Has anybody else ever used a .454" roundballwith a black sabot in a .50 Cal. muzzleloader? I've been shooting this combination over 35 grains of Goex ffg for a couple of years.I find that it makes a pretty good 50 yard target and squirrel load. I figure it probably makesbetween 1,250 and 1,350 ft/sec of velocity at the muzzle, withstriking energy in the vicinity of350 ft/lbs at 50 yards.
The reason I am asking about this load is that I recently found a web site where a shooter claims that a round ball in a plastic sabot is dangerous. He said the round ball can move forward, causing an air gap.
Personally, I don't see how that is possible with the tight fit that my roundball has in my particular muzzleloader.Am I missing something?
FYI -- My rifleis of the modern, inline type, an HR1871 "Huntsman," with a .50" bore and a 1 in 24" twist. With this twist rate, a faster load with a roundball just flies all over the place, but a small amount of Goex works well for me. The black sabots I use are meant for .451" or .452" pistol bullets. The roundballs I use are Hornady .454" soft lead, and feel just as tight as the .452 pistol bullets when I push them down the bore. I've fired a couple of hundred rounds of this load with no problems.
Any opinions or additional info on this combination would be appreciated. I really like this load, but I'll give it up if there is a real safety issue with it.
Thanks,
TrumpetHunter
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You're not going to hurt it with 35 grains of powder...As you know, you don't want a gap, if that is a concern, just check before you shoot, just uncap before you do...
As long as the ball is in the bottom of that sabot, I see no danger in shooting it. Also Hornady used to sell a set up where they had a ball and sabot combination that they could shoot.
If that is an accurate load I think you would have a great small game load.
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That's a relief. I really felt that this load could not be a problem, but I feel reassured that 4 and 5-star forum members, probably with experience and knowledge way beyond mine, think so too.
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Great timing - I was just thinking about trying the same thing!
I have a .454 rb mold and was thinking a sabot designed for a .451 bullet should hold the ball tightly.
I've been taking my 7 year old to the range with me and a 25 or 30 grain charge of fffg makes a load he can shoot.
I could understand concerns of the ball moving forward if you were carrying the rifle muzzle down for a long time, doubtful - but possible, but to simply ram the sabot/ball downbore at the range then fire right away I don't see much chance for a problem.
Good idea for a youngster or a newbie. It feels about likethe next step up from a.22 Mag. in a light, sport-barreled rifle. Maybe a little more "push" -- not as snappy as a rimfire. You get the smoke and aroma of black powder without the flinch thatyoung shooters might develop.
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I think that folks are concerned about looseness because ofthe old styleButler Creek plastic patches that were much smaller and looserthan today's sabots. They were available for mostpopular calibers and oldpackagesare still sold on the marketplace. They didn't firmlyhold thesame undersizeroundballs that weredesignedto be cloth patched much if at all. They were the shape and sizesimilar to awonder wadbore button only with a shallow depression, andmade of green plastic.
Thefact that you are using a slightly oversized .454 [revolver] ball sounds like your load is nice and tight.It's really sounds like a wonderfulidea.
Personally, I don't see how that is possible with the tight fit that my roundball has in my particular muzzleloader.Am I missing something?
No, you are not missing anything! As long as that sabot has a good firm grip on that ball, you will not have a problem. At one time, there were so-called "poly-patches" (yes, I think they were sold by Butler Creek), plastic sabot-like things DESIGNED FOR USE WITH ROUND BALLS, that had a bore-sealing ledge on one side, and a pocket about half thedepth of the ball on the other. When seated in the muzzle, the plasic pocket material extruded around the circumference of the ball at the halfway point, and this edge gripped the ball. However, in some "loose" bores, the grip of this plastic strip on the ball was minimal, and sometimes the ball would "pop back up" out of the pocket. If this happened, it could cause ringing or rupture of the bore when fired.
I have used these polypatches in .50 and .54 caliber, and had no problems with them, but I can see that the potential is there. But with these, a regular size ball was used-0.530" in .54, etc. They don't make these any more, but if they did, I would still use them-at the rangefor target shooting, NOT with a hunting load.
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Roundball Squirrel Load in a .50 Cal. ML
