new guy here interested in home made bullets for sabots

[somdgunner]

hello all i am wanting to know what kinds of bullets i can use in my 50 caliber muzzleloader that i can buy the plastic sabots for and use for hunting. i dont know any one who makes bullets but i sure would like to try some different bullets with the sabots. any one know where i can get home made bullets to try? i have been using some 240 and some 295 weight bullets but i dont know if you can use regular like pistol bullets. sure would like to find a bunch to try. i bought a bag of 45 caliber sabots off of ebay so i guess i need to find some 45 caliber bullets?

[johnson1942]

if you have a 1/28 twist barrel try 300 grain .451 0r .452 diam. bullets for a pistol. if you have a 1/32 twist barrel try 250 grain .451 or .452 pistol bullets. mmp sabots found on the internet has a heavy duty constructed sabot for .50 cal that holds a .451 or .452 bullet. you can buy them in bulk from them. good luck and have fun.

[OnHoPr]

You could go to the swapping and selling section of the forum and post WTB. I use 44 cal sabots so you would need to browsing or gather info like above to get you started. Or there are casters in the vendors section.

[Southron]

I am of the opinion that the two greatest "Scams" ever fostered on the American Shooting Public are:

1. The "Inline Muzzleloaders" &

2. Saboted Bullets.

First of all, IF you make the mistake of using a plastic sabot with Real Black Powder, you will end up with a bunch of plastic **** in your barrel. Why? Because REAL Black Powder burns "Hotter" than the other "Replica" black powders.

Now the "Concept" of Saboted Bullets for hunting is just plain illogical. By using a saboted bullet you are REDUCING the caliber & weight of the bullet your gun fires. Look at it this way. IF saboted bullets were so great, then the ammo manufacturers would be making .45 ACP and .44 Magnum Pistol cartridges that used saboted .32 caliber projectiles and "Raving about the Knock-Down Power" of that ammo! Yeah! Right!

THE MOST DEADLY BULLETS ARE THOSE BIG LEAD BULLETS THAT CREATE A BIG WOUND CHANNEL IN A DEER WHEN THEY HIT AND THEN MUSHROOM WHILE PASSING THRU THE CRITTER, CREATING AN EVEN BIGGER WOUND CHANNEL! Worse yet, saboted bullets often have copper jackets which means that the copper jacket actually impedes the ability of the lead portion of the bullet to expand...whacky....whacky...whacky.

What saboted really bullets do is to make money for the members of the gun industry that peddle the junk on the American consumers. Heck, I used to be in the gun industry-I know how things work!

Don't even get me started on Inlines....

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

[quilbilly]

I like the sabots with pistol boolits because of the varety of boolits you can then cast for a muzzleloader. Take for instance the 50 caliber sabot that holds the 429 boolit which allows you to shoot anything from 170 gr up to 300+ gr. You can flatten the trajectory or opt for addition momentum. For deer I still prefer patched round ball unless I am hunting desert mulies where I want the flatter trajectory. For elk I use 265 gr boolits in the sabot and the results on the elk are simply amazing.
All that being said, the patched round ball is still the most devastating projectile on deer that there is in my opinion from all the deer that have graced my freezer (and wall).

[dtknowles]

I enjoy shooting my Savage 10ML with smokeless powder, sabots and pistol bullets. Why am I supposed to feel scammed? Primers are a little more expensive than caps but then caps are more expensive than flints. I would not use the holy black or subs in this gun and I can shoot the hell out of it and not have to clean it and it will keep shooting the same groups.

I shoot sabots out of my Hawken and New Englander as well. I have shot patched round balls and other non-sabotted projectiles as well, it is all fun. No scam to my mind.

Tim

[dondiego]

I guess they scammed the US military into buying those Abrams tanks with those smoothbores and saboted ammo too. 5,000 feet per second! Sheeesh!

[DougGuy]

I am of the opinion that the two greatest "Scams" ever fostered on the American Shooting Public are:

1. The "Inline Muzzleloaders" &

2. Saboted Bullets.

First of all, IF you make the mistake of using a plastic sabot with Real Black Powder, you will end up with a bunch of plastic **** in your barrel. Why? Because REAL Black Powder burns "Hotter" than the other "Replica" black powders.

Now the "Concept" of Saboted Bullets for hunting is just plain illogical. By using a saboted bullet you are REDUCING the caliber & weight of the bullet your gun fires. Look at it this way. IF saboted bullets were so great, then the ammo manufacturers would be making .45 ACP and .44 Magnum Pistol cartridges that used saboted .32 caliber projectiles and "Raving about the Knock-Down Power" of that ammo! Yeah! Right!

