I got to thinking about this today, and remembered I have a couple of sample Ranier .500 Smith and Wesson bullets that I got at the SHOT show back in February. It is made like the Speer Gold Dot; in that it has a lead core with the jacket electroplated over the lead - making it one homogenous unit. This bullet measures 1/4 thousands of an inch over .500 (.50025). The Powerbelt bullets I have around here measure from .499 up to about .4995. I tried seating one of these bullets in my 22.5" Black Diamond, and it wouldn't drop down the clean barrel - but seated with very little effort. I rapped the muzzle forcefully on a hard rubber mat over the concrete floor several times, and the bullet moved forward about 1/4 of an inch. I'm thinking if the barrel was fouled, it would have stayed put. I understand the only reason the Powerbelt bullet has the plastic skirt on it is to keep the bullet from falling back out the muzzle.

I just might try this tomorrow. I tried a similar bullet a few years back - a sabot jacketed shotgun slug that measured .501". It seated withlight pressure and actually shot pretty well. Unfortunately, the only way to get those slugs was to disassemble Federal Premium shotgun slugs. I had about 25 I got for free - but really don't want to have to go out and buy more. Yes, I may give these .500 S&W bulletsa try. Txfireman, I'm sure,was thinking the same thing: potential way to get around the Coloradorestrictions on sabot rounds during the MZ season.