February 1, 2011, 12:40 PM | #1 |
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Reloading sabot rounds?
So every day at work I walk past the aluminum can recycling bin, and I think, "Gee, it's too bad I can't cast bullets out of aluminum." But then I think, "It would be too hard on the barrel anyway."
But then I was thinking. What if we made sabot rounds to load into handgun cartridges? What if we designed a plastic cup, and inserted a steel pin into it, like, say, a hardened dowel rod segment. Load this into the pistol brass as a normal round, and crimp to secure the sabot. What do you think? |
February 1, 2011, 01:16 PM | #2 |
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Barrel twist? A 38 with a 16-18" twist is fast by pistol standards, but won't come close to stabliizing a "rod". Stabilization is offen discussed in terms of weight, but really it is a length thing. Round balls need very little twist, short pistol bullets need little more, longer(heavier)rifle bullets even more, ... a "rod" needs tail fins ....
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February 1, 2011, 01:18 PM | #3 |
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To get to the required weight of a round you would have a spear gun with the rod sticking out of the barrel.
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February 1, 2011, 01:47 PM | #4 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
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February 1, 2011, 01:52 PM | #5 |
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Many reasons.... chief among them....
Cost (it's unlikely that a sabot and steel rod would be cheaper than a traditional bullet) Ease of use (it would be a pain) Accuracy (sabot rounds are not as accurate as a non-sabot round, take a look at the .30-06 "Accelerator")
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February 1, 2011, 02:20 PM | #6 |
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February 1, 2011, 02:26 PM | #7 |
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3/8 x 5/8 steel dowel rods are $.28 a piece in quantities of 50 through McMaster-Carr. I am certain that in quantity these would be pennies a piece.
Plastic shotshell wads cost $.02 a piece. I think sabots for a .45 could be manufactured just as cheaply. So I don't think cost is a terrible concern. Performance may be. A steel projectile would make a great armor piercing round, but obviously won't deform much. |
February 1, 2011, 02:47 PM | #8 | |
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It's simply not feasible.
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February 1, 2011, 02:57 PM | #9 | |
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Sounds to me like you are discussing manufacturing armor piercing handgun ammunition. That is not something I would advise doing.
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February 1, 2011, 02:58 PM | #10 | |
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Purchased bullets seem to run around $.05 or so each. I think steel pins could be had for that price. I'm sure there are issues, but I can see some benefits. Like greatly reduced barrel wear and zero metal fouling issues. Also the possibility of creating home-made armor-piercing ammunition. |
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February 1, 2011, 03:02 PM | #11 |
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Well, that pretty much axes that one. Figures it would be illegal.
See what I'm really after here is finding a cheap replacement for lead. It sounds like lead wheel weights are going by the way side. And from the above law list, they've already outlawed all the other practical metals for a projectile that are dense enough to serve, because they are also hard and thus make good armor piercing rounds. |
February 1, 2011, 03:03 PM | #12 | |
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You may want to stop talking now.
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February 1, 2011, 03:37 PM | #13 |
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February 1, 2011, 04:54 PM | #14 |
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sabot rounds from factory rem. shoot 2 1/2" groups at 100 yards in my rem 30-06, but when I load, Im lucky to get 10" group. for some reason
( consistency) , I cant match a factory sabot rem Accelerator , still trying though. got about 3 boxes left of rem accelerator. |
February 1, 2011, 04:58 PM | #15 |
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Yup. .45 muzzleloader sabots are typically built to hold .357-.358" bullets.
They don't stay together very well. That's fine in a muzzleloader where they're packed down with a rod one at a time, and not so fine in a semi-auto magazine or revolver cylinder where recoil jars them loose. Slippery plastic doesn't grip copper or even lead very well. Casting will likely go by the wayside at some point. I'm betting on sintered metal bullets as the cheap(est) replacement. Look to the replacements for steel shot in the shotgunning world if you want to see the future of cheap bullets. Bismuth, tungsten matrix, iron polymer,etc. |
February 1, 2011, 05:20 PM | #16 |
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I thought about recoil possibly allowing the projectile to slip out of the sabot.
One solution would be to have a semi-circular groove turned in the side of the projectile, with a matching rounded rib on the inside of the sabot. When the sabot was crimped in the case, it would grip the groove in the projectile. Of course now the projectile just got more complicated and thus more expensive. Another thought was they sell knurled dowel pins. This might give enough texture for the sabot walls to bite into, but I don't know what this would do to the aerodynamics of the projectile. Of course the point is now basically moot since all of the desirable replacement materials are outlawed. I suppose you might make them out of copper - beryllium copper is banned but not pure copper, but I imagine that is more expensive than lead. |
September 23, 2012, 08:28 PM | #17 |
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I've had good accuracy from the Remington 30/06 Accelerators with sabots holding 55-grain .224 bullets. Every 5-shot group was under 1.5-inch at 100 yards. I couldn't get as good accuracy from the normal .30 caliber factory rounds in my Ruger M77. So... when I hear people dish the Accelerators because of accuracy (or supposed plastic fouling), I have to chime in and say this was not my experience. I think they are great, and they gave me a great coyote gun back before I didn't own a .22 caliber centerfire.
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