Powerbelt aerolite 300

thnksno

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
220
Has anyone used the aerolites 300 grain for elk? Headed to colorado this fall. They say for small game on the package thats why I was wondering. My prohunter shoots them well so afraid to change, but I dont want a failure on a thicker skinned game like elk.

Looking at the hornady bore driver to replace those????

thanks!
 

FrontierGander

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
260
Location
CO
100gr bh209 and the 300gr aerolite did wonders on an elk my dad shot a number of years ago. Cow dropped on the spot.

 
OP
thnksno

thnksno

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
220
Wow! For sure did the trick. I’m thinking I’m going to stick with those. Thanks for the photos!
 

TheHardWay

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
273
Location
La Plata Canyon, CO
I used to shoot those bullets on elk. The first year I hunted ML elk, I dropped a large bodied bull in its tracks with one shot I figured, "hey, this is great, I like these bullets". In the years to come after that, using the same load, I lost a couple of bulls. On another year, I had a bull come out of the brush at 98 yards and stand broadside. I hit him good, and he just stood there. I continued to put powerbelts into him as he just stood there. Finally, on my 7th, and last speed loader, he went down. I was astounded that he stood there and sucked up 7 shots. I recovered all 7 of the bullets, or at least pieces. I determined that the powerbelts are just too soft for elk. They flatten and fragment, so you don't get good penetration because the kinetic energy isn't there. Take this with a grain of salt, as this is my experience. Others here have had success with PBs. Like I said, I had success, but the failures outweigh my personal successes. I now shoot the solid copper 250 grain Thor bullets, either polymer tipped or hollow points. Either style shoots the exact same out of my Knight Ultra Light, and I've had great success on elk.
 

Dioni A

Basque Assassin
Joined
Mar 29, 2016
Messages
1,534
Location
Nampa, Idaho
I second the too soft theory! I've got a small sample size but I won't use them if other options are available.
 

eltaco

WKR
Joined
May 18, 2013
Messages
567
I used to shoot those bullets on elk. The first year I hunted ML elk, I dropped a large bodied bull in its tracks with one shot I figured, "hey, this is great, I like these bullets". In the years to come after that, using the same load, I lost a couple of bulls. On another year, I had a bull come out of the brush at 98 yards and stand broadside. I hit him good, and he just stood there. I continued to put powerbelts into him as he just stood there. Finally, on my 7th, and last speed loader, he went down. I was astounded that he stood there and sucked up 7 shots. I recovered all 7 of the bullets, or at least pieces. I determined that the powerbelts are just too soft for elk. They flatten and fragment, so you don't get good penetration because the kinetic energy isn't there. Take this with a grain of salt, as this is my experience. Others here have had success with PBs. Like I said, I had success, but the failures outweigh my personal successes. I now shoot the solid copper 250 grain Thor bullets, either polymer tipped or hollow points. Either style shoots the exact same out of my Knight Ultra Light, and I've had great success on elk.

Sorry to hear of those experiences.

Im curious, why did you choose 250gr Thors over the 300gr Thor alternative for elk? I was sort of struggling with the thought 300gr might be oh the lighter side of recommended for elk… but I have no real-world ML experience to base that theory on.
 

FrontierGander

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
260
Location
CO
thors are 100% copper. 250-300gr is plenty. Im still using patched round balls with deadly results.
 

TheHardWay

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
273
Location
La Plata Canyon, CO
Sorry to hear of those experiences.

Im curious, why did you choose 250gr Thors over the 300gr Thor alternative for elk? I was sort of struggling with the thought 300gr might be oh the lighter side of recommended for elk… but I have no real-world ML experience to base that theory on.
I was looking for a bit more velocity and flatter trajectory out of my rifle, so opted for the the lighter 250gr Hammers and 247gr Hollow Points. As I mentioned, they both shoot the same for me. The 300gr Hammers also shoot pretty well for me too, but really, it only came down to my personal preference.
 

Overdrive

WKR
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
494
Location
Earth
Aerolites aren intended for slower velocity's and are rapid expanding so penetration isn't the best. I've talked with a few people that lost elk and deer with these. I'd use the Platinum power belts, they are designed for magnum loads and controlled expansion which equals penetration. There is a video with the founder of powerbelt bullets that he covers this in the interview on YouTube, I believe that's where I saw it.
 

TheHardWay

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
273
Location
La Plata Canyon, CO
As a clarification to my first post: I missed that the OP was asking about Aerolites, and thought he was talking about the Aerotips. The poor results on elk that I had were with the copper plated 348 grain Power Belts, both Aero Tip and Hollow Point.
 

Yarak

WKR
Joined
May 24, 2020
Messages
425
If youre looking for a good 300 gn bullet to shoot elk with try the Harvester Scorpion
 

TheHardWay

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 1, 2013
Messages
273
Location
La Plata Canyon, CO
If youre looking for a good 300 gn bullet to shoot elk with try the Harvester Scorpion
From what I can tell by looking into the Scorpion bullets is that they are only offered in a sabot. OP said he was coming here to Colorado to hunt elk and sabots are illegal during the ML season. Unfortunately, those bullets are not an option.
 

Yarak

WKR
Joined
May 24, 2020
Messages
425
From what I can tell by looking into the Scorpion bullets is that they are only offered in a sabot. OP said he was coming here to Colorado to hunt elk and sabots are illegal during the ML season. Unfortunately, those bullets are not an option.
You are correct
Guess i need to pay more attention to where people are hunting but in areas where you can use the Harvester Scorpion it is a excellent bullet for up to elk size game
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
331
if you stay with Powerbelts, eventually you will lose an animal. save yourself the grief, go find a different bullet NOW. i lost a great bull after hitting it at 60 yds with powerbelt exploding on impact.
i use federal bor-loc. 350 grain lead alloy
 

vonb

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 2, 2020
Messages
217
Our camp had poor experiences with the original 295 gr Powerbelts on deer. We will not use them on anything. The traditional XTPs did so much better.
 
Top