Sabot not penetrating shoulder on whitetail deer

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Muzbow

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CVA Wolf shooting 100 gr triple 7, 250 gr sabots- powerbelt and TC.
Last 3 deer hit in shoulder 100 yds or less,
and not penetrating beyond shoulder blade.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
 
Not sure what bullet you're using Powerbelts aren't sabot loads.
Powerbelts seem to have penetration issues when driven too fast.
Go to a 250 gr 45 caliber Hornady XTP and you should achieve happiness.
Best of luck!
 
The bullets might be fragmenting... I switched from power belts to a Barnes TEZs after i hit a deer in the spine.. Bullet complete broke apart. The TEZ load as easy as the powerboats but hold together a lot better.. They hit like thors hammer.. Just my 2 cents
 
Thank you for the info, I had used hornady and Barnes, but D.S.G. did not have those brands only Powerbelts.
I will find them again, and pitch the Powerbelts.
Thanks again!
 
Pitch the pellets. If they are old they do not age well and don't burn properly. Need new every year OR get loose powder and get a fine tuned load. at any kind of range beyond 10" those powerbelts will do OK with that load. More information on the terminal performance, bullet "grenading" ? no mushroom and just stop on bone ? what range and angle were shots ? which belted bullet, pure lead HP-copper HP, copper aerotip- would help troubleshoot problem. Reflects my experience and opinion, yours may be different. W
 
I've killed quite a few deer with muzzleloaders all at 100 grains of powder or less (currently using 80 gr BH209) and I've yet to recover a bullet. I use the Barnes MZ Expanders in my .45 and T/C Shockwaves in my .50's.
Something is very wrong if you aren't getting thru the shoulder.
 
I shot a buck this year with a 270 gr power belt platinum using 100 gr by volume of blackhorn 209 at 60 yards. Bullet hit high shoulder. Deer went down and tried to get back up. I shot him again to finish him off. After skinning him I noticed the bullet had fragmented upon impact and blew out the top of the deer never going thru the shoulder?? Last year shooting those for me! I'm thinking the 300 XTP or the Speer deep curl next year. I have killed lots of deer with the 240 XTP with pass thrus from 30 to 125 yards. Not sure why I switched??
 
I killed a large bodied buck several years ago with my .50 Black Diamond. It was about 75 yards and I was using two .50 grain 777 pellets and I believe a 240 gr .44 cal semi jacketed hollow point bullet. He only went about 50 yards but we had a hard time finding him in the tamarack swamp. There was zero blood and we actually had snow so that was crazy. Recovered the bullet and it was a beautiful mushroom but no exit left us searching for blood. From what I've been reading it seems like you need a little more velocity to get the bullet to pass through.
 

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