why not sabots for centerfire rifle bullets?

[d94jonca]

hi all,

i've been looking at the availability of .45 sabots and it strikes me that they are all made to host pistol calibers such as .40 or .357.

why is this? given the low initial velocity, one would think that it ought to be even more important with a high bc, so as to retain as much of those precious fps down range as possible. this would be much easier with e.g. a long, thin 180 grain .308 rifle bullet than a 180 grain .357 pistol bullet, so why are there no .45 - .30 sabots?

i guess i could see a problem with most 308 bullets being designed for velocities in the 2500+ fps range and perhaps would not expand perfectly at ~2000 fps ML velocities but even if this was the concern, they still ought to be the ideal choice for long range paper punching.

im sure there is a good reason for this but i cant think of it and would really appreciate someone explaining this to me

 

[Rifleman]

Too small of diameter bullets drill back into the sabot at any high velocity load, which throws accuracy out the window.

 

[big6x6]

hi all,

i've been looking at the availability of .45 sabots and it strikes me that they are all made to host pistol calibers such as .40 or .357.

why is this? given the low initial velocity, one would think that it ought to be even more important with a high bc, so as to retain as much of those precious fps down range as possible. this would be much easier with e.g. a long, thin 180 grain .308 rifle bullet than a 180 grain .357 pistol bullet

Well for one reason..To shoot a 180gr .308 bullet in a muzzleloader you'll need the same 1 in 10 rifling your 30-06 needs. Now remember, the sabot has to be pliable enough to be seated from the muzzle. Basically it cannot be pliable enough to be seated from the muzzle AND strong enough to handle the 1 in 10 rifling without slippage.

 

[d94jonca]

thanks for the answers guys. i did not realize that desired twist rate depends on the shape of the bullet, rather than its weight. i guess it makes sense since the gyro forces increases with larger diameters.