Is This PowerBelt Enough?

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hunter177

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A friend is selling me his TC Omega Z5. He let me shoot it and I used my Hornady sabots. It was a major job to push it down the barrel. I know some guys hate PB bullets, I don't want this to be a bash PB post, but my question is this. For whitetails and black bear here in PA would a 348 gr. AT PowerBelt with 2 pellets alleviate the loading issue and be enough for the game I mentioned? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
hunter177 said:
A friend is selling me his TC Omega Z5. He let me shoot it and I used my Hornady sabots. It was a major job to push it down the barrel. I know some guys hate PB bullets, I don't want this to be a bash PB post, but my question is this. For whitetails and black bear here in PA would a 348 gr. AT PowerBelt with 2 pellets alleviate the loading issue and be enough for the game I mentioned? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

348 should work OK... but you can also change the sabot to a Crush Rib or a MMP HPH-3p-EZ load and possibly load them much easier. Also if you were to apply a JB paste bore treatment to the bore you would also probably be able to load the regualr sabots and bullets just fine.
 
If you want the best accuracy you can get, I'd go with loose powder and try some different sabots until you find the best load. I'm not a fan of powerbelts and that's all I'm going to post about them. I have found things that load too easy don't normally shoot very well.
 
I had the same problem less than 4 wks ago and I did a good cleaning and JB paste and gained .010 in diameter from residue so my sabots do load easier. I plan to try some Harvester Crush sabots since I got some free samples (sent me 15 sabots, 6-250 gr. bullets and a loader for the bullets)
As for me I dropped a PB down before cleaning and I did not like the fit it was to easy to put the bullet down. I went from hard loading sabot to to easy loading PB. In my opinion if the bullets seats to easy and does not form a tight(good) fit it will allow gases to escape around the bullets and that will affect velocity and group tightness.
Plus you could buy 2-50 crush sabots at $7.99 each and a box of 100 ct XTP bullets for $32.00 compared to 1-15 ct PB at $25 to $28.
 
What they said: they would be "adequate".

However if you are going to use powerbelts, the 348 would work for deer, but I would jump to the 405 for bear.
 
I know many people dislike Powerbelts for various reasons. But my way of thinking is, if a patched roundball can kill a whitetail and a bear for that matter, why would not a powerbelt?

The 348 would be an excellent choice. You've already doubled the size of a roundball. Some claim powerbelts are too soft.. well roundballs are pure lead. How much softer can you get in bullet projectiles? I think the whole powerbelt thing centers on shot placement. And there are some velocity tricks to make your accuracy better, and to increase bullet performance.

If you want to play with some powerbelts.. by all means try them. But as others said.. JB Bore Paste the bore of the rifle. Clean it. And then change the sabots you shoot and I think you can then load some sabot bullet combinations much easier.
 
I have a friend who's killed elk for the last 10 years with the 348gr PB. You'll be fine for deer and black bear. The 405gr would be better for grizz.
 
The 405gr acts more like a conical on impact....good expansion and enough weight/length (SD) to limit a pancake effect. Keep the charge low like you would a true conical and its performance is fairly predictable.

The 348gr AT acts more like a plated bullet...sometimes it over expands and sometimes it pencils through. If it over expands you get a pancake and poor penetration....kinda pricey for a unpredictable bullet.

I would prefer the 440gr flat point myself if i had to use a PB and they are cheaper. Soft lead doesn't need a HP to perform reliably.
 
To agree with what Cayuga and GM54 says: keep powder/velocity low for BETTER penetration. 100 gr should be your maximum charge. Would get good expansion and possibly better penatration with 90-95 gr

The 338 platinum is another possbility

But they all cost too much for me. If you haven't tried the Hornady FPBs, they are a better constructed bullet and cost less. Learning curve on how to load them as the rear skirt is 0.507 and has to be thumped down the barrel with a short starter, but they flew pretty well out of my Omega
 
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