THE MOST DEADLY BULLETS ARE THOSE BIG LEAD BULLETS THAT CREATE A BIG WOUND CHANNEL IN A DEER WHEN THEY HIT AND THEN MUSHROOM WHILE PASSING THRU THE CRITTER, CREATING AN EVEN BIGGER WOUND CHANNEL! Worse yet, saboted bullets often have copper jackets which means that the copper jacket actually impedes the ability of the lead portion of the bullet to expand...whacky....whacky...whacky.

What saboted really bullets do is to make money for the members of the gun industry that peddle the junk on the American consumers. Heck, I used to be in the gun industry-I know how things work!

Don't even get me started on Inlines....

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

Sheesh talk about over react..

I use an INLINE. over two pellets of PYRODEX, with a SABOT. It will cloverleaf a playing card @100yds, and drive a 400gr boolit so hard through a deer that I have actually seen woods on the other side of the deer right through the friggin wound channel! How much more dead does it need to be?

[johnson1942]

i have never had any problem shooting black powder behind sabots. i clean between shots. i gave my tack driveing great plains hunter to one of my sons and recently had a in line built for another. he is left eye dominant and righthanded. at 13 he had a problem learning sidelock with double set triggers. i plan on haveing a inline built for me real soon and it will be around a douglas barrel 1/18 twist .45 cal. going to shoot paperpatch bullets for what i have swageing equipment for. i like heavy bullets also but you have to admit a 250 grain bullet going 2200 ft per sec is not the same as comeing out of a pistol 800 to 1200 ft per sec. when you buy sabots and bullets in bulk it is much more economical to shoot. hunters are on the decline, i wish their was more of them. when i first moved to my 4 and 1/2 acre hobby farm i never ever had a deer problem now 15 years later they are like fleas on a dogs back every where around here. i wish their was more hunters shooting anything they can hold. i love all my side locks but when i saw my young sons face light up and fall in love with that custom inline i changed my mind about them. he is only 13 years old and has shot 6 deer, one being a record buck. come to western ne. to hunt deer and bring the gun that fits your fancy you will be welcome. our season is 1 month long and usually you can pick up a second tag.

[Whiterabbit]

Don't even get me started on Inlines....

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

I won't, but I just though I'd mention that it was my intention to get a bang-round inline and a nice flinter and that's exactly what I did. If I could do it all over again, I'd have gotten a bang-around caplock and a nice flinter. Pay once or pay twice, and I guess I'm gonna end up paying twice.

As to the OP, my inline takes a home cast 300 grain LEE 45 cal bullet (454-300-RF) without the gas check in a barnes boat tail sabot (thus the no gas check). It does the job at 2000 fps and hurts on both ends. Just another high power rifle.

---------------

Southron, who would use real black in an inline? If its a fake muzzleloader, use fake powder!

[bigted]

if your rifle is twisted rite...whatever rifle you have...then do your homework and try a paperpatched boolit of the correct diameter and patch thickness and you can and will whistle with glee till the heavens open up.

pure lead or near it for balls or boolits ... that is the stuff. these rifles have been bringin in the bacon...[ or elk/venison/bear/caribou/moose/buff/ get it? ]...for long years and will continue...[as long as we continue the education process with our young ones]... till there is no bp or lead.

makes no diff to me what you decide to shoot for a firearm. its all fun and keeps us solid in the woods as we were intended to be.

try the paperpatch thing and im bettin you will never miss those lil plastic thingy's.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Before there were modern inlines, there were plastic SABOTS for most calibers of sidehammer M/Ls. Not only that but 50 caliber Minie's and REAL's are workable, and paper patching of boolits is a great option also.

bvT

[drhall762]

I simply use an over powder wad with BP and plastic sabots. Never problem one. Barrel cleans easily and no plastic. YRMV.

[JIMinPHX]

I've used both .44 & .45 cal sabots in a .50 cal front stuffer. I tried several different pistol bullets, from 200gr to 300gr. Some were semi jacketed flat point. Some were hollow point, some were round nose. Some were semi wadcutter. Most were lead. Most were around 12bnh. Just about everything shot pretty well when I used loose Pyrodex RS. When I tried to use the Pyrodex pellets, I got chunks of pellet coming out the muzzle, still burning & I got very erratic velocity.

The plastic sabots are sort of idiot resistant, in that they will seal the bore real well in almost any barrel, regardless of minor diameter variations. I don't think that they stand up real well to heavy powder charges (like 120-150gr). They seem to do best when you keep the charge below 100 gr. 100 gr. is not a dainty charge. It is safe in most modern .50 cal rifles, but check your specs before loading it.

