QLA -- Ballistic Bridge Sub Base

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I recently had the oportunity to examine three TC and two CVA rifles. With the eye I could see two out of three TC had the QLA off center. In one case there was a hint of rifling down one side of the QLA and a big step on the opposite end where the QLA meet the rifling. I think the CVA and one of the TC looked prefect. Even a very slight miss aligh is easy to see if you look at the transition from the QLA to the height of the lands. I really hated to even look at the worse of the five.

Just to offer and opinion, if the QLA looks good, no rush to cut it off. If it is visably off center, no reason to keep it.
 
Just rereading this thread and i realized that with the 3d printing tech maybe someone could make .45 bases. Although the type of plastic used could cause some issues.
 
i know that this is an old thread but i was wondering if you could recut the QLA to be centered on the bore. I would do this using a precision range rod that centers in the bore and then dial it in the 4 jaw chuck in the lathe. Then bore the QLA centered on the bore. Thoughts about this procedure. I was wondering about this because i have a TC Omega in 45 and it shoots sabot well but full bore conicals are terrible. This would stop me from having to remount the sights.
 
i know that this is an old thread but i was wondering if you could recut the QLA to be centered on the bore. I would do this using a precision range rod that centers in the bore and then dial it in the 4 jaw chuck in the lathe. Then bore the QLA centered on the bore. Thoughts about this procedure. I was wondering about this because i have a TC Omega in 45 and it shoots sabot well but full bore conicals are terrible. This would stop me from having to remount the sights.
I think its easier to remove it than trying to recenter it. Not for sure tho. I removed the one on my omega. Almost too easy not to. I have read about a bore tapering process that some round ballers have done to their barrels to make loading easier and quicker that leaves rifling right up to the muzzle.
 
TC Omega in 45 and it shoots sabot well but full bore conicals are terrible. This would stop me from having to remount the sights.
Seems like one can reverse the front sight; it looks funky, but should work. Myself; i just cut off the QLA, and more.

Was wondering if one could make a jig for removing the petals from a sabot; gave it a try.



First drilled a 7/16" hole ¼" deep. Then drilled a ¼ hole all the way through.



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Then using a 5/16" dowel drive the sabot into the hole in the jig.



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Locate the jig & sabot on the slider using a stop clamped.




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Push the slider/jig into the blade; cutting petals off.



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Set the jig/sabot onto the ¼" dowel held by the vise.



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Smack the jig with the hammer driving the petal less sabot free.



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The 45 Omega here has no QLA so...................

Have no way of testing these petal less sabot as a wad; can see they are quite uniform.
 
@ronlaughlin I was copying your jig and using a scrap piece of 2x4. Since i had the drill press and table saw setup i just went ahead and poked a half dozen holes to do 6 sabots at a time. Works awesome
I push them into the 7/16" hole with a 1/4" nut driver
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Then make a pass on the table saw
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Abracadabra 6 done. Push them out with a small punch and load 6 more. Great idea Thx.
 

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I've cut the pedals of with a razor blade in the past making my own version of a power belt but this method looks like it may be better.
 
I've cut the pedals of with a razor blade in the past making my own version of a power belt but this method looks like it may be better.
Me too. Sliced up my thumb a bit doing it. And they were never perfectly flat. This jig and saw setup worked great. I got 2 dozen trimmed in the time it took me to make 1-2 by hand and their much flatter.
 
I was talking to Del Ramsey this morning about the possibility of MMP creating a 45 cal. sub-base to go along with the 50 cal. base they already offer. For those that do not know Del, is a big time 45 cal. shooter and long ago discovered the advantageous of the 45 cal. ML.

I have been using the 50 cal. sub-base for years now shooting full bore lead, brass, and copper bullets from my rifles. I received this picture from a friend of mine, a Washington hunter, that I showed the use of the sub-bridge as a wad for full bore bullets. He hunts across the border here into Idaho. He sent this picture of a Bull Shop .503x400 LGP lead bullet that he recovered after after a recent elk hunting trip here in Idaho. The bullet was shot with a the MMP sub-bridge as the the wad on top of 90 grains of T7. To me the picture is really interesting as it shows the impression of the sub-base in the bottom of the bullet. The obturation impression is really unigue.

Bullshop-503x400-LGP.jpg


One of the purposes of the conversation was to discuss with Del the possibility of creating a 45 cal. HPH sub base. Many of us have operated on 45 cal. sabots removing the petals to create a 45 cal. sub-base. Ron's and michiganmuzzy jigs to make the sub-bases are really helpful thoughts. I feel michiganmuzzy jig is really a step forward in this process by creating multiple wads in one cutting.

Back to my discussion with Del, when I asked about him creating a 45 cal. sub-base he really was interested but it all comes down to 'investment'. He estimates the tooling for such a base would be expensive. Then we, he, wondered about the return on the investment - how many 45 cal. wads would/could he sale? In my estimation with the revival and status of the 45 cal. ML, I believe he would come near to matching the sale of 50 cal. sub-bases.

