Sharing a little of my education about sabot sizes.

[Busta]

Like I said, a little! I have dabbled with saboted bullets and conicals over the years, but have been oblivious as to the sabots actual diameters with bullets. I know all the exact diameters of the conicals I shoot, however. Well today, I figured I would document some sabot sizes for myself, and figured I would share this little information with others. This is probably nothing new to most of you guys that shoot smokeless, but may help some of the new Blackhorn 209 shooters.

I have only checked a few bullets, but if you use the diameter of the bullet, and the diameter of the saboted bullet, you should be able to figure out the exact size of what your bore likes.

First up was the 250/300 grain .452 diameter SST/Shockwave bullets.

250 gr SST./Shockwave

300 gr SST/Shockwave

In order from left to right in both pictures, as the diameters (.452") are the same for both bullets. The following is sabot and bullet diameters.

Black Harvester Crush Rib High Pressure Sabot = .503"
Black MMP HPH 24, T/C Shockwave supplied sabot = .504"
Black MMP HPH 12, Hornady SST supplied sabot = .506"
Red Harvester Crush Rib High Pressure Sabot (for smokeless) = .508"
Black Knight High Pressure Sabots (MFG# 900128) = .511"

Those Knight sabots are a SOB to load in my .5015" Knight! It actually deformed the petals. Might be just what you need for a loose bore though.


Next up is the 250/290 grain .451" diameter Knight PBT/Barnes TMZ in both the old yellow sabots, and the new blue EZ Load sabots.

The 250's on the left and 290's on the right are the same diameter, but the sabots are not.

New Blue EZ Load High Pressure Sabots with bullets = .501"
Old Yellow High Pressure Sabots with bullets = .506"

My Knight loves the old yellow sabots, I sure hope they have not discontinued them in favor of the new EZ Loads.


Last up is a couple .44 caliber (.429/.430) bullets. You can determine the bullets from the boxes behind them.

The Speer 270 grain Gold Dot bullets actually measured .4295, a tad larger than advertized.

Green Harvester Crush Rib High Pressure Sabots = .503"
Green Knight High Pressure Sabots = .5065"

The Hornady 300 grain HP/XTP bullets measured .430 as advertized.

Green Harvester Crush Rib High Pressure Sabots = .503"
Green Knight High Pressure Sabots = .507"

If you have a large bore, or desire a tighter sabot, those Knight HPS load hard, too hard for my liking.

I hope this little bit of information helps somebody. If your bullets are .001" bigger or smaller than mine, you can still figure it out without having to go buy a bunch of sabots that you don't need. I don't have many, so if anyone has other sabots they could add to this, PLEASE DO!

 

[Semisane]

That's really good poop Busta.

Now do the same for a .45 caliber bore.

 

[coltchris]

Bullet/Sabot sizes

Busta: Thanks for some very good info.; just what I been looking for! My Disc Extreme also favors the .506 combinations and I am looking to try a combination a little larger.

 

[Grouse]

Thanks Busta, you might of just helped out with my loose bore Savage.

 

[tnhagies]

Very good info Busta! Thanks for posting.

 

[jesheba]

Anyone know how the Parker extreme's measures out?

 

[Okie Hog]

Thanks, Busta.

My Encore shoots very well with the SST/Shockwave in the black HPH 12 and the red sabots: They do load very hard but it is worth the effort. The Hornady Low Drag sabots make acceptable groups in that gun but the Super Glides are all over the place.

 

[johnpb]

Thanks Busta, you have just saved me a lot of trial and ERROR!

 

[big6x6]

Anyone know how the Parker extreme's measures out?

Just subtract 0.002 from the above SST measurements, the Parkers are 0.450 in diameter..

Good info Busta!

 

[Busta]

Your welcome guys! I hope that it helped some of you out, it sure opened my eyes. I have mostly shot the supplied sabots with bullets, never paid attention to the size, if it shot good I used them, if it didn't I didn't use them. With the Blackhorn 209, I think I need to pay attention to sizes a little closer.

