eddie_v21

oOk tonight i tried loading the Shockwaves into my Wolverine(notice i said tried).They would budge in the barrel.I pushed and pushed trying to get them started.I then noticed a lil bit of rust in my barrell so i took my wire brush and and oil patch and tried again,wouldnt budge.I had been using powerbelts so i grabbed one of them to see if they would go down as easy as before and they did.Well i worked it through a few times and tried the shockwave again and it finally went.Should i be using some Bore Butter or what the deal because I know they should be going in easier than this?Anybody have any experiences like this with sabots before and how did you correct the problem?I really wanna try the shockwaves because ive heard they shoot great but if im gonna have to deal with this FORGET it.

cayugad

You do not put any kind of lube on a sabot. It will effect the way it flys out the barrel. As for why the Shockwave did not fit, well that is strange. I shoot them in my Wolverine all the time. At these Shockwaves or are they SST is a different kind of sabot?

Your starting on a clean barrel of course. You can wet the outside of the sabot a little that will sometimes help. As for the rust you found inside the barrel, I am wondering what you use to treat the barrel when you clean it.....

Good luck with your rifle.

My wolverine by the way likes Barnes Expanders with 80 grains of Goex FFFg.....

Triple Se7en

Eddie

Sounds like your Knight bore has "Plastic Fouling Disease. 90% of solvents intended for muzzleloaders don't clean didley. Get a solvent that says on the label "I Clean Plastic Fouling". If you are using copper bullets, get one that removes copper. Unless you are using 80 grains of blackpowder with a conical that doesn't shed it's lead, then those pee-wee cleaners like TC-13 are OK to use.... otherwise no way!

P.S. Always use a bore brush. Only use a jag for loading/seating bullets.

Tahquamenon

Triple Se7en is right on here. I like the Shockwaves and the Hornady SST's but they are tight.
Your barrel needs to be "Bone Dry" or the tighter sabots will hang up and be a pain to impossible to load. Any moisture or lube can cause the tighter tolerance loads to hang up.

Sounds like with the rust in your barrel, you may wish to step up your maintenance a bit.

Give a good bore solvent a go.
Try getting your barrel really clean with a bore solvent and a wire brush that will remove lead, copper and plactic. Like at least 10-20 strokes.
Then a patch with solvent for several strokes. Then dry patches until they come out white.
Then use rubbing alcohol on a patch or two to remove anything else that my be lingering around. Followed with a dry patch.
Then lube the barrel better than you normally would.

Before loading, use a rubbing alcohol patch up and down followed by a dry patch or two.
When the alcohol evaporates, your barrel should be "bone dry", very clean and should load the Shockwave/SST round without problem.

You will likely need to spit patch, dry patch, alcohol patch, dry patch in between shots to ensure that your barrel is clean and "Bone Dry".

I use the same cleaner on my muzzleloaders once a year as I do with all my other weapons. Butch's Bore Shine. Cleans everything out of the barrel.

Best,

Tahquamenon

eddie_v21

Well I cleaned my gun really good today,scrubbed with wire brush,flushed with water,ran dry patches, anyways i repeated this process about 3 times and the fit was still to tight for me.My powerbelts go down as smooth as ever but the shockwaves still to tight for me.Guess Ill be sticking to the powerbelts.

Mark whiz

eddie....................
DO you have access to a set of measuring calipers? If you could measure the bore diameter between the lands and the grooves out to .001 of an inch, maybe the answer here could be seen.

My Knight is exactly .500" at the lands and .504" in across the grooves....................and the SSTs as VERY tight in my bore. I get them down alright, but you know you've done something each time one is loaded.

Paul L Mohr

Yep, not all these bores are the same. Just because they say .50 caliber doesn't mean that is what they will measure. I can slip remington sabots right down my bore for the most part, but I own a remington. My buddies that have knights can barely squeeze them down theres with a clean barrel.

You may also have plastic fouling as well if the gun has been shot alot. I have never noticed this with my gun though.

Paul

Mark whiz

I've never had plastic fouling make loading difficult - but it sure does rob accuracy. A cheap solution for plastic fouling is acetone. Cheaper than specialty solvents and it'll dang sure take care of plastic.

LaneNebraska

eddie

Maybe you should just stick with powerbelts.

Tahquamenon

Eddie,
Before you throw in the towel on the Shockwave...
Perhaps the sabot is just enough out of tolerance (larger) than what it is supposed to be. I bought some 300GR Shockwaves recently and tried them last weekend. It was like I needed a jackhammer to install them.
Give Thompson Center a call (603-332-2333) and speak with their tech support and let them know that you are having difficulty loading the Shockwaves in your gun.
I spoke with T/C customer support a couple of days ago regarding the same thing and they will be sending out some new replacement sabots.

Now that you have the clean/dry barrel question answered, I would take a look at the sabot itself. Have T/C send you some replacement sabots.

The Shockwaves and the Hornady SST's (Same projectile as Hornady is the MFG) are a tight fit no question. but should not be impossible.

Best,