Might try casting your own. For $20 you can get the Lee R.E.A.L bullet mold. They offer it in the .45 caliber. I shoot it out of a traditional in .50 caliber and it leaves a blood trail that Ray Charles could see with his cane.

I didnt get a blood trail with mine either but have found all the deer I hit(luckily). You may need a sabot without a hollow point. Mine are hallowed out pretty good and hasnt gone completely through once.

First thing to do is check the laws in your state to be sure of what is legal for hunting. Here in Colorado, every gun shop sells sabot bullets for MLs, but they are illegal to use for hunting. The majority of the salesmen I've talked to in the gun shops do not know the laws and think that what they're selling is legal.

Having said that, I would recommend a good, heavy, lead conical. If you hit a shoulder bone there's no guarantee that it'll go through the other side, but it's going to give as much penetration as anything out there.

hmmm big bore = big bullet = big bloodtrail so why play with those itty bitty saboted bullets?

Here's my take on Powerbelts. I went to the range yesterday to sight in my Remington 700 MLS in 50 cal in preparation of my trip to Colorado this week for MZ elk. No sabots allowed. I took a pound of Triple 7, some Remington Kleenbore MZ 209 primers, some 50 cal Hornady Great Plains lead conicals and an assortment of Powerbelts (copper clad HP and platinum Aerotip). The first thing I checked was the fit of the projectile in the bore. All of the Powerbelt plastic gas checks fit snug. ALL of the Powerbelt projectiles just fell down the barrel. None of them engaged the rifling. If I took the gas check off I could drop the bullet down the barrel and dump it back out again, even after fouling the barrel. This confirms the complaint that people have had about the Powerbelt bullets falling out of their gun during hunting situations, at least in my gun. This also may explain why I missed a 4 X 4 mule deer buck from seamingly point-blank range (anout 50-60 yds) from a steady sitting position. He was bedded across a draw from me so he wasn't going anywhere. I took my time and touched off the shot. He just got up and walked around like he didn't know what to do and wandered off before I could get reloaded. No blood, hair or anything. No dirt kicked up in the bedding spot either, beyond hoof tracks. I always wondered how I missed at that range with such an easy set-up. I suspect the bullet had fallen out during the week as I had covered some pretty rough country and didn't realize how poorly the bullet fit in my particular gun. Big bang, lots of smoke.... no deer. The 385g Great Plains conicals were a much better fit in the bore. I sighted in at 25, then 50, then 100 yds. I was hitting about 1-2 inches high at 100 yds, about 4 inches high at 50 yds. I took a couple of shots at 150 yds and was on the 8 inch target if I covered the target with the front sight. I am using Williams Fire Sights and they will be good for hunting but maybe not as good for target shooting at long distances with the sun in your face. After shooting almost all of my Great Plains bullets, I decided to try shooting some Powerbelts to see how different the point of impact was. I tried some 338g Platimun Aerotips. They seemed to shoot OK and I still hit the target at 100 and 150 yds. They put a tear in the target as opposed to a clean circle of the GP conicals. I cannot imagine that the Powerbelts have much, if any, spin. They don't engage the rifling so they can only get the spin imparted from the gas check, which just snaps on and appears to be sealing well to the barrel. In the end it comes down to how the bullet fits your gun. I was very careful not to point the barrel down with the Powerbelt loaded. I would not feel safe or confident with a Powerbelt in my gun in a hunting situation. I will stick to the Hornady Great Plains bullet for this season. I know it will stay on top of the powder and not move until I want it to.

Those conicals are a good choice. Just the look of 'em gives you the impression that they're going to do some damage.