Thank you for this, I bought a Traditions G4 Ultralight as my first smoke pole. I'm just getting started, this is a hell of a lot of help thank you. I tried Hornady FPB projectiles, loading em didn't go well with my rifles tight bore. I will try these for sure.
I use a TC OMEGA when I 1st got into muzzleloading I had a cheap CVA Magbolt Hunter shooting powerbelts bullets like you said they fly good but no exit wound no blood trail now I shoot Blackhorn 209 90 grains by volume 240 grain 44 caliber Hornady XTP using Harvester crush rib sabot green ones and CCI 209 primers very devastating load I took 2 does at l65 yards with 1 shot 1st 1 dropped in her tracks 2nd 1 ran 30 yards I was shocked that load I have not had a deer run dropped in there tracks try that load you won't be disappointed good hunting and GOOD LUCH
Totally agree with you, will never use any “junkbelt” for hunting. I use the remaining for sighting in only. Lost a nice buck using them, hit buck on shoulder & very little blood. Switched to BOR lock & never looked back to junkbelt
These things are super accurate and you can shoot a 5 shot group if you wanted to without the struggle that usually ensues when attempting to take multiple shots with a muzzleloader. I stocked up on those 270 grain B.O.R Loks. Found them in my local Walmart for $19.99. My Traditions Lightning Bolt Action loves them.
Agreed, hit a buck broadside 100 yards with 150 grain of white hots. The powerbelt did not exit and fell apart. I wanted to use it for elk but I don't trust it it.
I agree I shot a doe in PA. about 60 yards with powerbelt 250 gr areolite the new ones, no blood at all i looked hard for blood where the deer rean to into tick infested thicket, i have killed deer with powerbelts but never a good blood trail, that being said I am ready to try something else I also shoot 100 gr triple 7, I use federal shells for waterfowl, and love them, so I think I will try some for next season TC omega 50 cal, Thanks for the honest reveiw.
Good video, I agree with you on powerbelt bullets. I shot a doe at 15 yards, knocked her down and she got up and ran away. No blood trail at all, I lost that deer. I just bought some of the Federal in 270 copper. I shot to make sure hitting in same place but have not hunted yet with them. This weekend our muzzleloader season opens for 9 days so hopefully I can see how they do on a deer. Just a FYI , I used to use triple 7 pellets for the ease of loading and I also had triple 7 loose powder. My pellets were a couple of years old and shooting the guns before season something seemed off, they didn't seem to have the same pop. Any way went hunting and shot at a doe at 20 yards and missed her ! I was like what happened. Later that day shot at another doe and missed. I have a Nikon scope and my guns shoot great groups. I'm not one of those guys that shoots a paper plate and says good enough. So I went to shoot the gun on paper and my bullets were everywhere so I figured my scope went bad, bought another Nikon and it shot terrible too. I googled it and others were saying triple 7 pellets go bad after a couple of years. So I switched to my loose powder and gun shot great again. I now am using BH209 and love it, no fouling and can shoot 20 times without cleaning if you wanted. Just giving you a heads up on pellets. Good luck...
Wow this might be my problem. I hung up the ML after throwing away the scope because I kept missing deer. I didn't have any confidence in it anymore. Thanks for the tip on the powder!
I have been muzzleloader hunting for 30 years and tried most every bullet on the market and power belts have been responsible for more lost deer rotting in the woods . I'm a Barnes Expanders fan !
My first year muzzleloader hunting and I've chosen the Federal Bot Lock and Federal 209 primers and looking for your recommendation on which pellet to use. I see ya went with Triple 7 and since the video is a year old, would you still go with Triple 7? Thanks and appreciate the video as it helped alot.
Yeah man. Our early muzzleloader season comes in on October 15th. About a week ago I went and shot my new muzzleloader using the same tripple 7 pellets I show in this video and had amazing results. Will be using those along with hornady bore drivers 290 grain this year.
