.40 cal bullets questions

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For first time wanted to shoot .40 cal Hornady pistol bullets so got some harvester sabots specifically for .40 cal., the blue ones. Very hard to start them down muzzle so tried a different loading tip on my short starter. Got it going but then the tip drew sabot and bullet back up so tried another tip that did fine and went down fine with ramrod rest of the way. Subsequent shots I used the third loading tip but still hard to get them started. Two questions: did I hurt the inside of the muzzle when that first sabot and bullet were drawn back up? And can I just shoot .40 cal bullets in the black harvester sabots but which are specified for .45 cal bullets? The blue sabots are definitely thicker. This was in my CVA optima V2. Thank you.
 
It’s a cva optima v2, .50 caliber. I shoot bore size 50 cal conicals like Great Plains, and 44 and 45 cal bullets in sabots. Had never shot 40 cal bullets before but in the blue harvester sabots specifically for 40 cal bullets they’re very hard to start.
 
Ok stick with the CONICALS
forget the sabots.
Who wants melted plastis filling up the rifles grooves. NOT ME
 
Why would you have melted plastic in your grooves? That old line is so blown out of proportion its nuts. If i can shoot sabots well into the 2700s with my custom and not get bad sabot fouling why would a 50cal smoker? I dont even use aggressive solvents more than a couple times a year.
 
Why would you have melted plastic in your grooves? That old line is so blown out of proportion its nuts. If i can shoot sabots well into the 2700s with my custom and not get bad sabot fouling why would a 50cal smoker? I dont even use aggressive solvents more than a couple times a year.
What powder do you use. How deep are your grooves
 
It’s a cva optima v2, .50 caliber. I shoot bore size 50 cal conicals like Great Plains, and 44 and 45 cal bullets in sabots. Had never shot 40 cal bullets before but in the blue harvester sabots specifically for 40 cal bullets they’re very hard to start.

That blue Harvester 50x40 sabot is only .5045 loaded OD. Its not all that large as far as sabots go, plus its a crushrib which feels easier. Are you sure your jag is not going in the sabot and its what is making it hard to load?

How much does the bullet you are trying to use stick out past the sabot petals? If its virtually all the way below the petals, that is likely your problem.
 
What powder do you use. How deep are your grooves

Typical .450x.458 lands and groove measurements. Cant mention the powder in this section but its not a smoker. I can break 2800fps without cracking a sweat. My 50cal custom hits 2400fps and ive never had to scrub sabot residue out of it. That barrel is the best Douglas offers....Modern sabots have come a long way since the Break-O-Way sabot days.
 
Typical .450x.458 lands and groove measurements. Cant mention the powder in this section but its not a smoker. I can break 2800fps without cracking a sweat. My 50cal custom hits 2400fps and ive never had to scrub sabot residue out of it. That barrel is the best Douglas offers....Modern sabots have come a long way since the Break-O-Way sabot days.
Pretty much the same with the .50cal BP Xpress with a Lothar Walther when I was shooting it. Over 2,000 rounds down range and never had any plastic residue to scrub out. Also sending bullets at near 2,400fps with H5045LB sabots and 300gr bullets.
 
Just go look in the smokeless section of the forum. 2300fps or more was common for the Savage MLII and NULA 50s. My NULA is a Douglas Prem XX barrel and my 45 is a Pacnor 458 Super Match barrel. Complaints of so called sabot residue or fouling are very very rare. Normally its only a issue if you blow a sabot in hot weather. A failed sabot will often leave behind fouling.

Not many people will have sabots fail using subs if you just give the barrel time to cool. So if by £¥€€ you mean lying....that is hardly the case. You simply dont know and are repeating a myth you have been told that its a common occurrence.
 
sabots dont fail or leave plastic residue like they used to back in the very early sabot days, even then they didn't unless you shot really hot loads.. as GM said anymore its just a myth that's carried on by people who dont know any better.
 
I shoot 40 cal SST bullets using the blue ribbed sabots provided in my T/C Impact all the time without issue. They load just fine. The SSTs are longer than 40 cal pistol bullets, maybe that why. The 40 SSTs weigh 200 grains,
 
so how does it get in a shotgun barrel?

Its very easy to rack off a tube full of shotshells in under a minute.
Chokes
Shot obturating in the wad is far worse than a bullet in a sabot
Heckuva a lot more plastic in a shotshell wad touching the bore and a vastly different design as well.
 
Bet you dollar to doughnut if you shoot sabots you got some plastic in the bore, even with paper and copper you get residue and over time it builds up period
 
I didnt say it does not happen. I said its blown way out of proportion. I can shoot numerous range sessions without cleaning my non smokers. All loads well above smoker speeds and accuracy remains excellent. It not like its some brutally hard to remove fouling that is gunna destroy your accuracy within a few shots or even a lengthy range session. The vast majority comes right out with common solvents during your normal cleanup.

There is a simple way to check for plastic fouling. Clean your barrel your normal way. Get a pot of boiling hot water. Place a strainer under the barrel and flush it out. Then grab a brass brush. Wrap it in a patch. Run that through your bore while the barrel is still hot. It will look like snotty strings on the patch.

My rifles get a seasonal heavy cleaning with JBs or Copper Cream. So just your typical cleaning procedures are obviously enough to retain accuracy. I find bad leading or copper and moly to be far harder to remove. Moly can be a real bear to get it all out.
 
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