPB is a lead alloy and is harder than pure lead. That said, from reports, the lead in powerbelts does seem like it is softer than other pure lead bullets.

Still waiting for someone to kill a critter with the new Federal "conical" and give us a report.

ronlaughlin said:

A deer hit in the spine cannot ever get up ever again. It may be able to pull itself with front legs, but it cannot get up ever. It will be there till it dies of thirst or a coyote eats it. I know you know this, so i guess you wrote a spine shot meaning a non-spine shot that just hit close?

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Yes, when someone says a spine shot I mean close enough to shock the nervous system. It's easy to tell, because the animal gets back up.

Like you said, if they actually hit the spine they have no complaints about the bullet.

txhunter58 said:

Muley Hunter said:

Something is going on with the lead in Powerbelts. It doesn't act like soft lead. The FPB is lead too, and performs well. The Powerbelt should perform like any other lead bullet, but it doesn't. Not sure why?

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Actually, the FPB is a lead alloy and is harder than pure lead. That said, from reports, the lead in powerbelts does seem like it is softer than other pure lead bullets.

Still waiting for someone to kill a critter with the new Federal "conical" and give us a report.

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Check the Fed bullets being sold on Cabelas. Some reviews on kills. Not overly impressive.

ronlaughlin said:

A deer hit in the spine cannot ever get up ever again. It may be able to pull itself with front legs, but it cannot get up ever. It will be there till it dies of thirst or a coyote eats it. I know you know this, so i guess you wrote a spine shot meaning a non-spine shot that just hit close?

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The PB went high in the shoulder, as I was higher than the deer, an hit the vertebrae breaking the protrusion of the vertebrae where the neck begins. He was knocked down then slowly got up like a drunk unsteady on his feet. I don't know if he would have walked off or run, didn't give him a chance to find out!! The bullet was in fragments, the lack of penetration even in the second shot that killed him at 50 yds. was my main concern for not using them for hunting again.

300 gr hollow point powerbelt, 2 .50 cal. T7 pellets in .50 Encore. I went to loose powder after that, sold the Encore and found the White's. :yeah:

You are right Muley. Not great reports on the federals. Certainly not on the moose and not opening up at all on a deer is not good!

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting ... t104547780

that shows 3 good reviews and one poor. Ive seen both good and bad reviews on it. but more good

Squeeze said:

that shows 3 good reviews and one poor. Ive seen both good and bad reviews on it. but more good

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Sort of like Powerbelts.

Squeeze said:

that shows 3 good reviews and one poor. Ive seen both good and bad reviews on it. but more good

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Actually 2 bad reviews. You didn't go to the second page. That guys killed a buck but recovered the bullet totally unopened. So one blew up on a moose and 1 didn't open on a deer. That is 40% of the current reviews. Neither thing that happened makes me feel confident to try it on an elk.

Yeah, it's not an elk bullet. Maybe if they come up with a heavier version.

Years back before I discovered Whites , I used power belts on Elk. I shot 2 a bull and a large cow. 348 grains over a Wad and 115 grains of T7. Both Elk went down quickly. One was 50 yards and the Other close to 200. Based on my experience they did the job just fine. Now When I draw a tag I use White with a 460 grain bullet and 115 grains of T7. That really knocks the snot out of em.
RC

If anyone has the all lead bullets and wants them tested for hardness I can do that for you.
I have only one experience with a power belt. I was on an elk hunt and saw a farmer on a combine driving down the road. A herd of elk crossed in front of him and he jumped out and shot one. The elk went over a mile away and went down. I watched for about an hour and the farmer left. He never even went to look or even get off the combine. Anyway I was up on the mountain about a mile from the farmer, and the elk went a mile. When I got there the elk jumped up and took off running. I shot the elk and tagged it. I figured if it were dead I might try to find the farmer. After it got up and ran I figured it was mine.
The bullet was a power belt it weighed 285 grains. It hit the hip of the elk and failed to break the hip. The meat in the hip was quite bruised and blood shot but I think the elk may have lived had I not seen where it went.On the bullet I found all the nose was gone for the most part. After seeing this I wouldn't use them.

A hip shot is a poor shot with any bullet.