saboted .44 boolit?

[troy_mclure]

i finally ran out of my thousand of rainier ballistics plated 300gr fp .44 bullets ive been using in my inline muzzeloader.

what would be a good boolit/alloy choice for this gun? its a range and deer hunting gun.

i have a lyman 429421 a 245gr swc, which i think would be a fine boolit for deer, but im not too sure about its accuracy past 50yds.

[sisiphunter]

well, the 421 is a keith design if i recall and he suppossedly made a shot on a deer at 600yds once with it. Handloader covered this about a year ago I believe, but I dont recommend that with this bulllet at all. Interesting though.

Generaly with muzzleloader ya wanna go soft, pure lead for RB's and such, since you are saboting, leading will not be an issue, so might as well go soft, bit of tin added for better fillout and fluidness of the boolit once it hits meat. Maybe 10-1 Pb/Sn

If you were shooting the 300gr fn,Lee makes a fine 310gr FN 44cal mold, there is also a group buy through NOE, I think, for a clone of the boolit, not sure if it is still open or not, but it was in the Active Group Buy Section.

I use this Lee boolit in my 44mag rifle paper patched for deer, excellent accuracy.

Good Luck, Matt

[Wayne Smith]

Since you are using sabots the alloy will have no effect on the barrel. You only need to look at how the alloy effects terminal ballistics - how the boolit acts in flesh. 16-1 and 20-1 (lead-tin ratios) [Sharps and Remington] killed the bison on the plains. From pure lead to 16-1 would be adequate for your needs.

[MtGun44]

Ketih intended his designs to stay stable and accurate to very long ranges, so this
should not be a problem, assuming that the twist rate and sabots turn out to be
appropriate for the design.

I'd give it a try.

Bill

[Johnch]

When watching corn feild edges during muzzel loader season
I take the inline with the Lee 44 310 RF
Cast out of almost pure lead

It shoots better than I can hold the rifle

Didn't see a deer I wanted this year
But a Yote got introduced to the Boolit at almost 200 yds

1 Shot to the shoulder ended it's rabbit chasing days

John

[RugerFan]

I think your 429421 will do just fine out to 100 yds and beyond. I have had great success shooting Lyman 429244 (260 gn SWC). Good accuracy at 100 yds and deadly on deer and hogs. I have killed critters with a BHN of 9 and 12 and rarely recover a boolit.

Edit: CVA Inline with Harvestor sabots.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I bought a CVA 50 cal ML back in the 70's with a 1"-48" twist. It worked very well with sabots and the Lyman 44 240 gr. Keith SWC. It also shot very well with the RCBS 45 250 gr. keith SWC. My favorite though was the Lyman 429215 GC design with out the GC. The 215 gr Lyman would shoot 3" and 4" groups at a 100 yds depending on how well I did my job. Most of my loads were in the 70 to 80 gr. range. I used both BP and Pyrodex. At that time you could buy sabots for 44 slugs or 45 slugs. It has been a long time since I used sabots so I don't know if that is still the case. I could never get my rifles with 1"- 60" twist to shoot sabots.

[Maven]

Troy, Take a look at these sabots: http://mmpsabots.com/ The ones for a .429" dia. CB work very well with either the Lyman or slightly lighter RCBS Keith designs. At 50 yds., 5 or 6 will group within 1.5" (3 - 4 touching) from my Knight Bighorn with a receiver sight. Haven't tried them at 100 yds. though.

[quilbilly]

I have been casting the Lee 240 gr swc boolits for my muzzleloaders and MMP sabots for over 20 years. With 80 gr of FFF they are devastating on elk and may be just a little to much gun for deer but on combined hunts, they are my load of choice.
I say a "little too much gun" because they often zip right through the largest deer - little hole in and little hole out - and they just walk away leaving a blood trail if I don't hit the spine or major bone. In the rainy season of the NW, blood trails disappear in a hurry.
Their effect on elk can be amazing, however. Some time ago I hit a very large cow from 50 yards and my last view before smoke filled the air was her in the air, feet pointed skyward - DRT.
With my T/C White Mountain Carbine that load easily gets 1-1/2 inch groups or less out at 100 yards.
For the record, if just hunting deer, I prefer patched .490 round ball with the same powder charge.

[XWrench3]

in my 50 cal m.l. i have been shooting 45 caliber 45 acp boolits with good success. i am using 230g lrn cast lee boolits with harvester sabots. i would not reccomend them for deer, but they work good at targets. you must be using a different sabot than i. i would not be afraid to shoot cast 44 swc in a sabot at paper, or at a deer. after all, that is what i suse in the 44 mag. but i would shoot enough of them to find out how they group first. accuracy is king. use the same alloy to target with that you will hunt with. usually that is just plain lead.

[troy_mclure]

my dad and i have killed many deer and he has killed a black bear with our knight wolverine rifles. always using 300gr .44 fp plated bullets, and the knight .50 to .44 sabots.

ive tried the .45 bullets and sabots, but the recoil was noticeably more.

[GabbyM]

I’ve a TC Hawkins in 45 caliber since about 1971.
Perhaps someone could fill me in on the advantage of a sabot load over just using a Maxi or round ball. With a .440 patched RB the rifle will hit a C size peach can at 100 yards.
I‘m not being coy here but rather want to know what the deal is with plastic over a cloth patch.

Lyman makes heavy bulets for rifles that have a twist rate to handle them. My old side lock tops out with the Maxi balls. .440" round balls are a bit light for deer IMHO and my experience but the 220 and 245 gain Maxi of nice soft lead will hit harder than a 44 mag hand gun.

[troy_mclure]

the sabots allow you to reach higher velocity, with less recoil.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive worked with two inlines and did alot of load testing and both hands down prefered 45 sabots and 45 bullets to 44s.

[troy_mclure]

Ive worked with two inlines and did alot of load testing and both hands down prefered 45 sabots and 45 bullets to 44s.

im pretty much the opposite. lol

[quilbilly]

I switched to the sabots after using Maxi's and other lead boolits for a couple reasons. The first was that it formed a nice, tight, waterproof seal over the blackpowder load like patched roundball which is very nice in the rainy NW winter deer and elk hunts. The other was that I liked the variety of boolits I could cast and shoot with great accuracy.

[RugerFan]

Ive worked with two inlines and did alot of load testing and both hands down prefered 45 sabots and 45 bullets to 44s.

I have read that saboted .45s are more accurate than the .429 version in .50 cal MLs. I have picked up some .45 sabots and plan on seeing how they'll do.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

do you need to put a G/C on if you use a sabot ?