Sabots in a T/C 1/48 twist?

[plinky56]

Hi all, looked for a while but didn't see much on this. Has anyone gotten any accuracy using a sabot with cast lead boolit in a T/C hawken, 1/48 twist barrel. I have a hundred plus .44 cal cast keith swc's that I cast up for a friends' .44 magnum, that were left over since he sold the gun. Does it work well? Things you do to make it work, components, etc.? Or am I wasting my time.

Right now I shoot a RB, .490 with a .014 patch of homemade lube and ticking and shoot no longer than 75 yds in SE PA. Very accurate. Just put on a peep sight and am going to the range this week, so, if you guys can help me benefit from your experience and point me in the right direction, it will be appreciated!

[johnson1942]

a 250 grain .451 or 250 grain .44 in a mmp sabot can cut center at 100 yards and beyond every time. real black or black horn 209 powder is the best in your gun. with 209 powder you will need a magsark nipple to set it off and shoot shotgun primers in it. also consider sizeing your bullets to .440 and paperpatching them with number nine onion skin paper two wraps. i did this with the same gun you have and it would drive tacks at 100 yards. consistanty do 1 inch groups. used a 100 grains of 2f black behind the pp bullets. it worked perfectly in a gun like yours. have fun.

[plinky56]

No kidding, I have a flintlock, but now i'm going to try some green sabots with my keith bullet at .431 dia. Figure i'll start at about 70gr of ffg black and see how it goes. Was not sure if you needed a 1/28 faster twist for the sabots of not.

[johnson1942]

i think the 1/48 is easier to work up a sabot load for than a 1/28 twist. the reason i like mmp sabots is they sell in bulk with a discount and no shipping charges. also they have a good product. i like them so much i converted one of my long distance .50 cal target muzzle loaders to strickly sabot. it shoots a .458 455 grain bullet in a mmp sabot that holds .459 bullets. it is a tack driver at any range as far as you want to shoot. with your flint lock use real black of course and expect to drive tacks at any range. just wipe the bore between shots and that takes no time at all. you can also pump up the ft per sec with a heavier charge as the mmp sabots like that. you may even want to up grade the back sight on that to some thing that allows you to shoot to 100 yards and then tip up a ladder for progressive longer ranges as your gun can handle that in power and accracy with a mmp sabot and the bullet your going to use. you will be surprised at what your gun and that combo will do. have fun and let us know what you are doing.

[Anonym]

I used to hunt with a 240 grain 45 cal bullet in a sabot out of my CVA sidelock with good results. It had a 1:48 twist barrel. I don't have it anymore and went strictly with roundball twist barrels in my TCs. I have an inline for sabots these days.

[xpaholic]

I used mmp sabots, hornady 240 xtp's, and 90 gr of triple seven for years with excellent accuracy out of my hawkin and renegade flinters. recently I changed to paper patching and the lee 501 boolit, thats working very good also. the 1:48 twist will work for what you are doing, buy loose powder (not pellets) and try different grains to see what works best. xp

[johnson1942]

im very happy to hear all the shooters that are turning to paperpatch with success and staying with them. i patched a .45 i/48 twist with very very good results. the only reason i took the barrel off of the gun and replaced it was to a faster twist to shoot heavier bullets. the 250 grain .440 pp bullet really worked very good though. a paper patched flinter would be a real sleeper as it would have more knock done power. now thats a real self reliance combo. pp bullets and a flinter. it doesnt get better than than to be independent.

[koger]

The TC barrels, with 1-48 twist will shoot the sabot rounds good, but they were not made for them. In years of running a gunshop/gunsmithing business, I had several guns quit shooting, loads with sabot's that were tackdrivers at 100yds, went to pot. Simple reason was platic fouling. Using a solvent like Shooters choice, and scrubbing the daylights out of the barrel, I could get them clean and shooting again, but every round of sabots have potential to leave plastic buildup in the barrel. I stick to good maxi type slugs in all my 48 twist TC's and BP, use a fiber wad over the powder and get great accuracy, use SAbots in my TC Omega, shoots freaking awesome!