Your best possible performance is going to come from a well fit boolit, but that kind of custom load takes some time & patience to develop.

If I am going to use a sabot in a .50 cal. front stuffer, my first choice would be a flat point 10bnh boolit somewhere around 240-300 grains.

When I used to hunt in colder climates, I lubed my barrel with Bore Butter. In the hot AZ climate, I switched to Wonder Lube because it doesn't seem to melt quite as easily.

Plain lead balls with a patch are usually about the easiest thing to get shooting well out of a front stuffer. I think that it has something to do with the low pressure & the slow twist, but I haven't dug into it enough to say that with authority.

[deep creek]

I have 3 whites aknight disc all fiftys and a lyman GPR 54 .I shoot 450 pp boolits at elk and deer with amazing results in the fiftys.the round ball in the lyman does great .But i shoot sabots and various boolits at rabbits ,chucks squirrels whatever and have a ball!Hell ive stuffed toilet paper over the powder and 6 shot on that and more paper on top and shot grouse for supper! I think we sometimes get to set in our ways.Hell if it goes bang and i can smell the smoke i love it!!!!:D

[OverMax]

15 threads later and not a word from this fellow. I think "somdgunner has left the building."

O/M

[ironhead7544]

Beartooth Bullets makes a nice one.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

hello all i am wanting to know what kinds of bullets i can use in my 50 caliber muzzleloader that i can buy the plastic sabots for and use for hunting. i dont know any one who makes bullets but i sure would like to try some different bullets with the sabots. any one know where i can get home made bullets to try? i have been using some 240 and some 295 weight bullets but i dont know if you can use regular like pistol bullets. sure would like to find a bunch to try. i bought a bag of 45 caliber sabots off of ebay so i guess i need to find some 45 caliber bullets?

Since I cast my own, I don't see an advantage in buying a plastic sabot, when I can just cast the right size and design of boolit my ML (MuzzleLoader rifle) is requesting. Now, If I feel the need to shoot a copper jacketed pistol bullet out of a ML, a plastic sabot is the cat's meow.
That's my 2¢

I'd like to add, the discussion in this thread is most interesting. There are so many different ways to shoot ML, I often forget that my way isn't the only way.
Jon

PS, hey somdgunner, I have several cast boolits in 45 cal. lying around, some lubed, some not. If you aren't sure what weight you want, I can send you a variety pack for free (but you will need to pay the postage). I can also include some 50 cal. conicals that I use in my 50 cal Thompson Hawkin 1:48 ML. send me a PM.

[Whiterabbit]

Or has the info he wants/needs

[Fly]

Boy I hope to never kick this bee hive (wink).

Fly:kidding:

[wgr]

Inlines are not a new thing. They have been made modern but nothing new. I have shot sabot in in lines and side hammers using holy black without problems from the plastic . I do agree that a patched round ball is a deers worst night mare

[3jimbo3]

I have a CVA Optima Pro Magnum, 28 inch barrel, 209 ignition, the whole nine yards. As far as muzzle loader, this term is for the purpose of game laws i do believe. The round and charge is loaded into the chamber through the muzzle, the primer sits straight behind the charge(just like in a cartridge) the hammer falls, 295gr projectile goes down range at amazing velocities. Mine is nothing more than a high powered rifle that will smoke anything that gets in front of it. Now with that said, the only way I can get accuracy from my Optima is, I use pellets and power belt bullets. I have tried loose powder and sabots with various bullets and you can't get five shots in a car door at 100yds. I would love to cast some good ole lead bullets to reach out there but the velocities are so high, I don't think its worth trying. My opinion is the inlines get a bad rap as muzzleloaders, and are probably way under classified as such. I like the old flintlocks too but my inline is what goes in the woods with me. Ok thats my opinion not that its important but i kinda have to defend it, it's just too accurate.

[Lead Fred]

My home made 45 cal flintlock puts a 180gr roundball wrapped in cloth @ 2030fps
Why reinvent the wheel

[OnHoPr]

How do you get a .45 cal round ball to weigh 180 gr?

[Whiterabbit]

make it out of a tungsten alloy. Solid tungsten is 190 grains for a 45 cal roundball. Add some impurities or alloy, and you are right at 180.

OR, he misspoke. :)

[DangerousDrummer]

I powder coat Lee REAL bullets cast from pure lead. Cleanup is a breeze and accuracy is good, but only after the bullets age. I coat with different colored batches so I can use the oldest first. Going to shoot more yellow bullets today!