I mean, bullets are designed to expand and expel most or all their energy in the vitals. That's why they expand, and why your bullet looked flat or like a pancake as you mentioned in your video, not to say that you shouldn't have had a pass through. I cant personally speak for platinum's because I've always had great success with the Powerbelt copper 295 gr hollow points loaded with 100 gr (by volume) of 777 powder (not pellets), I get pass throughs even if I hit the facing shoulder on a quartered to shot. They usually drop or run about 40-50 yds and pile up, so with that, I don't buy into the fancy stuff.
I’ve hit two elk in the shoulder under 50 yard and they both ran off with a flesh wound and was seen days later running with the heard. Two different times. Power belt suck. The green ones and platinum. They suck. Thank you for sharing this it needs to be shared. Keep your power dry🤠
I had the same problem with power belts, shot a buck at 15 yards with no pass through, the bullet blew up like a bomb inside , all I found of the bullet when I butchered was bits and pieces
The platinum 270gr. Are designed for Mangum loads 150 grain more for the cva paramount or accura v2/ Lr . I use the cva accura Lr and started out with powerbelt belt aerolite 250gr. With 100gr. imr whitehots took 2 does that night at 125 years no problem. But missed a big buck at 200 yards a few days later. so I switched to the platinum series 270gr with 150gr imr whitehots and got another chance at the same buck at 175 yard he didn't run but maybe 80 yards. But I didn't have a pass thru like you said. I switched to the new powerbelt ELR 330gr this year. Haven't got to test them on a deer yet. But the accuracy on the powerbelt is spot-on.
I don't like either of these bullets. They are crap to load in a dirty rifle and the plastic comes off differently every time. I have gone back to round balls and I will never go back. Every elk I have taken with round balls has been a through and through with a nice wound channel for bleeding. Now with my own homemade gun powder I can load and shoot many times without having to clean the nasty stuff left by fake gunpowder. Just my two cents.
Bore lok are nasty accurate compared to whatelse I've shot .powerbelts traditions Thompson center ect .sighted in 1.5 inch high at 25 yards smoked a deer front shoulder exactly point of aim from 70 yards. No blood or hair on point of impact but I watched her pile .didn't go 20 ....
I don' t think you can go wrong with the Federal BOR Lokt bullets. I wish I'd bought more when I could. They must just make one run of them per year, and Everybody is out of them now, cannot find them anywhere. The Powerbelts are just too soft, pure lead and they seem to insist on making them into hollow points which makes it even worse when it comes to penetration. I think they'd be a much better bullet in the form of a solid myself.
Great video. And an honest review. If i can offer some insite to you on powerbelts. Powerbelts are soft lead and the ones you are using are a polytip hollow point. These are fantastic rounds if used correctly. The key to making these work perfectly is to push them low and slow. Dont think about foot pounds of energy as you would with a normal firearm. Its a 50 cal. You are putting a 5/16 size hole in whatever you just shot. Now, hollowpoints expand via a hydraulic method on contact with soft or wet matter. The faster you push the round, the faster it expands and the faster it slows down. This is why penetration is poor most often. T7 is hotter than regular black powder so my advice is to cut that charge to about 70 grains (or 80 if you can get 30gr pellets) and try that. Slower speed means slower expansion which means greater penetration in this case. You might be surprised at the results.
It is not uncommon to find bullets that work well for many occasionally let someone down. I have had a 150gr nosler partion not expand at all on a whitetail at 100 yrds. I have shot 8 deer with the standard 245gr power belts from my TC 50 cal Omega. The furthest was 256 yrds w/ 3 50 gr. pellets of pyrodex and that bullet ran from behind the shoulder and exited the rear of the ribs on the opposite side. She went two steps. Another was 240 yrds entered and exited 4" behind the shoulder. 50 yards massive blood trail on him. I could see the blood on the field through the scope. Some hunts do not allow sabots. This is part of the art of muzzle loading. Finding the most accurate and effective load for the gun is a challenge. I ran out my .54 cal balls and now I can't find anything that my Hawken will shoot well.
