Molds for .45cal sabot, .400 cal projectile.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

I'm looking for an existing bullet mold that drops a bullet that can easily be sized to .399-.400 and has healthy length to it. I am planning to use it in a 1:20 or 1:28 twist inline muzzleloader. Anywhere from 200-330gr is plenty for me.

shoe

[Squeeze]

http://www.accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=9 I like the http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=40-225M-D.png designed for a sabot. I have the same thing in .452, drops at 308 grn with soft lead and shoots well in several rifles. I will buy this exact mold myself sometime soon

another option is http://www.mountainmolds.com/ click on the online bullet design, and play around with whatever your looking for. I have used this with great satisfaction also

[Saxtonyoung]

For a couple years I used the Lyman 403169 , I cast it with soft lead so it could easily be sized to .400 and had excellent results with it including shooting a deer at 80 yards and another at 150 yards. This bullet is .825 long and has a metplat of .220.

I later decided to have Mountain Molds make me a smooth sided bullet that dropped out of mold at .401 and 225 grains using wheel weights, it has a slight bevel base to fit in Sabots.
This bullet has a metplat of .280 and a length of .730. I used this bullet in a 45 caliber Omega with a 1-28" twist and also a Knight 50 Caliber disc rifle that also has a 1-28" twist. Sadly Mountain Molds will no longer make a smooth sided bullet but others will.

I used MMP Sabots for all of the loads I used in these guns.

If I can figure out how to post a picture on this sight I will show both bullets.

[Saxtonyoung]

The bullet on left is the Lyman 403169.

The other bullets are from my Mountain Mold.

The brown sabot is for the 45 caliber and the blue sabot is for the 50 caliber.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

That gives me a nice variety of choices!

What kind of velocities are you guys/gals pushing these to? What kind of accuracy?

shoe

[Saxtonyoung]

Not sure of velocity, I use to play with a chronograph but haven't in a long time. I experimented with up to 110 grains of 777 but eventually settled on 100 grains of loose powder.

Generally sight my muzzleloader at 125 yards and typical 3 shoot group are within 2". This is one shot after another with a quick spit patch swab. I suspect if I let the barrel cool 5 minutes between shots that groups would tighten but I like to practice with simular circumstances if you needed a follow up shot while hunting. The 125 yard sight in allows you to take up to 150 yard shots on deer without a hold over aim.

[Saxtonyoung]

Been reading a lot of positive things about Backhorn 209 powder and am considering trying it because your not required or even recommended to swab between shots.

I really like the performance of 777 but a crud ring does develop. I have made a follow up shot without a swab but the crud ring is clearly evident.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

I've had great experiences in MLs and .45-70 with BH209. I don't see much need to use anything else really due to the cleaning inconvenience mostly. This is why I want to run a smokeless barrel so I can duplicate Black Powder feel with Blackhorn 209 and retain similar velocities and pressure with loads of 5744. I like sabots since they will mask imperfections in the bullet base and lube grooves of some arbitrarily sized bullet. It's also far cheaper for me to cast my own saboted conicals as opposed to paying $2 per bullet. The cost of extra powder is offset pretty significantly from shot to shot.

I understand that muzzleloading is meant for extending one's hunting season and isn't meant to save money but I love getting trigger time in with a good ML.

[10 ga]

Like squeeze posted, Accurate has a vast selection of molds suitable for sabot shooting. I shoot a bit of BH209 but mostly SML. In my 45s I like the 225X40 accurate mold and in my 50s I shoot the same 225X40 and 270X430 and 300X458 boolits. Mostly mv is 2100 to 2600. I usually shoot 1 part COWW - 1 part SOWW/soft plus 2% tin. If you want a real penetrator make up some Lyman #2 and use that. As for rifles I shoot 1 Savage ML2 with factory 50 barrel, 1 rem 700ML 50 with factory barrel and hunter bolt nose and plug, 2 rem 700ML 45 with factory barrels and hunter bolt nose and plug, a Savage ML2 with 26" brux 45 barrel, an Omega with 26" brux 45 barrel and a White Bison .504. Only shoot smokeless in the Savage and brux barreled guns, BH209 on the 700MLs and FFF Swiss in the White. Biggest problem is the Rem factory barrels are only 1/28 twist where the Savage factory is 1/24 and the brux and White are 1/20 twist. My results and experience, yours may be different. 10

[54bore]

I highly advise Accurate Molds, i have had 4 Custom molds made from Accurate and they are TOP SHELF! Go through his Catalog and pick a style you like the looks of and have him build it to your specs. You wont be disappointed