45 cal PowerBelt ELR terminal performance on really big game

[The Big Game Hunter]

I've been very happy with the performance of my 45 caliber CVA Paramount with the 285gr PowerBelt ELR at the range and on deer sized game, but haven't used it on anything bigger yet.
I'm considering using that same load on bison later this fall and I'm curious to hear about experiences people have had on really big game with it: elk, moose, bison, brown bear, etc.
What sort of expansion were you getting? Did the bullet exit? Was it able to punch through heavy bones and muscle without breaking apart? Difference in terminal performance at close range vs longer range? Etc.
No need to comment about performance in things like ballistic gelatin, water jugs, newspaper, etc. or commentary on PowerBelt bullets in general.
Instead, I'd prefer to focus this thread on actual, real world experiences people have had with these bullets afield on big game.
Thanks!

 

[mnoland30]

Wow, no answers? I guess no one on this site likes Powerbelts. I met a guide this fall that uses 250 gr. green tipped powerbelts for elk and swears by them. I've also read multiple posts about them blowing up without adequate penetration. I have the same question. I'd like to know how they perform on elk. My experience with pointy muzzleloader bullets is that they don't leave an entrace hole that will bleed, so if they don't exit, it is very difficult to track your animal. That wouldn't matter on a bison in open country.

 

[Steelheader323]

The shape of the bullet is not the issue with powerbelts..I know a lot of guys that have success with them.. on the other hand I won’t use them or even bother to try them..I did use them my first year and had poor experience with them..they came apart..I did kill the deer..after a very long track..that was 20+ years ago..I hit the shoulder of a doe at 80 yards..she dropped and got right back up..bullet or should I say the schrapnel never made it into the pump
House..bullet fragged on impact and I only recovered pieces of it..I stared using actual jacketed bullets after that..the powerbelt brand itself are all plated lead bullets..now there are some good plated
Bullets but I haven’t seen any powerbelt that holds together all that well..they can’t be pushed to hard or they come apart…also the price of them is down right ridiculous for a plated soft bullet..for a .45 bullet to bore for elk I’d go with a fury or Pittman or even a Parker bullet..or for that matter a nice 300+ grain lead conical will take an elk for sure..

Elk have been takin with patched round ball for years..maybe not ideal but it’s been done..that being said the elr will get the job done..I would just stay away from
Shoulder shots

 

[ElDiablo]

 

[Ka'imiloa]

I've been very happy with the performance of my 45 caliber CVA Paramount with the 285gr PowerBelt ELR at the range and on deer sized game, but haven't used it on anything bigger yet.
I'm considering using that same load on bison later this fall and I'm curious to hear about experiences people have had on really big game with it: elk, moose, bison, brown bear, etc.
What sort of expansion were you getting? Did the bullet exit? Was it able to punch through heavy bones and muscle without breaking apart? Difference in terminal performance at close range vs longer range? Etc.
No need to comment about performance in things like ballistic gelatin, water jugs, newspaper, etc. or commentary on PowerBelt bullets in general.
Instead, I'd prefer to focus this thread on actual, real world experiences people have had with these bullets afield on big game.
Thanks!

The 285 ELR is soft lead with a very thin copper coating, made for expansion, and indeed a soft lead bullet is going to expand anyway. Excellent deer bullet at its weight, but I urge you to use a hardcast bullet like the Harvester 330 or 400 gr. for elk, bison, moose, large bear. etc. Almost all hardcasts you may find will be FP (flat point), so they are pre-expanded, so to speak, due to being usually 45 cal. to start with. The hugely powerful pistol, the .500 Linebaugh, uses a hardcast bulllet like the Harvester, and even elephants have been shot with it. A hardcast FP .45 bullet does not need to expand, and creates a huge hydrostatic shockwave cavity as it penetrates. Elmer Keith learned this decades ago, and it is still just as true today.
Aloha, Ka'imiloa

 

[Ka'imiloa]

The 285 ELR is soft lead with a very thin copper coating, made for expansion, and indeed a soft lead bullet is going to expand anyway. Excellent deer bullet at its weight, but I urge you to use a hardcast bullet like the Harvester 330 or 400 gr. for elk, bison, moose, large bear. etc. Almost all hardcasts you may find will be FP (flat point), so they are pre-expanded, so to speak, due to being usually 45 cal. to start with. The hugely powerful pistol, the .500 Linebaugh, uses a hardcast bulllet like the Harvester, and even elephants have been shot with it. A hardcast FP .45 bullet does not need to expand, and creates a huge hydrostatic shockwave cavity as it penetrates. Elmer Keith learned this decades ago, and it is still just as true today.
Aloha, Ka'imiloa

P.S. Will a .45 Harvester hardcast obturate enough to take the rifling with a stout charge of BH 209 in a .45 inline? Put a hard-card wad behind it as a gas check and find out. It doesn't have to obturate at all in a .50 inline, since it's then in a sabot.