andrewjoseph

I have heard everyone talk about the different bullets like the barnes expander and nosler bullets.

I would like to find a combonation that will shoot well in my Omega .50 cal and expand rapidly in deer. I have only used bullet and bullet/sabot combonations that come togehter in packages from places like bass pro or cabelas.

How do I order some of these different bullets like the ones mentioned above and how do I know what sabot to match them with. Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but what size bullet goes with the sabot - sometimes it seems like there is more than one size right around the same diameter.

Thanks

Indiana SmokePole

The Barns & the Noslers are good bullets BUT they are very Expensive just the bullets alone are about .90 ea then by the time you buy the sabots you are well over $1.00 each shot just for your bullet not including your powder & primer . WOW to rich for my blood

I would Suggest you go with something like a Hornady XTP - Speer Unicore JSP or a Sierra Sports master JSP
these are all great bullets and Expand pritty fast as far as the sabots I would recomind MMP or Harvester .

being you have a Omega the bore is going to be kinda small sided so here is what I would try If I were you

.44cal .430 240gr or 300gr XTP with a Harvester green crush rib sabot
.44cal .429 300gr Speer Unicore JSP with a green crush rib sabot
.44cal .429.5 300gr Sierra Sports Master JSP with a crush rib sabot
OR
.40cal 10mm 200gr hornady XTP with a MMP blue sabot

All of these are great & fast Expanders
www.midsouthshooters.com
www.mmpsabots.com

cayugad

To know the sabot to match, you need to know the diameter of the bullet. The caliber will also help but not totally. For instance most of the .44 caliber bullets will be a .429-.430diameter. You thenwould need a .430 diameter sabot, normally green in color.In the .45 caliber you will normally find them to be .451-.452 or .457-.458 diameter. The then needs the .452 sabot, usually black in color,or the .458 sabot which are ornage in color.

Another thing to take into consideration is the diameter of the bore. Some of the tight bore rifles like an E-Z load sabot, HPH-24, or Harvester Crushed Rib sabot. Some of the larger bore rifle can take a conventional thickness sabot.

Bulk bullets can be purchased from most stores. Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Nosler, and other brands all make bulk bullets. Look at their diameter, then order the appropiate sabot to fit them, and the sabot thickness to match your rifle bore.

oldwun

Hey smokepole you might want to look at the new bullet prices. Barnes went from $25 for 24 to $31 for 24. Ashiop owner told me today to expect yeat another price increase. It's costing almost as much as golf!! And I quit golf years ago.

sabotloader

andrewjoseph

In my Omega's I am able to load MMP HPH-24 and regular Harvester Sabots, eithshort or long petal but I do prefer the short petal. Not Omega's able to load 24 or regular Harvesters the bore is to tight. In that case you will want to get MMP HPH-3p-EZ or Harvester Crush rib sabots. They are thinner and will go down the barrel.

I do shoot Nosler Partitions, they are expensive but they have some very good assets for a hunting bullets. I shoot the .451/260 grain partition it is devastating on deer- easily shot to 175 yards. The bullet is accurate. With the diameter of the Nosler being .451 it is a little thinner and would help getting the load down the barrel. The Nosler is tank tough...

The second alternative, for a less expensive bullet, that I would recommned is the Speer Gold Dot.These bullets are bonded the lead can not separate from the copper. They have controlled expansion down to the dot in the internals of the bullet.Again, I would go with a .452 vs the any 44cal. The 45 cal bullets are closer to bore and are more predictable than the 44's.It really does not matter which .452 Gold Dot you use - either the 250 or the 300. The 300 does havea great BC for a 45cal bullet (.232).

Ihave shot a lot of HornadyXTP's in fact they were my first ML bullets, but I have found shooting them at the higher velocities I prefer I can often strip the lead out of the copper. You will find the copper inside the hide and the lead in another place - if it stays together. Now I also should say that XTP's have shot more deer thanany other bullet, but they will not for me.

lemoyne

There is a lot of good bullets out there,I find the all copper ones to expensive for the amount I like to shoot. I used the XTP's for many years and the did a good job but I have gone to Gold Dots except for the40 cal 200gr XTP they do hold together better at higher speed if you like mag loads bonded bullets are better.Lee

gleason.chapman

I have an Omega I practive with the 300g Hornady XTP Mag and shoot Nosler Partitions HG.
.451 sabots will fit Nosler and Speer .451 or .452 bullets you can buy them from here:

http://www.mmpsabots.com/

or you can buy crushed rib sabots from here:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00072H15045BR

also MMP HPH12 from the same place, here:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0021150045HPH

Here are the Nosler Partitions that fit those sabots:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0011545350

Here are the Speer Gold Dot 300g:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000213974

You can also use 45/70 bullets, they are .458 in diameter and go in an MMP Orange Sabot. Good 45-70 bullets are again the Nosler Partition or these Barnes Flat Nose Rifle bullets, these are exactly the same as the Expander, which are .451 in diameter:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0003545843

I like the 300g bullets since they have better down field energy, about same drop as a 250g (about 1" lower at 175 yards) and SHOOT thru a deer, not under the skin in the off side. Now some will say their 250g >>always<< shoot thru, now if they say they shoot a Barnes 250 I believe that is true, if it is a Noler or Speer, I don't think that is true, that is my experience anyway.

Chap

lemoyne

The sabot may well be the important part of the combination, so just in case you don,t already know the most commen combination for an Omega is the MMP-HPH 24 or the standard Harvestor. My Omega shoots best with the MMP-HPH24 with all .451 and .452 bulletsand the only one that shoots better than that sabot and a 250 gr Gold Dot is the 50/40 200gr SW or the blue 50/40 and thw 200gr 40cal XTP. It is often best to check out some sabot and bullet combinations buy taking out the breach plug and trying different ones buy pushing them through the barrel before you go to the range. Lee

skeeter 7MM

To combat cost if your a high volume shooter you could always have a plinking load and a hunting load. I shoot enough anddo this with ML's and CF's by find similar weight bullets/loads. ie: 250gr .451-.452 XTP for plinking and250 expander or260 Nosler Part for hunting using the same sabot .451-. 452 sabot. Once you find the sweet spot for each it is just a matter of fine tuning for the usage...for me works really well. Not to mention it allows one to experiment with othercombos and still have the safety of fall backs if your tests return fruitless results.

As to Barnes in my experience unless your pushingvelocity they aren't any better then the nosler, etc. IMO/E nolser's are darn near the best combo for both expansion (wound channel) and retention (pentration). I like both but if I were picking one bullet for deer I'd be reaching for the Parts.

Like what I have heard about the hornady 200gr's with the 50/40 sabot. I have them on the top of my to do list come spring.

Chasam60

What I have done is to shoot a Nosler partition for hunting and target shoot with a handgun bullet.

Nosler partition HG $14.99/10 250gr with sabots Nosler # 50441

Nosler Sporting hand gun 45Colt/250 $21.19/100 Nosler # 43013

Nosler Sabot for .451 bullet $6.99/50 Nosler # 50096

These are prices from Grafs Midsouth is cheaper but shipping is higher.

This puts your cost for a hunting bullet at $1.50 and your target bullet at $.35 plus powder.

Even If the cost of a bullet was $5.00- a deer is worth that much to me.

Andrewjoseph-these combos load ok in my Omega. They are both .451 dia bullets. I believe the sabots are MMP HPH-12. If they are too tight for you try the MMP HPH-24 or the 3 petal EZ The 3 petal is a little loose for me with a .451 better with a .452. The fun of ML shooting is there are so many combinations to try. Just play until you find your sweet load,then go buy more rifles and start over. It is an addictive sport.

Charlie