RedAllison

I'll tell what is truly a "Piece of $&*#" its those Powerbelts. They are for use in guns that are shooting less than 100grains of powder. They simply arent strong enough to seal properly when pushed by 150grns of Pyro or T7. With those powders (ESPECIALLY the T7) you need to use magnum sabots and yes they will be hard to seat. Thats what bullet starters and proper technique is for.

You cant bend a stock aluminum rod when properly using it. Courtney you obviously held the rod to far away from the muzzle. NEVER hold it more than 6" away at a time. Yes this makes for slower loading, but you wont have to worry about bending the rod (because the barrel wont allow it to get that far) and you should get in a hurry when shooting mag loads anyway.

If you want to see TOUGH loading then try loading a MMP sabot down a smokeless Savage after its had more than half a dozen shots put through it. THATS tough, but a lil patience and proper technique will have ya drivin nails @ 100yds.

Court I would recommend you keeping the 150grain T7 load but put a 250 Hornady SST atop it. The Powerbelts are yesterdays technology and a great solution for guys with lesser powered loads or guns. The Omega is THE greatest traditional powder gun on the market IMHO. The guns will flat shoot and do it with athority but you gotta give em what they require. You wouldnt put 87octane in an F1 and expect it to run properly would you?

Good luck and let us know how it works out,
RA

ps
The Hornady SST IS the TC Shockwave. TC just wants your money and will charge you more for 15 Shockwaves than 20 SSTs.

bigcountry

Man, you want that projectile to be tight. Your missing the point. Reason powerbelts are so easy to load is they are loose. Because they are loose, they are limited on the load you can use. Forget that.

For me the tighter the bore the better groups. Get yourself a range rod, get youself one of T/C solid rods. Work around the tightness. Its what you want.

My brother has a CVA that is the loosest bore, I ever seen. Guess what, he ain't getting no 2" groups. With any load combo.

Flatland Hunter

Seeing as how your Omega is obviously defective, I will trade you my Knight Elite for it. I have 2 other ML's so it won't hurt my hunt at all to make the swap, I will even include the Weaver bases, and extra plastic jackets...

bigcountry

Flat, your kidding right? You would trade a Knight Elite over a T/C product (other than Encore). Your out of your mind. I have tried them all, and Elite is well, elite.

Triple Se7en

Courtney

I can see you are little "Green Behind The Ears with your knowledge of muzzleloaders...lol. On a more serious note, how can you possibly call a T/C rifle a piece of crap after only shooting one make/model of sabot in it - only one grain size of that sabot -- then put further blame on the Omega after it wouldn't shoot a bullet (Powerbelts) that's made to fit CVA guns the best?

Unbelievable my friend! I can't believe you had the audacity to call T/C by phone & complain. I'll bet the tech there had a good laugh after he hung-up the phone on you. First of all... you need to make sure all packing gunk is out of your bore. That requires a harsh solvent -- otherwise stickiness may occur in the bore that increases hard loading. Then you need to examine what bore cleaners you're using -- what swabbing agents you're using & how often you need to swab. With 777, some bores need swabbing after every shot.... some don't.

Find the right cleaning solutions
Clean the bore well
Find the proper fitting bullets
Tweak powders charges with 5-grain increments
Swab as often as needed
Then Watch Your New Omega Perform Admirably

slugman

Exactly , you wouldnt believe the amount of packing gunk that came out of my CVA when I cleaned it. Broke it down & cleaned the whole thing before firing a shot.

newguy23

Why are you guys so harsh on powerbelts... I get very decent accuracy out of mine.

etothepii

Geeze, I've not had any problems with my Omega. I usually shoot 2 or 3 times before brushing the barrel. Not sure what the problem could be. You do seat the sabot with a ball starter, right?

MLKeith

I have to agree that the knocking Powerbelts is uncalled for. They may be made by CVA but my Omega spits 295gr Powerbelts out at over 2000fps (so much for the light load theory) and they land in a group that is usually overlapped bullet holes when I do my job. What many are missing is that the bullet base actually expands when the powder is ignited and swells up to fit the bore unless it is really oversize. My higher velocity loads are not with the 777 stuff which I am returning to the store as I will not use it anymore after trying Black Mag3. I get higher velocity, more managable recoil, less fouling and no corrosion with the same volume load as 777 FFG. If I want to be traditional I will shoot the Goex stuff I have on the shelf. If I want real performance I will shoot Black Mag3. I am just trying to decide if I am going out on my Elk hunt this next Friday with 295 Powerbelts or 300gr. SST's. I have both and will likely load the Hornady and carry a Powerbelt for a follow up shot if I need it as I can stuff it down the bore without a swab between and the Black Mag3 makes almost no fouling.

HighDesertWolf

courtney what primers are you using?? the problem with powerbelts and there lack of accuracy has nothing to do with the bullet itself. because of there looser fit in the barrel most 209 primers will actually push the charge and bullet forward before the powder ignites which causes the power belt to not grab the rifling as evenly as possible and also causes more powder fouling aswell. Look at this rifle primer conversion for muzzle loaders this will deffinately increase your accuracy with any load heres the website http://www.prbullet.com/hornet.htm. Another alternative you may consider and might want to try first to see if it helps is use CCI 209 primers they create the least amount of pressure asfar as 209 primers go from my experience with them they are byfar the best 209 primer for muzzle loaders. Also those shockwaves, its not your gun that makes them hard to load its the sabot/bullet design I also have a hard time loading them in my cva's aswell as my TC's. I hope this helps good luck