To Sabot Index or Not

[ET1]

All sabot indexing means is orientating the sabot to the bore to get as much of 2-lands on each sabot petal in an 8-land bore. You’re probably wondering what difference this makes? Consider this, the lands are what provides the sabots with pressure to grip the bullet. The more land contact, the more surface tension that provides the sabot a stronger grip on the bullet.
Will this improve your groups? Not significantly but does maintain a better, repeatability for group consistency. Still, it is an improvement IMO.
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The nice part is that no extra equipment needed. Just care when loading the bullet/sabot into the bore.
You will probably find that aligning a sabot petal split to the center of a bore groove pretty much gets you there.


Some may wonder why I post so much about my SML experience and some might think I seek recognition. That’s farthest from the truth. What good does my gained knowledge do when my time is up and not shared. My reward is knowing this shared knowledge has helped someone with their SML experience.
For now I’m going to stop posting for a bit as it seems like I’m hogging board space, chuckle.

[RS460]

I usually check this forum every couple of days to see if you have posted anything new. I have picked up a few tips from your posts. I appreciate the knowledge you are willing to share.
Thanks

[bdog]

Ok, so you index to the lands, now you stuff it down the barrel without a rotating ram rod or spinning jag, how does it end up when it's seated?

[ET1]

Ok, so you index to the lands, now you stuff it down the barrel without a rotating ram rod or spinning jag, how does it end up when it's seated?

Bdog

Interesting question and am not 100% sure what results you would get. Never thought about this as I use a Spinjag.
https://www.spinjag.com/
One could remove the Breech Plug and send a bullet/sabot through the bore. Then examine the land impressions on the sabot as well as the head of the bullet for marks.

[GreyTech]

Ok, so you index to the lands, now you stuff it down the barrel without a rotating ram rod or spinning jag, how does it end up when it's seated?

Guessing the sabot would rotate with the rifling as it should, mine do.

[ET1]

I usually check this forum every couple of days to see if you have posted anything new. I have picked up a few tips from your posts. I appreciate the knowledge you are willing to share.
Thanks

RS460

Thanks for the kind and encouraging words. To know that it even helps one individual SML shooter makes my posting feel worthwhile.

[bdog]

Guessing the sabot would rotate with the rifling as it should, mine do.

If youre not using a rotating ram rod or some sort of spinning jag, with the amount of pressure used to load a bullet/sabot, I cant see it being able to follow the rifling without damaging the sabot

[rf2]

If youre not using a rotating ram rod or some sort of spinning jag, with the amount of pressure used to load a bullet/sabot, I cant see it being able to follow the rifling without damaging the sabot

I don't use anything fancy to ram the bullet down the bore for my muzzleloader (not a smokeless), and I can feel the ram rod twisting on my palm as I push down. The sabot stays engaged with the rifling in the same relative orientation as it was at the muzzle. I've also noticed this by finding sabots in front of the rifle - there's no sign of scrubbing on the sabot, just clean rifling marks.

That being said, I've never considered indexing the sabot. It won't make any difference for me, as I have other uncontrolled variables that would hide any effect.

[MikePal]

, as I have other uncontrolled variables that would hide any effect.

Don't we all...HaHa..

[impact]

Interesting subject but certainly it can be firearm specific. For example, my TC Impact has no rifling at the last 1 inch of the barrel.
The reason? It allows for the quick insert of a sabot and then follow up with the ramrod to seat it to final destination. That way, you don't need to fumble with everything out in the field. Makes it a little easier when up in a tree stand or whatever other hunting situation you may find yourself into at the time.

So, indexing is a no go for this firearm. Am I penalized for this convenience? I don't bench shoot enough and I have yet to receive a complaint from a deer to really know if in my particular hunting situations it would make much of a difference.