A sabot and a round ball

[coupe]

I happened to come across a .451 ball mold, which made me wonder how a ball in a sabot would do? In my 48 twist 50 cal saboted .451 bullets work very well with 90 gr. 3f goex.
  Just wondering if anyone has tried with a ball and saw any accuracy improvement or not. It would be better than the old buttler creek poly patch, which let loose of the ball in cold weather, cause not enough plastic to hold the ball well enough. Where as the sabot has longer leaves to grip the ball but being that long would they hinder the release and ruin the accuracy. Bet they would seal the bore well enough though and maybe shorten the leaves some. Might be worth the experiment just for giggles.

[smylee grouch]

I think they would seal the bore with melted plastic

[Daryl]

Melted plastic is not fun to get out of a smooth-bore's bore, let alone out of a rifled one.
Cloth patch is the way to go with a .490" or .495" ball at that.
Accuracy cannot be as good as a patched ball.
Of course, you could try it and report, but not many will follow your lead.

[longcruise]

I have done it and shot .440 balls in a .50 and .350 balls out of a. 45.  Why?  Just for the fun of it. 

Accuracy is very good.  Plastic didn't melt.  Cleaning up was no problem.  Never did come up with any practical application. 

[coupe]

I never found a plastic problem with the sabots in my t/c inline, nor with my use of the poly patch in the t/c hawken. I was just wondering about accuracy since the sabot would seal better then a cloth patch. Not trying to sway anyone from the cloth, lord knows I enjoy cutting them and lubing and all the prep that goes with the shooting. Just a thought.

[hudson]

I remember those poly patches had a cheap production rifle at the time with a fast twist barrel. Accuracy was fantastic at 50 yards for such a cheap rig, only played at the bench with them for a short time.

[Daryl]

I never found a plastic problem with the sabots in my t/c inline, nor with my use of the poly patch in the t/c hawken. I was just wondering about accuracy since the sabot would seal better then a cloth patch. Not trying to sway anyone from the cloth, lord knows I enjoy cutting them and lubing and all the prep that goes with the shooting. Just a thought.

The plastic I had coating the bore, was from shotshell wads. I have no experience with the rifle sabots
in any bore.
Interesting statement, though about sealing. What makes you think the plastic would seal better? Do you
know this, or are simply making a guess?

[coupe]

Not sure about the sabots but I know for sure the polys did. I used to find them and the powder end had fingers cut into them from the rifling, in fact I reused them by turning them around to see if they would work as well....they did. As far as plastic in the bore, I never had my 12 gage fouled up from the shot wads, maybe your smooth bore is not as smooth as modern shot guns. I have no idea on that I have never owned or shot a smoothie, this is just a guess on my part. Not doubting you at all I just don't know.

[alacran]

Shot Skeet for ten years  averaged 300 birds a week . Plastic fouling accumulates in the bore and was easy to dislodge with brake cleaner.
This of course was using unmentionable weapons. If you aren't getting plastic fowling, it is because you aren't shooting enough.

[thelongrifle]

Years ago, about 40, someone made plastic sabos for round balls. I used them in a 45 cal. Accuracy was fair but had problems getting the balls to stay in long enough to shoot as the lip of the sabo barely came to the tangent of the radius of the ball. I will stay with patches.

[coupe]

Long rifle that was the buttler creek poly patch and that was the main problem with them.

[Mike_StL]

I remember those plastic sabots for round balls that were offered for sale many years ago.  There was an issue with barrel diameter tolerance and the ball with a sabot could move off the charge in a barrel with a bore diameter on the large side of the tolerance limit and create a bore obstruction. 

[smylee grouch]

I shot regular american trap and sporting clays with a modern gun for 25 years and as alacran said I would get plastic build up in the bore. Problem was you could not see it very well as it was some what clear and a casual look didnt reveal the stuff. But it did affect the patterns and you knew you had it when you wern,t busting clays that should have been dust otherwise. That said, some people will have a plastic build up in there ML guns and don,t know it because they can,t see it.