I went to one of my favorite Sporting Goods Stores last Saturday, and ALL of the Knight 250/290 gr PBT bullets had the new blue EZ Load sabots. I need to call Knight to see if they will still be packaging them with the old yellow sabots. I have never shot a more consistantly accurate saboted bullet than the 250 gr PBT out of any rifle.

I also wanted to mention, the Crush Rib Sabots actually load like a smaller standard petaled sabot. So take that into consideration too.

 

[Grouse]

Busta,
Do you know who makes these sabots? Are they MMP?
Black Knight High Pressure Sabots (MFG# 900128) = .511"

 

[Busta]

That would be my guess. I'm sure Del could tell you, or maybe Knight.

 

[jsteurrys]

Do we have a number for how many thousandths oversize the bullet/sabot combination should be compared to the bore diameter? I have three Knights that measure approximately .5005, .5010, and .502. I am looking for a little science to determine where to start with each one of these.

 

[jesheba]

Busta......Here is a good source for the Barnes boatails.http://blackpowderbullets.com/barnes%20 ... llets.html

 

[ShawnT]

Busta,

Knight's web site has both Standard and EZ listed for the Barnes lineup. Guess it may depend on sales if the concider dropping one of them.

I called Knight a while back about the .52 cal sabots. Knight seems to be the only one selling them. I also called MMP and Harvester and they did not know where Knight was getting those sabots as neither is tooled up for the .52 cal.

ShawnT

 

[wayles]

sticky

Good Info, would probably be good to make this a sticky. JOMO
Wayles

 

[Busta]

I am reserecting this post in hopes of finding out some more information as to sabot sizes.

I was hoping to get some more people to add some bullet/sabot diameters to this post to further educate me in other options available. I know there are a lot of posters out there with several sabot/bullet combinations, PLEASE post some pics/sizes when you have time. Thanks!

I am especially interested in the MMP Short Black, Harvester smooth black (not crushed rib), Harvester smooth green (not CR), and any of the other brands not mentioned. Thanks again!

 

[big6x6]

was hoping to get some more people to add some bullet/sabot diameters to this post to further educate me in other options available. I know there are a lot of posters out there with several sabot/bullet combinations, PLEASE post some pics/sizes when you have time. Thanks!

OKAY, OKAY! :lol:

I did this some years ago...it's kinda hard to measure something that has some "give" to it. But I can certainly come up with a really close number and you can CERTAINLY tell smaller from larger when testing. When measuring sabot/bullet diameters I used a brand spanking new Hornady 250gr SST. That bullet measures on the nose at 0.452 inches. I also know that the Parker Ballistic Extremes measure 0.450. So if using that bullet subtract 0.002.

From left to right increasing in diameter: MMP 3-petal EZ, Harvester short black, MMP HPH-24, MMP HPH-12, and MMP short black. Seperately Harvester Crush Rib short black and Harvester Crush Rib Smokeless-red.

Diameters:
MMP 3-petal EZ- 0.499-0.500
Harvester short black- 0.503-0.504
MMP HPH-24- 0.503-0.504
MMP HPH-12- 0.506-0.507
MMP Short Black- 0.508-0.509

Harvester black CR- 0.503-0.504
Harvester red CR- 0.507-0.508

I was surprised that the MMP short black was THE largester diameter...slightly larger than the HPH-12.. If I were a two-sabot guy, I'd go MMP HPH-24/Harvester short black and MMP short black.

 

[Busta]

Thanks Chuck! I couldn't believe that the Knight Black High Pressure Sabot measured .511 with a SST/Shockwave, try pushing one of those down a .500 bore. :shock: :wink:

 

[Lee 9]

Busta
I have some of the about 10 year old Knight high pressure sabot and I just measured some with my digital measureing calipers and got .510 about the only thing I have that they fit is an old Knight Big Horn. Lee