Moose Hunting

[bearhunter]

My dream hunt has always been a Shiras moose hunt with my Lyman Deerstalker 50cal. I was wondering if a 75gr. load of FFg pwder and a 444gr. Powerbelt FP would do the job?


Thanks.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Id work from 75 to 100 grains of powder looking for the tightest group with the desired bullet; You MIGHT also look at some other styles of connicals like the Hornady Great PLains HPHB specifically.....just a thought.

 

[longcruise]

My dream hunt has always been a Shiras moose hunt with my Lyman Deerstalker 50cal. I was wondering if a 75gr. load of FFg pwder and a 444gr. Powerbelt FP would do the job?

Like Wattsy says, some other conical might be an even better choice. A 444 grain .50 cal FP is gonne be a fairly long bullet so you might want to shoot it a bit to test it's stability. Upping your powder charge to 100 grains is not going to give you much more power, but I'd try anyway and take all the power you can get!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

.880" long.

58 yards into semi damp sand.80gr Pyrodex RS. They do the job thats for sure.

 

[longcruise]

Are those the same power belts? If so, they obviously hit head on!

I was more referencing how they might fly out of bearhunter's gun since I don't know what his twist rate is etc.

Looks like yours are copperclad?

 

[Kentuckywindage]

same group, just different views. And yes they are copper coated. I do have some pure lead 444's but gosh they lead up a bore fast.

 

[jtmattison]

I'm amazed at how those Powerbelts mushroomed. I've always heard bad reports on how they perform. Most reports say they fragment in game animals and do not kill efficiently.

Looks like the ones you are shooting will do the trick.

I have tried the heavier Powerbelts in .54 cal and I couldn't hardly get them to hit paper at 50 yards so I gave up on them.

HD

 

[Kentuckywindage]

yeah they dont realize that you CANT push a tiny 223-245-295gr pure lead bullet with 3 pellets and expect it to hold together on a close distance shot.

I do a lot of testing with these bullets so when i see the topic pop up, i naturally love to help that person :haha:

even designed my own tip insert that stops the fragmenting on the lighter weight powerbelts.

295gr Aerotip with 80gr RS.

 

[jtmattison]

I love that target laying on the table.

:rotf:

HD

 

[BrownBear]

Have you had any problems with recent powerbelts sometimes dropping their skirt, sometimes keeping it? I experimented with the 54 cals about 5 years ago and about every third one was a wild flier. Lots of checking showed the skirts weren't performing consistently. My attitude was do one or the other, but not both!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

yes, sometimes they can partially tear off or stay on all together

. The .54s have a really tight gas seal. The plastic skirt that snaps onto the nipple at the base of the bullet.

Sometimes its best to work these on and off a few times to get them to fly off.

Other times like with the .45 and now the new platinum, the centers of the skirt blow out and stay attached to the bullets when using a load of 90+ grains of powder. For some reason they use a harder plastic on the 45's and the platinums.

Center that blows out and stays attached to the bullet marked in red.

End result that you find on the ground,

The all lead Powerbelts, the skirts stick to them even worse, especially in .54cal because the copper coating isnt there to let them slip off easily.


We've all dealt with flyers so that can be caused by quite a few things. I know i got a couple of them today :haha: