A better way to load sabots.

I have been thinking about the common problem of loading sabots. And the very reason I hate them. They can be a real to load. Especially if the barrel is the least bit dirty.I have bad wrists and I just find it a real problem to do repeatedly. The plus side of them is the cost. They are way cheaper than any of the current sabot less deigns ( at least the ones I.m familiar with) Anyhoo I decided to try a different approach. First I took the plastic sabot sleeve and used my finger to flare the petals open a bit. I slid it into the bore until it was just fully sunk into the actual rifled portion of the barrel. I then took the bullet and gently slid it in as straight as possible and then slowly rammed it down the bore. The bullet only partially enters the jacket until the jacket bottoms out then with one quick push it seats the rest of the way in. I tried it with boat tail bullets as well as an sst which is only slightly rounded on the trailing edge. Both methods worked fine and they were sooo much easier to load. I didnt fire them but I am going to do some experimenting next time im out shooting to see if there is any affect on accuracy. I really dont see why there would be but i,m going to try it and see.

There can be a few problems if your having a hard time loading a saboted bullet. One I found early on was using a ram that did not allow the sabot to 'twist' easily in the barrel.

I bought on of these 'Super Rats' from PR bullets and it solved a lot of the issues I felt were happening. The design just makes sense.

https://www.prbullet.com/rat.htm

Never really thought about the bullet needing to twist going in.It does make sense when you consider it has to twist to get out. Thats a very cool tool. I,m sure in general I need to pay more attention to how the bullet is loading and the final seating pressure I am using. My problem is that after a few loads my wrist is hurting so I am likely not applying the same pressure because its uncomfortable. It,s why I really like the bore lok's. They go down like nothing.

Bad Bull loads their saboted loads the same way, first the empty sabot down the barrel then the bullet. I've tried it with my .50 cal but I was always afraid of the bullet not seating properly, either bending one of the petals of the sabot or not bottoming out in the sabot. It does work but for me I lack the confidence in using that method.

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Originally Posted by smokeeter

Bad Bull loads their saboted loads the same way, first the empty sabot down the barrel then the bullet. I've tried it with my .50 cal but I was always afraid of the bullet not seating properly, either bending one of the petals of the sabot or not bottoming out in the sabot. It does work but for me I lack the confidence in using that method.

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Thats why I want to experiment with it. There is potential but I have yet to test the results. A boat tail bullet would be no problem It has enough taper to easily slide into the sabot without snagging the petals. I also wonder if it will work by not pushing the sabot quite as far down before loading the bullet. If the petals are left partially exposed the bullet could be started, ensuring it passes the edges of the petals cleanly and then slowly pushed down and seated.I have a bunch of old lyman shockers that I will use for testing.

wa is that tool worth mikepal??

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smokeeter

Bad Bull loads their saboted loads the same way, first the empty sabot down the barrel then the bullet. I've tried it with my .50 cal but I was always afraid of the bullet not seating properly, either bending one of the petals of the sabot or not bottoming out in the sabot. It does work but for me I lack the confidence in using that method.

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I watched the BB video.They weren't using a sabot but rather some sort of wad. They are nice looking guns but man alive If I had to go through all that every time I loaded it I would get pretty sick of it at the range.

I had the same problem until I changed the sabot to one that was a bit harder than the sabot that came with bullet. This worked for me plus gave better group.

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Originally Posted by bcxextreme

I watched the BB video.They weren't using a sabot but rather some sort of wad. They are nice looking guns but man alive If I had to go through all that every time I loaded it I would get pretty sick of it at the range.

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Bad Bull did produce one model that is designed for saboted loads. Utiliy S series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0i2WH0ksDI

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Originally Posted by twostroke

wa is that tool worth mikepal??

cheers

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The website quotes them as $14....see: https://www.prbullet.com/price15.htm

I make sure I swab between every shot to get rid of the 777 crud ring. I first run a patch with a shot of the milk TC cleaner (maybe 5 up and downs) , then I run a dry patch passed down 2-3 times, then a G96 patch 2-3 times(I pre-spray some patches with it and keep them in a little ziplock). RemOil works OK as well, but G96 is better.Bore Butter does not work even remotely as well as the G96. One pass down with the G96 swab makes the sabot load almost effortless. One other thing - make sure the threading on your jag and handle extension are not fully thread tightened, or your ramrod will not free spiral as you're loading. The sabot (and bullet) should be following the rifling in a spiral manner as it is seated. Works well with me, and as a bonus you are leaving your barrel coated in an anti-rust film after you're loaded.

I just load wih the Encore ramrod, no jag.
Am I missing something?

Has anyone ever tried to push one through with a fixed jag and then with a loose or revolving jag to compare how the markings on the sabot look. ?

it doesn't matter whether you use a fixed jag or a spin jag the sabot will still follow the rifling, it's just easier with the spin jag. If you mark your ramrod you will see it rotate and you can measure the twist of your rifling by seeing how far the ramrod goes in for one revolution. I have some pics of some sabots before and after I lapped the bore, I did it to get rid of some chatter marks I had in my savage this was without a spin jag.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...Picture004.jpg[/IMG]

Very interesting. I thought I was gonna have to pull out my gun and try it. No need now.. I can clearly see the difference between the first two and the second.Actually I may do it just to see if my barrel leaves nice smooth lines or chewed up ones. I would hope with the extra reaming the barrel gets on the accura's that it would be pretty smooth.

I tried it just to see. Yes if you slowly push it down and watch you can see the rod rotating. I would never have guessed it. It actually loosens the jag as the rifling unscrews it. I was also happy to see very clean marks on the sabot with no chattering at all.