My father taught me the high shoulder shot in the early 1980s has worked flawlessly throughout the many years of hunting with rifle and muzzleloader "Until I switched to power belts bullet is a exploding piece of crap didn't use them again until last year with release of elr did many tests and powerbelts are still crap
Like you said I shoot both of those and I killed deer with both of those and I got a night rifle what will go 200 yards and I've shot him 200 gallons both of them they're both good bullets Barnes bullets are the best out of my night I've never lost one year with all three of them but
The bullet looked like a pancake? You describe that as if it’s bad? That’s exactly what a quality projectile should do. It it’s anticipated velocity, it should expand as much as possible creating a larger wound channel. I’ll be the first to say, powerbelts suck and are the least accurate bullet I’ve shot. But it sounds like the terminal performance was great.
You want a projectile to mushroom out while still giving you enough penetration to make an exit wound. You don’t want it to completely flatten and only give you 8-9 inches of penetration.
I HAVE FEDERAL BORE LOCK BULLETS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THEY ARE SHIT COPPER POWERBELTS 240 GRIAN ALL I USE AND NEVER LOST A DEER EVER BEEN HUNTING WITH THEM FOR 8 YEARS LOVE THEM COULD NOT HIT THE BARN DOOR WITH BORE LOCK
Thank you for this, I bought a Traditions G4 Ultralight as my first smoke pole. I'm just getting started, this is a hell of a lot of help thank you. I tried Hornady FPB projectiles, loading em didn't go well with my rifles tight bore. I will try these for sure.
part of the issue with the platinums is they are designed for magnum loads. they were made specifically for the 150 grain loads to work properly.
I use a TC OMEGA when I 1st got into muzzleloading I had a cheap CVA Magbolt Hunter shooting powerbelts bullets like you said they fly good but no exit wound no blood trail now I shoot Blackhorn 209 90 grains by volume 240 grain 44 caliber Hornady XTP using Harvester crush rib sabot green ones and CCI 209 primers very devastating load I took 2 does at l65 yards with 1 shot 1st 1 dropped in her tracks 2nd 1 ran 30 yards I was shocked that load I have not had a deer run dropped in there tracks try that load you won't be disappointed good hunting and GOOD LUCH
Totally agree with you, will never use any “junkbelt” for hunting. I use the remaining for sighting in only. Lost a nice buck using them, hit buck on shoulder & very little blood. Switched to BOR lock & never looked back to junkbelt
These things are super accurate and you can shoot a 5 shot group if you wanted to without the struggle that usually ensues when attempting to take multiple shots with a muzzleloader. I stocked up on those 270 grain B.O.R Loks. Found them in my local Walmart for $19.99. My Traditions Lightning Bolt Action loves them.
Where can I find this things at
@@elidavis3539 Walmart when they have them, Cabelas sometimes has them and online you’ll find them.
Okay thank you so much.
Agreed, hit a buck broadside 100 yards with 150 grain of white hots. The powerbelt did not exit and fell apart. I wanted to use it for elk but I don't trust it it.
Appreciate the info. I'm buying a muzzleloader this week.
I agree I shot a doe in PA. about 60 yards with powerbelt 250 gr areolite the new ones, no blood at all i looked hard for blood where the deer rean to into tick infested thicket, i have killed deer with powerbelts but never a good blood trail, that being said I am ready to try something else I also shoot 100 gr triple 7, I use federal shells for waterfowl, and love them, so I think I will try some for next season TC omega 50 cal, Thanks for the honest reveiw.
