how tight is too tight

[buckyne]

I have a knight disc rifle 50 cal that I purchased some hornady xtp .452 diameter 300 grain bullets along with some MMP sabots the regular black ones HPH12's I think. My problem is that this combo seems to be prety difficult to load. Not impossible but noticably more difficult to load than the TC shockwaves or other combo pack bullets that I have previously used. I am wondering if it is safe to shoot the rifle with a tighter fitting bullet/sabot combo? Is there such a thing as too tight of a combo that makes it unsafe to fire in a muzzleloader? I could load these but I would not want to try and load a follow up shot with a dirty barrel.

Not sure if I should try ordering the ez glide or the HPH24's from MMP or if I am worrying over nothing. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Chad

 

[Semisane]

A very very tight sabot load is in no way dangerous. If you can push it down the barrel - even if you have to hammer it in - the powder will push it out without harm.

If you are getting excellent accuracy with that tight load go ahead and use it. You will probably have to swab the bore for a second load, but I swab the bore between shots anyway so it wouldn't make any difference to me.

On the other hand, if you try HPH24's (which are thinner) or Harvester regular black sabots (which load about the same as 24's) and get equal accuracy, you may as well go with the easire loading combination.

 

[rks1949]

My Pro Hunter also has a "tight" bore. The gun just loves the SW bullets with the supplied sabots. The problem was it was very hard to load. I was told by another shooter that if I used just a dab of Bore Butter on the outside of the sabot it would load easier,and shoot tighter groups. So with nothing to loose,I gave it a try,and it worked extreemly well! My gun shoots to the same POI on a clean (unfired bore) or on a semi clean (shot but swabbed out bore). When I tried sabots that loaded (thinner ones) easier,my accuracy went away. I suppose that you could use other lubes on the sabots as well,Crisco,vasaline,ect. The guys I hunt with have all tried the lubed sabots,and have had the same results,3 Pro Hunters,and a Omega. We all also shoot 150grs. (3 pellet) loads,and since switching to the lubed sabots,haven't had any plastic residue left in the bores (we were before). It may work in your gun,or it might not! But it's a cheap test to do,and may get the results you are looking for. Ron

 

[Cajun]

Make sure you are seating the bullet all the way down pressing on the powder. If it is too tight that you are not getting it on the powder, then STOP using them. If the bullet is not on the powder, pressure will be extreamly high and you can blow your gun up.

 

[sabotloader]

buckyne

If this is one of the newer GM barrels I am surprised that you can get a HPH-12 down it at all. It would a real fight to get one down mine.

The sabot should certainly be snug but now so tight that you have to stand on the R-rod or pound it down.

I use HPH-24's and they work very well stil somewhat tight but they will go down evenly and smoothly with two hand pressure.

I also load a .458/300 grain bullet in a MMP .457/.458-50 cal sabot in my new disc extreme. It is snug but again it goes down with two hand pushing.

 

[pwbrasky]

buckyne, It seems to me that the real danger would be in not being able to fully seat the sabot/bullet atop the powder charge (VERY BAD idea). Avoid this by marking your ramrod so that you positively know when the sabot/bullet combo is where it's supposed to be. Moreover, a stout range rod + jag, also marked for a given load (etc.) may better enable you to seat your chosen sabot/bullet.

 

[n8dawg6]

buckyne, It seems to me that the real danger would be in not being able to fully seat the sabot/bullet atop the powder charge (VERY BAD idea). Avoid this by marking your ramrod so that you positively know when the sabot/bullet combo is where it's supposed to be. Moreover, a stout range rod + jag, also marked for a given load (etc.) may better enable you to seat your chosen sabot/bullet.

i agree with that. your main danger with a really tight-fitting combo is that you cant seat the load and/or you break your ramrod. i used to think that the knight aluminum ramrods wouldnt break ... wrong. sometimes it helps to wet the sabot with saliva before seating a really tight load.

for the most part, though ... i despise hard to seat projectiles. i have always been able to find something accurate that isnt torture to seat. get a good range rod, too.

 

[jascoesens]

Buckyne,

I assume that you are a taxpaying adult; and as such you do not have to put up with a difficult loading sabot combination.
I would 1st try a Harvester Crush-Rib sabot for fit and accuracy because they are less expensive than the MMP sabots. I would look for a "1-hand snug" loading effort. If the C-R is still too snug, then try the MMP HPH 3-petal sabots. I believe they are the thinnest and / or the easiest loading sabots on the market.
Only way to tell what will work best in your ML is to test different combinations.
Good luck and have fun!

 

[deerjackie]

the reg black 7 buck a bag from mmp are not hph. dont want you to skip a size when going to a thinner wall sabot. my dxt loads hard clean but shoots like a dream with 110 ff 777 250 xtp 45 cal bullet. go to mmp website and you will see what i mean.good luck and let me know how accuracy goes when you go thinner walled sabot.mmp can help if you still have package they came in.