Power Belt

[TommyGun496]

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if it was just a fluke...I shot an elk with a 345gr copper jacketed h/p power belt.  The bullet hit a rib and did not penetrate, just broke the rib.

[CP]

Hit the off side rib after passing through animal? 

[TommyGun496]

It didn't pass through anything.  It hit the rib and stopped.

[sirmissalot]

You must have been able to get another shot in him?

[TommyGun496]

He was 50yrds broad side.  The shot should have killed him.  I was able to get another shot off and dropped him.

[CP]

Sounds like a bad load, very low velocity.  Was the 2nd shot the same bullet, powder charge etc.? 

Pretty stupid elk to stand there while you reload after poking him in the ribs with the 1st shot.

[snowshoes22]

Had a 245 grain powerbelt blow up on a mule deer shoulder and not penetrate.

[Curly]

I had a powerbelt (all lead) pancake on a blacktail buck several years ago.  Hit a rib going in and just flattened out.  Killed the buck, but I swore I'd never use the powerbelt again.  I could see how an elk rib would completely stop the bullet..........   I would have thought that the copper jacket would help.

[TommyGun496]

The second shot was the same load and bullet (maybe a little less powder...I was in a big hurry).  He took off after I hit him, the decided to take a look back at me.

[CP]

Maybe the 1st load had a damaged gas seal, wet powder, partially blocked nipple, bad cap, etc.  A lot of things can go wrong with a ML load. 

[littlemac]

 

I shot an elk at roughly 100 yds in New Mexico 2004.  Same bullet, 50 cal mag, triple seven in a Thompson Omega, broke the shoulder up pretty good with full penetration.

[MountainDevil54]

348gr flat point would be better for elk. HP's are made for quick expansion.

[hillbilli]

no real copper jacket on those powerbelts, just a  real thin copper plating.. I've had less than overwhelming penetration out of the 245gr, but also helped butcher a half dozen cow-elk sized critters with really good wound channels and exits from powerbelts, mostly the 300+ gr..

[deerslyr]

I had a powerbelt (all lead) pancake on a blacktail buck several years ago.  Hit a rib going in and just flattened out.  Killed the buck, but I swore I'd never use the powerbelt again.  I could see how an elk rib would completely stop the bullet..........   I would have thought that the copper jacket would help.

I had similar experience on one of my blacktails with a 348 grain non jacketed pb on a forky blacktail. Found the bullet under the skin on the far shoulder flat as a pancake. Flipped that buck right over and he was DRT  I thought the terminal performance was awesome regardless of the shape of the bullet. The other one I shot with the same bullet went in the back of the cage and exited out his off side shoulder (quartering away) another DRT.

[Curly]

I had a powerbelt (all lead) pancake on a blacktail buck several years ago.  Hit a rib going in and just flattened out.  Killed the buck, but I swore I'd never use the powerbelt again.  I could see how an elk rib would completely stop the bullet..........   I would have thought that the copper jacket would help.

I had similar experience on one of my blacktails with a 348 grain non jacketed pb on a forky blacktail. Found the bullet under the skin on the far shoulder flat as a pancake. Flipped that buck right over and he was DRT  I thought the terminal performance was awesome regardless of the shape of the bullet. The other one I shot with the same bullet went in the back of the cage and exited out his off side shoulder (quartering away) another DRT.

Yeah, mine was a 348gr too (.54 cal).  Performance was good, deer was DRT (at about 100 yards), but I had used the same load for elk that year and I felt lucky to not have taken a shot at elk that year.