The all copper borelock is super accurate in my CVA. A better constructed bullet doesn’t exist. 👍👍
Good video, I agree with you on powerbelt bullets. I shot a doe at 15 yards, knocked her down and she got up and ran away. No blood trail at all, I lost that deer. I just bought some of the Federal in 270 copper. I shot to make sure hitting in same place but have not hunted yet with them. This weekend our muzzleloader season opens for 9 days so hopefully I can see how they do on a deer. Just a FYI , I used to use triple 7 pellets for the ease of loading and I also had triple 7 loose powder. My pellets were a couple of years old and shooting the guns before season something seemed off, they didn't seem to have the same pop. Any way went hunting and shot at a doe at 20 yards and missed her ! I was like what happened. Later that day shot at another doe and missed. I have a Nikon scope and my guns shoot great groups. I'm not one of those guys that shoots a paper plate and says good enough. So I went to shoot the gun on paper and my bullets were everywhere so I figured my scope went bad, bought another Nikon and it shot terrible too. I googled it and others were saying triple 7 pellets go bad after a couple of years. So I switched to my loose powder and gun shot great again. I now am using BH209 and love it, no fouling and can shoot 20 times without cleaning if you wanted. Just giving you a heads up on pellets. Good luck...
Wow this might be my problem. I hung up the ML after throwing away the scope because I kept missing deer. I didn't have any confidence in it anymore. Thanks for the tip on the powder!
Appreciate the personal experience. Thank you.
I have been muzzleloader hunting for 30 years and tried most every bullet on the market and power belts have been responsible for more lost deer rotting in the woods . I'm a Barnes Expanders fan !
Great video, thanks
My first year muzzleloader hunting and I've chosen the Federal Bot Lock and Federal 209 primers and looking for your recommendation on which pellet to use.
I see ya went with Triple 7 and since the video is a year old, would you still go with Triple 7?
Thanks and appreciate the video as it helped alot.
Yeah man. Our early muzzleloader season comes in on October 15th. About a week ago I went and shot my new muzzleloader using the same tripple 7 pellets I show in this video and had amazing results. Will be using those along with hornady bore drivers 290 grain this year.
Thank you. Looking forward to ML hunting this year. Just moved to Tennessee and will get to hunt the rut with my new ML.
@@geraldroberts4721 good luck to you!
I mean, bullets are designed to expand and expel most or all their energy in the vitals. That's why they expand, and why your bullet looked flat or like a pancake as you mentioned in your video, not to say that you shouldn't have had a pass through. I cant personally speak for platinum's because I've always had great success with the Powerbelt copper 295 gr hollow points loaded with 100 gr (by volume) of 777 powder (not pellets), I get pass throughs even if I hit the facing shoulder on a quartered to shot. They usually drop or run about 40-50 yds and pile up, so with that, I don't buy into the fancy stuff.
A bullet should only expand too 3/4 more its original size so a 50 cal should only be 3/4" .750 max and should go through animal
I’ve hit two elk in the shoulder under 50 yard and they both ran off with a flesh wound and was seen days later running with the heard. Two different times. Power belt suck. The green ones and platinum. They suck. Thank you for sharing this it needs to be shared. Keep your power dry🤠
I’m also no fan of power belts for the same reason! Switched to federals and have been successful, they shoot and kill great!
I had the same problem with power belts, shot a buck at 15 yards with no pass through, the bullet blew up like a bomb inside , all I found of the bullet when I butchered was bits and pieces
The platinum 270gr. Are designed for Mangum loads 150 grain more for the cva paramount or accura v2/ Lr . I use the cva accura Lr and started out with powerbelt belt aerolite 250gr. With 100gr. imr whitehots took 2 does that night at 125 years no problem. But missed a big buck at 200 yards a few days later. so I switched to the platinum series 270gr with 150gr imr whitehots and got another chance at the same buck at 175 yard he didn't run but maybe 80 yards. But I didn't have a pass thru like you said. I switched to the new powerbelt ELR 330gr this year. Haven't got to test them on a deer yet. But the accuracy on the powerbelt is spot-on.
You'll like the ELR's, they are in a whole different class than the other Powerbelt bullets.
How do you caste these bullets?
I don't like either of these bullets. They are crap to load in a dirty rifle and the plastic comes off differently every time. I have gone back to round balls and I will never go back. Every elk I have taken with round balls has been a through and through with a nice wound channel for bleeding. Now with my own homemade gun powder I can load and shoot many times without having to clean the nasty stuff left by fake gunpowder. Just my two cents.
Bore lok are nasty accurate compared to whatelse I've shot .powerbelts traditions Thompson center ect .sighted in 1.5 inch high at 25 yards smoked a deer front shoulder exactly point of aim from 70 yards. No blood or hair on point of impact but I watched her pile .didn't go 20 ....
I don' t think you can go wrong with the Federal BOR Lokt bullets. I wish I'd bought more when I could. They must just make one run of them per year, and Everybody is out of them now, cannot find them anywhere. The Powerbelts are just too soft, pure lead and they seem to insist on making them into hollow points which makes it even worse when it comes to penetration. I think they'd be a much better bullet in the form of a solid myself.
Nice video only reason I subscribed was that UK shirt #BBN
Thanks . Newbie here. Very helpful.
Great video. And an honest review. If i can offer some insite to you on powerbelts. Powerbelts are soft lead and the ones you are using are a polytip hollow point. These are fantastic rounds if used correctly. The key to making these work perfectly is to push them low and slow. Dont think about foot pounds of energy as you would with a normal firearm. Its a 50 cal. You are putting a 5/16 size hole in whatever you just shot. Now, hollowpoints expand via a hydraulic method on contact with soft or wet matter. The faster you push the round, the faster it expands and the faster it slows down. This is why penetration is poor most often. T7 is hotter than regular black powder so my advice is to cut that charge to about 70 grains (or 80 if you can get 30gr pellets) and try that. Slower speed means slower expansion which means greater penetration in this case. You might be surprised at the results.
Friends don't let friends shoot powerbelt
It is not uncommon to find bullets that work well for many occasionally let someone down. I have had a 150gr nosler partion not expand at all on a whitetail at 100 yrds. I have shot 8 deer with the standard 245gr power belts from my TC 50 cal Omega. The furthest was 256 yrds w/ 3 50 gr. pellets of pyrodex and that bullet ran from behind the shoulder and exited the rear of the ribs on the opposite side. She went two steps. Another was 240 yrds entered and exited 4" behind the shoulder. 50 yards massive blood trail on him. I could see the blood on the field through the scope. Some hunts do not allow sabots. This is part of the art of muzzle loading. Finding the most accurate and effective load for the gun is a challenge. I ran out my .54 cal balls and now I can't find anything that my Hawken will shoot well.
My father taught me the high shoulder shot in the early 1980s has worked flawlessly throughout the many years of hunting with rifle and muzzleloader "Until I switched to power belts bullet is a exploding piece of crap didn't use them again until last year with release of elr did many tests and powerbelts are still crap
Like you said I shoot both of those and I killed deer with both of those and I got a night rifle what will go 200 yards and I've shot him 200 gallons both of them they're both good bullets Barnes bullets are the best out of my night I've never lost one year with all three of them but
The bullet looked like a pancake? You describe that as if it’s bad?
That’s exactly what a quality projectile should do. It it’s anticipated velocity, it should expand as much as possible creating a larger wound channel.
I’ll be the first to say, powerbelts suck and are the least accurate bullet I’ve shot. But it sounds like the terminal performance was great.
You want a projectile to mushroom out while still giving you enough penetration to make an exit wound. You don’t want it to completely flatten and only give you 8-9 inches of penetration.
I agree with everything you've said, powerbelts are junk. I shoot the borelock as well .
Claims made without facts can be dismissed without facts.
Show some range work. Real facts not opinions.
I HAVE FEDERAL BORE LOCK BULLETS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THEY ARE SHIT COPPER POWERBELTS 240 GRIAN ALL I USE AND NEVER LOST A DEER EVER BEEN HUNTING WITH THEM FOR 8 YEARS LOVE THEM COULD NOT HIT THE BARN DOOR WITH BORE LOCK
Sabot 250 gr hornady is better.
Power belts are junk I've had several buddy's loose deer useing them