44 Cal in a green sabot

[Mnt monkey]

I cannot get 44 cal bullets to shoot in 28 twist 50 cal barrels,, I have a shelf full of 44 cal bullets many of them I bought when I first started shooting 28 twist muzzleloaders and blackhorn, I see many other people that have excellent accuracy or at least huntable accuracy out of 44 cal bullets and the green sabot, I have not tried other 44 Cal sabots. The best accuracy I had out of any of the rifles I've tried them in was the optima pistol and it would group on the inch and a half but not much better when I can get a 451-452 and a black harvester to shoot less than an inch and sometimes less than a half inch two in the same hole in one touching it is always help me just ignore that shelf of 44 cal bullets. I had a couple of barrels built to shoot 44 cal bullets smokeless one of the barrels I shoot 429 and 430 bullets in and it is excellent,, but that's not what the issue is ,the issue for me is trying to get 44 cals to group in 28 twist barrels. I just recently this week tried another series of 44 cal bullets in a 28 twist Brux the same results constant inch and a half to 2 in can't really get it to tighten up anymore than that. Am I the only one who struggles with getting 44 to shoot in a 50?

 

[Okie Hog]

Foar many years i shot and hunted with .44 bullets in CV rifles with 1/28" twist. All were very accurate. Currently one of my .50 caliber inline rifles with 1/28" twist is sighted for the excellent 225 grain .429 Barnes XPB bullet in the crush rib sabot. Accuracy is excellent.

 

[Henry Miles]

I never could get consistent accuracy with .429dia bullets either in green sabots for 50cal GM LRH barrel. Switched to .452dia bullets with black Hornady sabots and got perfect results, also with .458dia bullets and orange MMP sabots.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Could it be that you only have one sabot to try? There is no crush rib option or long, short, 3 petal, 4 petal, whatever. I never had great accuracy with them when i had .50 CVAs either. They always seemed too stiff and hard to load.

 

[10acres]

You guys aren’t giving me a whole lot of confidence in my choice to try out 44 cal in my new to me Optima. Although, a 2” group at 100 yards is good enough for me to hunt with.

 

[Mnt monkey]

That is exactly how they feel to me like they have a brick sidewall,, I mean I have to say this most of my groups are all consistent I didn't get a lot of flyers but that consistency was still inch and a half to 2 in sometimes more I just pretty much gave up on them that's why I went ahead and had a 44 Cal barrel built it gave me an avenue to shoot up all those bullets that I had brought out of ignorance years ago still though I would like to be able to get them to shoot in a 50 cal a different sabot is probably the answer,, I've had better success shooting 40 cal bullets in that blue sabot at mmph I think it is makes the 28 twist a couple of barrels that I shot lighter weight 40 cal bullets shot very well even though the sabot would have pedal sheared off.

 

[Mnt monkey]

2 in is fine to hunt with 10 acres if you started setting down and testing your barrel for what it shot the most accurate and the 451 and 452 bullets shot in a hole I know where you would end up at

 

[michiganmuzzy]

You guys aren’t giving me a whole lot of confidence in my choice to try out 44 cal in my new to me Optima. Although, a 2” group at 100 yards is good enough for me to hunt with.

Some guns will shoot them just fine. You may have one that does. If so i bet Mnt Monkey will sell you some at a great price.

 

[firedawg60]

I have three rifles sighted with 80 grains BH, .430 240 grain XTP, and crush rib sabot using WIN 209 primers. All three are accurate enough, maybe not one hole groups, but well less than 2" at 100.

Knight original DISC
CVA Accura
TC Impact

 

[Mnt monkey]

I like 44 Cal and the idea of the extra sectional density that the bullets have the 44 Cal smokeless muzzleloader barrel I have shooting bullet to bore is shooting a hole with the pistol bullets nothing snazzy and sharp pointed like the pitmans and parkers etc,, I just still from an economic standpoint would love to be able to get them to perform good in a 50 cal 28 twist I have a lot of 44 Cal 429 and 430 pistol bullets and I know they would perform great on a deer

 

[10acres]

Some guns will shoot them just fine. You may have one that does. If so i bet Mnt Monkey will sell you some at a great price.

I’ve got a boat load 44 cal bullets already and that’s why I’m hoping they shoot well in mine.

 

[MrTom]

I use .45 cal bullets in my Accura simply because they get tight groups easier. In my Optima pistol, the .44 cal bullets are way more accurate.

You don't mention what powder you're burning Mnt Monkey. I use BH209 in the field, T7 at the club. Identical loads between the two powders, just different charge weights between rifle and pistol. I use black Harvester sabots and green Harvester sabots respective of bullet used. When I was trying different loads and bullets I did have to jack up the charge weight on the .44 cal bullets when shot in the Accura to get decent groups but then the recoil was unpleasant and I went back to the .45 bullets and lighter charges and got much better accuracy.

 

[Mnt monkey]

All black horn loads,, I just tried four different 44 cal bullets in a smokeless Brux barrel ,28 twist ,I use sr4759 because the barrel really likes that powder with other bullets a lot. I must admit I never tried to really heavy Black Horn load, I tend to shy away from heavy Black Horn loads they hurt me,, would be fine to hunt with but I'm very guilty of taking those CVA Acuras and treating them like they're a benchrest rifle when you do that those lighter weight Mr models are not fun with heavy Black Horn loads.. the brux 28 twist 50 cal barrel is very very accurate with 452 bullets and harvester black crush ribs,, but the barrel gives me the same results I got with all the other 50 cal CVA 28 twist barrels that I tried 44s in mediocre to okay that's all.

 

[ourway77]

I have never had any decent results with 44 bullets and the green sabots

 

[snapbang]

Monkey,

Got a pic of the bullets and some dimensions??
Tell us more about the bullet. Is it a spitzer style??


As you know I like the GT bullets in .429 in both 255 and 305 grain. Shot out of my knight Elite 50 with 1/28 and MMP sabots. It likes different powders and primers but have had excellent result with all. Matter of fact I sent some to several here with deermanok being the last one. He reports happy shooting. Although that may have been out of a pistol. Several of us use the GT bullets here with 1/28 twist and MMP. All very happy.

 

[Mnt monkey]

And I have some others these are just ones that I've been trying here recent couple of those are cutting-edge copper bullets, now in my straight up 44 Cal barrel smokeless these pistol bullets and the hornadys shoot great but that's not my issue my issue is in the 50 cal 28 with the green sabot

 

[deermanok]

Yes indeed, I can say that I'm happy with the bullets that Bob sent me. Shot from my Optima pistol. 5 shot group @ 50 yards.
That one flyer was on me.

 

[ElDiablo]

I have never had any decent results with 44 bullets and the green sabots

Same here

 

[10acres]

2 in is fine to hunt with 10 acres if you started setting down and testing your barrel for what it shot the most accurate and the 451 and 452 bullets shot in a hole I know where you would end up at

I plan on finding what shoots best in my Optima, my hope it is one of the many 44cal I already have. My thoughts are, it is a muzzleloader and not a benchrest rifle, if I get 2” or less, I will be good for hunting. My longest hunting shot where I hunt now is about 125 yards. If I get a chance to hunt somewhere with longer shots, I will try and dial it in more. I am actually planning on hitting the range tomorrow if nothing else pops up to stop me.

 

[10acres]

I just bought an Optima pistol a couple weeks ago, but it won’t make the trip to the range yet.