Alot of people shoot both lead(maxi ball and others) and sabots with copperplated bullets but is there any differance at close range,i was shoothing both yesterday at 70 yards .With the sabots i hit the target 5 times the first 2 were 1 inch groups the other 3 about 3 to 4 inch without cleaning,then i cleaned and tried the lead bullets with no sabots,i shot 5 times almost the same pattern but to my surprise a little better on the last coulple,then i shot two sabots right behind the lead bullets without cleaning i was shooting at a paper plate i missed by a foot,loaded it one more time with a lead bullet without cleaning i hit the edge of the plate. The bullets were the same weight 300gr and i used the same powder load of 90gr. of loose 777. I think out at ranges of a 100 yards or more the sabots hold a litte better group after the first shot but i'm not sure because i have not compared them at that range.