.458 405 gr + Sabot, and others...

[iplaywithnoshoes]

About a year ago, I played around with using conventional 405gr cast FPs in Orange MMP sabots in my Encore .50 cal barrel. They worked fine on top of 70gr of BH209 and are a lot cheaper to plink with than Power Belts or Barnes.

Due to bullet weight, I was a little apprehensive to venture further. I didn't get keyholing, even with a 1:28 twist but I figured that increasing powder charge would improve accuracy some. Has anyone experimented with a similar load like this? Since I cast my own, I figured that I can come up with a fairly cheap plinking load for the ML barrel I have laying around.

Also, I may transition to some blackpowder instead of the super expensive BH209 and may experiment with lead conicals. Has anyone used Muzzleloader-specific 209 primers or regular shotgun 209 primers with blackpowder, and which is safer or more effective? Has anyone has success with undersized conicals with grease grooves and hollow bases, 'bumped' up upon firing?

Heck, could I even paper patch for this thing? Do I patch dry, with grease?...

The possibilities seem endless!

shoe

[johnson1942]

if your gun is a 50 cal 1.28 twist the 405 .458 bullet in a orange mmp sabot is perfect for it. to shoot cast or paperpatched you need a soft lead bullet about 1.1 long and dont stray from that length for accuracy. resize the bullet to .492 and use the sing or double wrap system dry wrapped with no lube at all. wipe between shots and a 60 thousands fiber or poly wad is a must between bullet and powder. now there is something you need to know about. if you barrel has the lands taken out on the end to make it easier for sabot loading then you will have to stick with sabots only as it wont shoot cast or paperpatched worth ****. it is very easy to cut the barrel of just behind that area and recrown it and then you can shoot cast or paperpatched bullets. ive done that to a few inlines to make them shoot as they should. if i were you i would paperpatch that gun and if the barrel needs to be cut and recrowned, do it. my inline will keep one hole slightly ragged from a bench rest at 100 yards with paperpatched bullets and yours can do that also if you make the barrel right and use soft lead and the right length bullet in your gun. its not rocket science. as to black powder over blackhorn 209 powder. real back is very very very accurate, just wipe between rounds. never ever use the muzzleloader shotgun primers and they are weak and over priced. use the best and hottest shot gun primers you can get. keep asking question, you will get it down soon.