252g Powerbelt Hollowpoint

As with the other bullets tested, the bullet was shot through carpet, plywood, and into a stack of water jugs backed up by a phone book. The load was 80g Blackhorn, and the distance to the face of the carpet was 25 yard.

The following photo is a frame from the video about 1/2 second after impact. The first jug is in flight. One can see the last three jugs are still full of water. The last three jugs were undamaged.











The plywood was blown in half. This is the only bullet to destroy the plywood, the other bullets just made holes, and left the plywood intact.












The first jug was destroyed, and tossed 15-20 feet away. The second jug held the bullet, and except for the entry hole is quite intact, except the lid was blown about 40' towards the rifle.














The bullet now weighs 172 grain.

Its no wonder so many people are not thrilled with PB performance. 2 jugs is very poor penetration. Not surprised though, the SD of a 250gr 50cal bullet is horrible.

Good for making firewood.

So what's the House Rule with these jugs? If the bullet doesn't enter the 3rd jug and show adequate expansion, it's declared a failure and flunks the test?

Who's in 1st and 2nd Place Ron? You are logging this stuff..... right? :? What do you mean No?

The only Powerbelt that I'd allow in my bore is the 338 Platinum, if they were 50-75 cents a bullet. Otherwise No.

That bullet is bigger than the 3-4 pb bullets I've recovered from deer. Most were pulled out in several pieces. When I found a piece in a back strap after a near perfect broad side shot I threw them away.

I know someone who kills a bull every year with the plain copper 295gr Powerbelt. They're very popular in my area, because that's all the gun shops carry. Surprisingly if you talk to the gun shop owners they say they've gotten no complaints on the PB's not working.

Maybe they only fail on the forums?

I tend to look at these tests as an abuse test, most of the bullets Ron has tested would pass but I see this one as a failure. Yes it held together but its basically flat.

Exactly they only fail on the forums because I use shock waves and ssts almost exclusively and love them never have had an issue

Never got around to mentioning sqezer sent me these bullets. Begged him not to, but he didn't mind; he never minds.

ronlaughlin said:

Never got around to mentioning sqezer sent me these bullets. Begged him not to, but he didn't mind; he never minds.

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sqezer is probably smiling right now. Those may have been the last 5 he had and now he's a Powerbelt-free man. I literally put an entire pack of copper clad HP Powerbelts in my recycle bin last January. Only know of a few that have muzzleloaders and nobody was interested.

ronlaughlin said:

Never got around to mentioning sqezer sent me these bullets. Begged him not to, but he didn't mind; he never minds.

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What would happen if i begged you to try some 45cal 300gr PB Plats? I could even throw in a few Parker 275gr BEs, .451 460gr or 490gr conicals and a few Barnes 300gr SOCOMs. Im not sure if i have any sabots left that would fit the SOCOMs but i might be able to size them down enough for a black Crushrib.

OK

LOL alert the neighborhood! Need more jugs :lol:

That's funny. None of the 7-8 bullets I offered Ron he accepted.
OMG. It's official. I hunt with junk bullets.

Wait until my wife hears about this. A great excuse to upgrade the ML accessories.

GM54-120 said:

..... Im not sure if i have any sabots left that would fit the SOCOMs....

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Tom sent me a bag full of them orange sabot.

TripleSe7en said:

That's funny. None of the 7-8 bullets I offered Ron he accepted.
OMG. It's official. I hunt with junk bullets.

Wait until my wife hears about this. A great excuse to upgrade the ML accessories.

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Scott shot the very first breech plug i ever built; i owe him.....

Ron, For a baseline how about a test on those cheap economy lead bullet/sabot packs that TC sells, I think they are called "Cheap Shots" and come in 30 packs. FHP soft lead bullets. Also a test with a PRB would be good too. Shoot them with "smoker" type loads. Until the early 90s I used open sights and PRB and Swiss powder pretty much exclusively and killed PU loads of deer with them and very rarely a lost deer, shot placement is everything. My favorite was/is my 58 sidehammer and the White in .504. Now eyes aren't so good and legs shorter and deer spookier in ML season. Early 90s got me a White and then in 07 a Savage MLII. Now it's pretty much SML for me.

Thanks for all the shooting, pix, and posts you do Ron. If you want some boolits to test PM me, I have a bunch that I'll never use up and I'd be glad to donate for testing. Best, Wolfer

I've always wondered if a round ball would out perform a light Powerbelt in tests like this. I'm guessing the PRB won't look good in this test, but we know it kills good. Some bullets can't be abused in a test, but will perform on game.

btw Ron, is your wife getting mad at you for tearing out the carpet for these tests?

Muley Hunter said:

I've always wondered if a round ball would out perform a light Powerbelt in tests like this. I'm guessing the PRB won't look good in this test, but we know it kills good. Some bullets can't be abused in a test, but will perform on game.

btw Ron, is your wife getting mad at you for tearing out the carpet for these tests?

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btw Ron, is your wife getting mad at you for tearing out the carpet (and kitchen table to staple that carpet on) for these tests? :goodman:

She provided the carpet, and shelving from her junk collection. Am about out of the specific carpet, and shelving; will soon switch to different.