RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

driftrider.........

Just for comparison' s sake, Hodgdon' s load data has my lighter 777 loads (80gr for 300gr sabots, 90gr for 350gr sabots) running about 1600fps. So your 100gr PyroPellet load is running about the same as my loads..............and they are proven killers :) . I think this pretty much explains the sabot destruction you were experiencing.

RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

Mark,

The load I was talking about is with the 215gr QT' s and 2 Pyrodex pellets. The load data comes from the slip included with the PR bullets and not from Hodgdon. PR' s load data suggests a velocity for this load combo at just a touch over 1800fps, 1810 I think, but I estimated a little lower since it' s likely their test barrel was 26" , not 24" like my Knight. Still it should be a good killer. I' m still up in the air about the QT' s. The deer I shot with them last year ran 250 yards with a heart and one lung hit. The QT did an amazing amount of damage too, the exit wound alone was the size a Suzan B dollar and created an incredible blood trail. I' m starting to wonder if that was just an unusually tough deer and not really the bullets fault. The QT' s, now that I' ve found a charge they like, shoot really well and I hate to give up on them (especially since I' ve also got 150 of them left to shoot. My wife surprized me with a 250 bullet order last winter, bless her heart!).

Mike

RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

WOW!!!

That' s some woman you got there Mike - don' t let her get away!! :)

I have to agree that this particular deer had to be one tough bird. Any bullet that expands to twice its size and still has enough energy to make an exit has done its job well. You was just a victim on circumstances beyond yours or the bullet' s control - I guess that' s why they call our sport " hunting" & not " killing" .

RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

Tracking it was easy though. There was so much blood it the woods looked like a Manson family reunion! ;):D Pink foam was sprayed over every tree from the point of inpact to the spot he dropped. I am convinced that that deer was dead on it' s feet for the last 150 yards or so. I was surprised that, like I' ve heard it said, the deer ran straight for water after being hit. It was terminal deer behavior 101.

And, yes, my wife is very supportive of my shooting and hunting. In fact, ahe likes going to the range as much as I do. I taught her how to shoot and she' s since comandeered my 10/22 for her own, and the scary thing is she' s at least as good, if not a better shot than I am. Well, maybe that' s not such a good thing!;):D

Mike

RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

driftrider,just curious,how often are you cleaning the barrel after shots?

RE: Busted Sabots and bad accuracy...
 

When I was shooting T7 I had little choice but to swab after every shot. With Pyrodex I found that swabbing the bore between shots reduced accuracy considerably and caused regular flyers. So I stopped swabbing and would only clean with a brass brush only if the bullets became hard to load, maybe every 10 shots or so. The fouling left by Pyrodex seems to remain fairly constant shot to shot, meaning it doesn' t build up very quickly like T7 will. So the only thing that necessitates cleaning IMO is mostly plastic fouling from sabots.

Mike