12g sabot reloading. Am I gonna get hurt?

[Joey V.]

Hey all,

I have been reloading lyman slugs for rifled barrels for a little while not and have had some ideas... I have shotgun reloading manuals and have been reloading for yrs bt just want to be safe. Anyway the lyman slugs I reload are extremely accurate not that I found the combo my gun likes but being hobby type of guy I thought I would experiment... I was thinking of making my own sabots for pistol bullets. I know all about the RSS-12 for .45 xtp and some others too but they just shoot good from what I HEAR. I also like larger bullets than a 300 grain .45 for stopping power. The .525 lyman 12g slug knocks deer over like the hammer of Thor but the trajectory is crap out to 100 yrds. I get a massive drop from 50 to 100yds. I would like to do something like this. Roll my own paper sabot tube around say a 58 cal maxi ball or something of the like. I was thinking of maybe making the paper sabot fit inside a Claybuster wad like the lyman pellet does???? What issues will I face and dangers most importantly? I know I have to make sure the bullet will spin with the wad but how can I make sure it does???

THANKS!!
JV

[Joey V.]

Hey all,

I have been reloading lyman slugs for rifled barrels for a little while now and have had some ideas... I have shotgun reloading manuals and have been reloading for yrs but just want to be safe. Anyway the lyman slugs I reload are extremely accurate now that I found the combo my gun likes but being hobby type of guy I thought I would experiment... I was thinking of making my own sabots for pistol bullets. I know all about the RSS-12 for .45 xtp and some others too but they just don't shoot good from what I HEAR. I also like larger bullets than a 300 grain .45 for stopping power. The .525g lyman 12g slug knocks deer over like the hammer of Thor but the trajectory is crap out to 100 yrds. I get a massive drop from 50 to 100yds. I would like to do something like this. Roll my own paper sabot tube around say a 58 cal maxi ball or something of the like. I was thinking of maybe making the paper sabot fit inside a Claybuster wad like the lyman pellet does???? What issues will I face and dangers most importantly? I know I have to make sure the bullet will spin with the wad but how can I make sure it does???

THANKS!!
JV

[maillemaker]

I had a similar thought and posted just a week or so ago:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=439129

http://i.imgur.com/BEvB4.png


Steve

[Joey V.]

Thanks but that is very different than what I want to do. First I am legally allowed to do it, second I want to just make a shotgun wad out of a paper tube. Just trying to see if anyone else went down this road and if I am going to case bad over pressure.

THX

[snuffy]

Joey, what you have to realize is that sabots have to let loose of the bullet evenly to be accurate. It's what is called a discarding sabot. The problem with accuracy of saboted rounds is the release HAS to be the same each time, or it will result in the bullet being slapped sideways as the sabot releases unevenly.

The Brenneke slugs have what's called an attached sabot, in that the wads are screwed to the base of the solid slug to act like fins to stabilize the slug. They aren't sub-caliber though.

I have been reloading lyman slugs for rifled barrels for a little while not and have had some ideas...

Are those the forester hollow based slugs? The reason I ask is you said "for rifled barrels". That sounds like a sabot slug. They MUST be fired in a rifled barrel, or they won't fly point forward, they'll tumble.

The Lyman "pellet" as you call it is a true sub caliber sabot made to go inside a standard shotgun wad. They are also quite accurate, But they are as heavy as your forster type, hollow base slug. They also are only a little bit smaller than full bore slugs.

BPI has had a sabot on the market for well over a year. The first ones were a dismal failure, because they were undersized, wouldn't hold the .501 500 S&W magnum bullets tight enough to impart spin from the rifled barrels. They were also too soft, allowing high pressure gases to punch through the over-powder wad. They have revised the sabot, Those that have tested it say it's no better than the original.

I bought a bunch of those sabots, a rifled cantilever barrel for my 870, and a special shotgun scope to test them. Over 500$, no success. I even reamed out a lee 500 440 SWC mold to make a .510 smooth sided bullet, never got around to testing it.