I have a 54 cal. Lyman and want to shoot sabots with a 44 cal bullet.Tried them and found them very hard to load.The diameter of the sabot with a bullet is about .548-.550.My groove diameter measures .540.Is that the norm for this type set up? I am using Hornady sabots and Speer Gold Dot bullets.
Good evening... I have not tried it with J Thangs or a regular cast boolit but why cant ya use a plain old patch ?
Then that makes me think... what is the twist of your barrel ? Is it fast enough to stabalise a 44 ? My 44-40 is about 1-36 and it does well at 1250+ with a 220 grain .433.
jtaylor1960, I have a T/C 54 that has the same "problem" . the inside of the sabot is thicker at the bottom of the petals and it pooches with a flat base bullet/boolit. If you can cast or get some BOOLITS that are for a gas check but without the check on it will help a bunch. Still a little hard but not as bad. I'm sure someone else figured this out long ago but I got the idea from looking at, then trying some of PR Bullets sabot loads. Hope that helps
oops forgot to add, If your barrel is a 48 twist try 300 grainers. if faster go lighter. If it is a 66 its a round ball gun
The best thing about sabots using 44 or 45 caliber bullets is that you can use LEAD or Alloy bullets, size them for reasonable loading, select bullets in a variety of weights, and vary your charge with loose powder for accuracy.
They are a heckuva lot cheaper than the $2 bucks a pop blister pack jacketed stuff and sure game killers. BTW, lightly lube your sabots too.
Contrary to popular misconception, so-called RB twist will often shoot lead bullets very well, sometimes naked, patched, or with a sabot. The shortest REAL by Lee per caliber is a prime example.
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Try some bulk sabots from MMP or Harvestor.
If you call MMP and talk to Connie I am sure she can set you up with the correct sabot for those gold dot bullets.
I use their purple 54cal. sabots with 300gr 50cal Gold dots, They work nice.
Al
Garden View Apiaries, where the view is as sweet as the honey.
I forgot to mention that I have both 44 and 45 cal. molds and had thought about sizing them as mentioned above until they load better.I can't see using jacketed bullets when in this application I could use cast to not only save money but get better function and still have good bullet performance.Thanks for the input!
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