I wish there were away for us to communicate the value and the necessity of having the wad available for national use.
 
Emailing and fone calls to MMP and/or Harvester. Maybe some member here is knowledgable in making an injection mold. Since it doesnt have petals would it be less expensive to design and build? The petal design, length, and thickness are the biggest factors in choosing the right sabot. Leaving them off of an existing mold, could that be an option? Or does it have to be designed from scratch?
I hate cutting up the crush rib sabots for this as I use them in my Accura sometimes. Ive got more on order tho. I much prefer to cut down the tan or older brown sabots. Ive actually cut off some petals from a few used sabots and reused them as base wads with no accuracy loss, just not with/from hot loads or longer than 50yd shots.
 
I was talking to Del Ramsey this morning about the possibility of MMP creating a 45 cal. sub-base to go along with the 50 cal. base they already offer. For those that do not know Del, is a big time 45 cal. shooter and long ago discovered the advantageous of the 45 cal. ML.

I have been using the 50 cal. sub-base for years now shooting full bore lead, brass, and copper bullets from my rifles. I received this picture from a friend of mine, a Washington hunter, that I showed the use of the sub-bridge as a wad for full bore bullets. He hunts across the border here into Idaho. He sent this picture of a Bull Shop .503x400 LGP lead bullet that he recovered after after a recent elk hunting trip here in Idaho. The bullet was shot with a the MMP sub-bridge as the the wad on top of 90 grains of T7. To me the picture is really interesting as it shows the impression of the sub-base in the bottom of the bullet. The obturation impression is really unigue.

Bullshop-503x400-LGP.jpg


One of the purposes of the conversation was to discuss with Del the possibility of creating a 45 cal. HPH sub base. Many of us have operated on 45 cal. sabots removing the petals to create a 45 cal. sub-base. Ron's and michiganmuzzy jigs to make the sub-bases are really helpful thoughts. I feel michiganmuzzy jig is really a step forward in this process by creating multiple wads in one cutting.

Back to my discussion with Del, when I asked about him creating a 45 cal. sub-base he really was interested but it all comes down to 'investment'. He estimates the tooling for such a base would be expensive. Then we, he, wondered about the return on the investment - how many 45 cal. wads would/could he sale? In my estimation with the revival and status of the 45 cal. ML, I believe he would come near to matching the sale of 50 cal. sub-bases.

I wish there were away for us to communicate the value and the necessity of having the wad available for national use.

That is a cool pic SL. I agree with you, interesting... sorta tells the story. And wow, what a pancake! Do you know what it weighed? Certainly doesn't look like it lost much.

I also believe it would be a good thing if Del (or someone) could make some sub bases for .45's

Worst case, Ron & MIMuzzy have come up with what appears a pretty good solution. Necessity is the mother of all invention right? Good work guys! 💪
 
I tried to duplicate the sabot jig out of plastic. Thinking that it may hold better or last longer. Nope. The wood must have just a tiny bit of spring back because it holds sabots snug. The plastic drilled with the same drill bit wont hold the sabots at all. I tried a couple methods to tighten up the holes but it just doesn't work as well as a block of pine.
16109110629407168648783042719638.jpg1610911085198651914584231697115.jpg
 
I was talking to Del Ramsey this morning about the possibility of MMP creating a 45 cal. sub-base to go along with the 50 cal. base they already offer. For those that do not know Del, is a big time 45 cal. shooter and long ago discovered the advantageous of the 45 cal. ML.

I have been using the 50 cal. sub-base for years now shooting full bore lead, brass, and copper bullets from my rifles. I received this picture from a friend of mine, a Washington hunter, that I showed the use of the sub-bridge as a wad for full bore bullets. He hunts across the border here into Idaho. He sent this picture of a Bull Shop .503x400 LGP lead bullet that he recovered after after a recent elk hunting trip here in Idaho. The bullet was shot with a the MMP sub-bridge as the the wad on top of 90 grains of T7. To me the picture is really interesting as it shows the impression of the sub-base in the bottom of the bullet. The obturation impression is really unigue.

Bullshop-503x400-LGP.jpg


One of the purposes of the conversation was to discuss with Del the possibility of creating a 45 cal. HPH sub base. Many of us have operated on 45 cal. sabots removing the petals to create a 45 cal. sub-base. Ron's and michiganmuzzy jigs to make the sub-bases are really helpful thoughts. I feel michiganmuzzy jig is really a step forward in this process by creating multiple wads in one cutting.

Back to my discussion with Del, when I asked about him creating a 45 cal. sub-base he really was interested but it all comes down to 'investment'. He estimates the tooling for such a base would be expensive. Then we, he, wondered about the return on the investment - how many 45 cal. wads would/could he sale? In my estimation with the revival and status of the 45 cal. ML, I believe he would come near to matching the sale of 50 cal. sub-bases.

I wish there were away for us to communicate the value and the necessity of having the wad available for national use.

Now that’s Bullet Performance :lewis:
 

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