Experience with Powerboats

I have recently switched to Powerbelt bullets. I was shooting Hornady 250 SST low Drag and was not getting the consistency I felt my rifle was capable of. I am now using the Powerbelt bullet's and seeing much better results. Blackthorn 209 powder is my powder of choice with both projectiles.
I have a LHR Redemption / Walnut 24" barrel and a Remington 700 ML with 209 shot shell conversion both .50 Cal.

dirtdobber said:

I have recently switched to Powerboat bullets. I was shooting Hornady 250 SST low Drag and was not getting the consistency I felt my rifle was capable of. I am now using the Powerboat bullets and seeing much better results. Blackthorn 209 powder is my powder of choice with both projectiles.
I have a LHR Redemption / Walnut 24" barrel and a Remington 700 ML with 209 shot shell conversion both .50 Cal.

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You wont be seeing better results when you see their performance on deer . They are the worst bullet on the market .

Do try Hornady 300 grain XTP's in Harvester short black sabots. They could well end up as your go to bullet for accuracy and performance on game.

Man Semi, I expected a nice picture of a power"boat" with some witty comments on it. You must be slackin :lol:

Back to the topic...I agree with the others, powerbelts are the last bullets I would shoot. They usually shoot accurately, but have a terrible reputation for terminal performance. Not saying they might not work, but there are a TON of better bullets to shoot that are less expensive with much better track records. Semi had a great suggestion with the 300gr XTP. What you are already shooting is a good bullet also. Not sure if you have played around with adjusting power charge / different sabot, etc. Sometimes a small change can make a real good difference.

I can only guess the Hornady Low Drag sabots are simply too loose for the Redemption and 700ML bore. The Rems often run on the large side. There are many sabot options available to use with whatever bullets you prefer. The range of bullets from "premium" to "common" is endless. When i think of premium bullets, Powerbelts don't even fit into the equation other than the price. There are so many cheaper bullets that perform better on game.

I would start with a MMP-HPH-12 sabot in the 700ML and the Harvester smooth black or maybe the black Crushrib in the Redemption. Use your SST bullets with those sabots and pick up a box of the 300gr XTPs. Once you find out what sabots they like you can move on to the premium priced bullets if you wish.

My Redemption shoots all of the Hornady xtp's very well. Currently shooting 250grn 110 grn blackhorn 209 federal 209A primer. Black crush rib sabot.

I'm hearing the same response from others beyond this forum. My experience has only been on the range, however, I need meat on the table. The range doesn't count if they don't perform in the field. I believe I sill have my receipt for a couple of the packets I purchased from Cabelas. I'll kindly return them for an exchange for some of the suggested projectiles.

Here's my recent experience...I just returned from a hunt where I had to use the all-lead PB's(405g). Long story but was originally planning on shooting the No Excuses but had to switch at the last minute because of a bad batch of impure lead in the NE's causing severe accuracy issues. I shot a raghorn 5x5 @ 130 yds. Thought I missed him because he didn't act hit at all. Waited 30 min anyway before checking for blood. When I went to where I last saw him go over the ridge, there was good blood everywhere. I thought, 'this will be a short recovery." Not so much. I tracked him for a mile down into the nastiest steepest stuff you can imagine. Finally caught up with him where I found him bedded down and still alive. Walked up to 30 yds from him and put another one in him. Even that shot didn't kill him instantly. My first shot location turned out to be pretty good, right behind the shoulder and into the lungs. There was no exit wound and because of the location, I quartered him for pack out so I don't know how much penetration I got but it did not make it to the opposite shoulder or ribs.
For comparison, my partner shot a bull in the same location 2 days prior @ 125 yds and that bull went 50 yds before expiring within 30 min. His shot was slightly forward--broke the front shoulder and probably got some lung. He was shooting the Hornady Great Plains 385g. His powder charge and MV is somewhat higher than mine (130g of Pyrodex vs 80g 777) so maybe that had something to do with it but I wasn't impressed with the PBs. I've got a couple partial packages of PBs that I'll sell to whoever wants to try them out.

I used to shoot powerbelts, shot ok in my TC BLack Diamond, but I could not justify $1 a bullet for just lead. Never did kill anything with a Powerbelt. Since then I went to No Excuses and me and my partner have killed 5 cow elk. With 50cal 460gr, 80gr of FFF 777 we have had 2 pass throughs, 3 with the bullet under the far hide, all perfect 1in mushrooms. Shots 50-100yds, never had a long recovery. Shot one in her bed, she stood up then fell back down, recovery distance = 3 yards. I have heard too many bad stories about powerbelts, I would never shoot them again.

I shot powerbelts 10-15 years ago. I looked through my "deer log" and I killed 5 deer with the 295 gr hp. 4 dropped in their tracks, one only ran about 40 yards. Sounds great but bullet performance was pretty sad. Not one pass through, and no significant pieces of bullet recovered. The largest body weight was probably 125lbs dressed. If I had a 200lb buck with nothing but a shoulder shot, I would have very little confidence in "splatterbelts".


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If you're looking at cost, the PT Gold 260is the way to go or my preference is the 458/250 Hornady Monoflex. A fantastic performer without breaking the bank. You'll also need the MMP 458x50 sabots. Buy them from Carlos at Ed's Gun Shop 919-692-7936

Greg

Semisane;
Harvester short black sabots are what the Doctor ordered for the 700 ML. I agree with the Hornady projectiles. I will try the 300 grain. The LHR does better with the Powerbelts. I've not had a problem with dropping whitetail in their tracks with Powerbelts. With that said, I've not had an opportunity to shot an animal greater than 100 yds. The kills I've made have been less that 75 yds. from an elevated climber. I've been shooting the Blackthorn 209 for the last couple years. Love the stuff, however, have not taken the time on the range experimenting with too many different load combo's. With modern in-lines it does require time on the bench to determine the proper projectile for each individual rifle. What experience does the forum have with the LHR Redemption and the various favorable load combo's?

My LHR Redemption shoots all of the Hornady xtp's very well. My favorite load is 250 grn xtp, Harvester black crush rib, 110 grn black horn, federal 209A primer. The gun will also shoot the Harvester Scorpion PT Gold very well also.