After trying the 5 black sabots + ~250gr. Pb bullets that came with my Knight Bighorn, I vowed never to use such things again: Accuracy was so-so, plastic/vinyl fouling was present and difficult to remove. After reading about MMP sabots here, I decided to try them, but with cast bullets and a few jacketed bullets as well. My rifle is sensitive to powder granulation and performs very well with Pyro. RS or FFg, but not Pyro. P or FFFg. The cast bullets (wheelweights + 1% Sn) were: Lee TL-240 SWC and RCBS 250-Keith SWC, both in the green 4 petal sabot; a Lee 340gr. .458" bullet in the orange 4 petal sabot. The jacketed bullet was a 350gr. flat HP, also in the orange sabot, that I purchased from Midway USA a decade ago. I used Goex FFg + a #11 CCI cap, damp swabbing the bbl. between shots. The range was 50 yds. and all testing was done from a rest on a very breezy day. I should add that the Bighorn wears a Williams receiver sight. since I didn't know whether the .430" cast bullets would fly over the target, I decided to use only 70grs. FFg.
Results, .430": The Lee TL bullet gave fair-to-good accuracy, but the RCBS Keith was a clear winner: 5 shots touching!
The .458" bullets with 80grs. FFg were inconsistent performers in that they grouped within 1" - 3" of one another (cast), but two of the 350gr. jacketed ones (I only tried 3 because of the wind) landed almost in the same hole: I guess I'll have to monkey with this a bit more!
Results, .430": The Lee TL bullet gave fair-to-good accuracy, but the RCBS Keith was a clear winner: 5 shots touching!
The .458" bullets with 80grs. FFg were inconsistent performers in that they grouped within 1" - 3" of one another (cast), but two of the 350gr. jacketed ones (I only tried 3 because of the wind) landed almost in the same hole: I guess I'll have to monkey with this a bit more!
