Sabot or Powerbelt


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Guest deldeer

Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

you will get a different answer from everyone, because they all shoot different...i prefer sabots out of my 50 cal. omega myself, only because some of the guys i hunt with were complaining about powerbelts placing well on paper, but were fragmenting on impact (with animal), & not leaving a good exit wound or blood trail,....now i don't know that to be true, but it was enough for me not to bother with them, because they went back to sabots...im getting ready to order the P.R. dead centers, they seem to have very good reviews,& results.....good luck...

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

Definitely Powerbelts for me, the heavier the better out of my Black Diamond. They are designed to fragment, however I've taken both mule deer (1) and whitetails (~25) with them and they really tend to take them down quick from my experience. I disagree with oldsnow on this one. It has nothing to do with cleaning, but a lot to do with full diameter and ease of loading. I can be fully loaded for a second shot before my brothers finish with their bullet starter (which I don't need to use by the way). The accuracy I'm able to achieve is putting all shots in a 4 inch diameter circle at 100 yards with open sights. That's more than good enough for any deer I'm going to shoot at.

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

I shot one deer with a sabot and the shot was good but my friend killed it a half mile away and when I tracked it to him, he gave me the bullet. It was a 40 yd shot and did not even pass through it. I never shot a sabot again and gave the gun away.

Now that I have seen the power belts kill deer, I will say they are great: the 6 deer I have seen killed with a PB, all had good pass throughs and if they did not drop there, only went 20 yds.

They was 348 gr Copper HPs in a .54 cal. If your gun shoots them good, I would say to use them.

Frank.

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Guest gastj

Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

I know for a fact after this year that Power Belts are not that great. I have shot Hornady XTP 300's for 8 yrs. Never lost a deer and I've shot them from 35, 75, 220 yds. and so on. I friend bought a 45 cal. CVA and sighted it in with a good group at 100 and 150 yds. During gun season he shot a nice 8, but a little back (liver) and two miles and three thousand thorns later it was in the truck. On finding deer the bullet hit the rear ribs and IMPLODED blowing the guts back out the entrance hole. So after the first 100yds the blood almost stoped, that when I went to my hands and knees to find him. After field dressing i COULDN'T find even a tear on opposite cavity wall. The deer was only 45 yds broad side. I would not recommend or use them, but my opinion only.

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

Hornady 245grXp's didn't shoot good in my gun.I was going to throw it in the river,but gave PB a try,and I love them.I know some guys that have great success with sabots.Sabots may be more accurate at 200+ yds,but I can't shoot over 100 with open sights so why do I need sabots?The PB's are very accurate in my gun.I have had excellent results with PB.I have taken 9 deer with them,and all,but one fell in sight.The one that fell out of range left blood everywhere.I have shot the 245gr,and the 295gr.The 295 hit them harder to me,even though PB's ballistic chart claims the 245's have more speed,and energy.I have never had a pass through on a deer,or hog.NOW I must say,I shoot for the shoulders,and I feel that makes a difference with penetration.Like I said though they all fell with in sight.I think of it this way..when he's hit HARD,and it hangs up under the hide on the opposite side.That tells me he took the whole load.No wasted energy.Just my opinion.I recommend them!Alot of my friends use them,and they love them.You do hear the occasional complaint,but that's with anything. wink.gif

Oh yeah,and they do fragment,sometimes,not near as bad as a ballistic tip.They also mushroom out pretty good.I have saved some.Here are two 295gr PB's I have retrieved from deer.

pb295s.jpg

The one on the left was at 45yds.As you can see it mushroomed out beautifully.The one on the right was at 13yds.It shattered into atleast 3 pieces,but did the job very well.I would expect it to shatter at close ranges,Again I think they are worth a try. smile.gif

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

I used to like powerbelts and still think they are a good bullet but that was until I shot 300 grain barnes sabots. I got better accuracy with the big bullets from barnes and the deer i shot this year with them left a blood trail a blind man could have followed. If I'd have hit him in the shoulder instead of the lungs he wouldn't have went a foot.

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

[ QUOTE ]

Big Bubbles,if your not more confused after reading all these testimonials I'll be suprised. blush.giflaugh.giflaugh.gifgrin.gifsmirk.gif

[/ QUOTE ] lol I do like the post by ranch shows me alot i shoot powerbelts to and i shot my buck at 90 yards and dropped him and my doe and 83 yads..she ran about40 yards and dropped grin.gif

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Re: Sabot or Powerbelt

I'll be using the new Knight Vision this fall and I'm told the best load is the 245 grain Spitzer boat tails sold by Knight as their Red Hots. I tried PB's in my old Knight and wasn't impressed with them. Ended up settling on Hornady XTP's.

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