54 sabots

[jtaylor1960]

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.

[missionary5155]

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.

[Gunfixer]

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

[Gunfixer]

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

[Baron von Trollwhack]

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.

[alleyyooper]

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.

:mrgreen: Al

[jtaylor1960]

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!