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Sabot performance & experiences #7035109 01/12/18 02:50 AM
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bassman110 Offline OP
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I am shooting a Barnes spit fire T-EZ 50 cal sabots using two 50gr Hodgdon pyrodex pellets. I have taken 3 doe this season at distances ranging 40-60 yards. Most of the shots were with the deer slightly quartering towards me. Shot placement on all there were high forward shoulder to low neck. Only 1 of the shots exited but all were lethal shots. There was no blood trail for the two shots that did not exit but the deer only ran 30-40 yards before hitting the ground. The third did exit and the doe did not take more than a couple of steps before hitting the ground. I found one of the sabots that did not exit just under the skin several ribs back behind the opposite shoulder. It had mushroomed just as one would have expected and it looks just like their advertisements. I am curious what others experience has been. My concern is with no exit if the deer were able to run further finding it might be difficult. With muzzleloaders, the smoke can make seeing the direction the deer runs and/or your target deer difficult for the first few seconds after the shot. This is especially true when there are more than one deer in the group.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7035162 01/12/18 03:27 AM
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Jim Adams Offline
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Not sure what rifle you are shooting, but switching to BH 209 powder will solve your smoke issue. You just need to be sure it's breech plug will handle loose powder, as BH209 does come in pellets. In all due respect the sabot is the plastic part that the bullet is loaded with, but separates from the bullet as it exits the barrel and may travel 10 yds or so. Personally I use a heavier bullet and more powder. This year I had complete pass through on the 2 deer I've killed.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7035222 01/12/18 04:10 AM
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bassman110 Offline OP
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Shoot a CVA Accura MR. It requires a different breech plug to shoot BH209. I have tried larger bullets (not sabots) and larger powder loads but I didn't think the performance was as good as what I am shooting. Trajectory wasn't as flat with 300gr bullet/150gr powder again using pyrodex pellets. Not to mention it kicks like a mule. crazy I have tried white hot's but didn't think they were as consistent and smoke was about the same IMO. I may have to give BH209 a try next year.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7037365 01/14/18 01:47 AM
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bear64 Offline
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check out "harvester muzzleloading", ive used the 300gr scorpion pt gold with the crushed rib sabot with 120gr of sheutzen black powder. the results are dramatic, when you skin the deer it looks like they were in a plane crash. between my son, my brother, my nephew and me we have probably somewhere around 80 kills with this load and fingers crossed we havent lost a deer yet and all tissue damage has been overwhelming. some of these shots have been on some very large bodied bucks and this load knocked their butts off

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7037568 01/14/18 04:03 AM
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javman Offline
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I have yet to get a pass on any of the deer I’ve taken with a muzzle loader. 150 grains of pyrodex and 295gr Power Belts have always been found on the off side, nicely mushroomed but no exit. All shots were 60-70 yards. As you mentioned no blood trail and such. Shots were broadside just behind the shoulder and one was a frontal shot right in the chest.


MAGA!
Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7037826 01/14/18 03:43 PM
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I lived in an area for awhile that was muzzy or shotgun only. So for 7 years that's what I shot.

The cva is a great choice and I strongly recommend getting the BH209 Plug. Easy cleaning and MUCH better accuracy than from pellets.

I wouldn't step up powder charge either, the magnum doses or three 50gr pellets are good for rattling teeth and not much else. You'll get increased velocity but accuracy always seems to suffer.

I killed 5 deer with Hornady SST and do not recommend them. Most often the issue was a pass through with little expansion or blood trail. Through the lungs the deer typically ran 40-100yds but the ones I couldn't see go down made for a longer recovery.

I made the switch to HARVESTER. I went with the Scorpion PT gold 260gr and the black crush rib sabots. Fantastic accuracy with BH209-- 1.5" at 150 from a CVA MR. The lighter weight bullet gives a small boost in velocity and at muzzy ranges you don't lose anything for terminal performance.

Performance on game has also been outstanding. Wound channel is devastating- great blood trail, only nonpass through was a frontal shot on a large 8pt at 17 yards and he piled up 20 yards away.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7039111 01/15/18 06:59 PM
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Long time ML hunter here (25+ years). Have used pretty much every bullet on the market at this point, everything from round balls to the latest, greatest projectiles. My biggest complaint with the majority of them was lack of penetration. If the deer piled up immediately, no big deal. If they run, often would not leave a blood trail. Should be noted that I shoot deer through the lungs with a ML. I finally found a bullet I believe will work great. Used the Hornady MonoFlex ML this past two seasons and was very happy with the performance. Here is a doe I shot at about 80 yards:



Great penetration and internal damage was significant. Deer only went about 40 yards.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7053290 01/26/18 03:22 AM
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bassman110 Offline OP
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Well picked up some Blackhorn 209 along with some CCI 209 magnum shotshell primers. Ordered some charge tubes, powder measure, and powder spout. Will be headed to the range for some experimentation after they arrive. I probably will stick with the same Barnes 250 grain bullet. Here are a couple pictures of the last one I found just under the skin opposite the entry. I don't think I could ask for better expansion.


Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7055191 01/27/18 08:54 PM
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Same results with the barnes I shoot in my T/C IMPACT. FIOCCI 209'S,-90 GRAINS OF BLACKHORN 209. Awesome rig,for the money! GOOD lUCK!

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7061152 02/01/18 03:46 AM
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For the last 10 years I've done all of my hunting in Texas with 50 cal Knight Disc Extremes.Started with the original yellow disc, and now use bare primer breech plugs and Blackhorn 209 powder. I tried several bullets from Harvester, Barnes, Parker, Hornady, TC and Traditions and from that group used Hornady 300 gr SSTs with EZ load sabots for 3 years because they were very accurate. We shoot a lot of deer on our low fence lease in Sonora to meet MLD harvest goals so it didn't take me long to realize that I was getting inconsistent bullet performance, very similar to Duckhunter 175's experience. Based on input on other MZ websites I had already switched to BH 209 powder and Harvester's Black Crush Rib Sabots so it wasn't hard to take their advice to try the 300 gr PTGold bullets by Harvester.Turned out to be a good decision. My current load is 105 to 110 gr(by vol) of BH209, Federal 209A primers, Harvester's Black Crush Rib Sabots & 300 gr PT Gold bullets. I weight all my powder loads. Best 3 shot group to date has been .297 inches at 100 yds. Performannce on game has been outstanding on Axis, Fallow, deer , hogs as well as a couple of Aoudad. Give them a try.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7122016 03/25/18 02:41 AM
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Well finally go to the range yesterday to try out the BH209 powder. The wind was pretty gusty but temp was perfect at about 65-67 degrees. I took 12 tubes of 100 grains by volume measured with a TC powder measure with me to the range and a card of Barnes 250gr bullets. I must say I was really impressed at how clean the bore remained after firing several rounds down range. It was very easy to load with hardly any resistance. I also noticed the lack of smoke after firing making it much easier to see quickly after the shot. I did not experiment with different loads but the grouping in the wind wasn't much if any better than what normally get with the pyrodex pellets. I was using CCI shot shell magnum primers and every pull of the trigger went boom. I had read more then one blog complaining about no bang but that was not a problem for me. I did order the BH209 breech plug for my Accura. Cleaned everything up this morning with very effort. I have a lot of pyrodex pellets picked up when Gander Mountain went out of business but I will be giving this new powder a try this year when season opens back up.

Re: Sabot performance & experiences [Re: bassman110] #7127699 03/30/18 11:00 AM
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Very interesting for a non-knowing ML guy grin

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