[Badger Arms]

I've touched on this in previous threads. What is the maximum velocity one can expect to get from a sturdy, modern shotgun? Could a sabot slug or other advanced projectile attain 3000fps? Higher?

[Dave McCracken]

Uhm, no....

SAAMI limits shotgun shells to about 13K PSI from the factory, and most reloads run no more than 10K PSI. Some of the sabots are clsing on on 2000 FPS,according to the makers, but I regard that as part publicity and part pushing the envelope to the max. I've done no testing of these so accuracy is a mystery.

I think, if accuracy doesn't suffer, a sabot of maybe .375" with a bullet weight of 275 gr could be tweaked to say 2300 FPS, but kick will be quite emphatic.

[Preacherman]

Dave, back in South Africa there were a few guys who loaded to significantly higher pressures than that, but they used the all-brass shells. I seem to recall that they had some of these that were rather thick-walled, and these cases could handle pressures in the >20K range. However, I never had enough stupidity to want to fire one in my shotguns... :uhoh:

The idea with these loads was to produce a shotgun slug load that would be more effective on tougher African game. I daresay they succeeded in terms of velocity, but I always figured if I wanted that kind of performance, why would I carry a shotgun?

[Dave McCracken]

Isn't that why we have the 416 Rigby and 375 H&H?

Heck, after the indroduction of smokeless powder, even Baker laid off the 8 bores.

[Mike Irwin]

"Heck, after the indroduction of smokeless powder, even Baker laid off the 8 bores."

He sort of had to, Dave.

He was dead. :)

Sir Samuel White Baker died in 1893, aged 72.

As far as I can tell, his last several years were spent totally in England at his estate.

With smokeless powder being invented around 1882 in France, and first used successfully in a rifle cartridge in 1886, something tells me that Sir Samuel's only comprehensive experience with smokeless powder would have been with shotshell powders such as Schultz's Nos. 1 and 2, a nitrated wood pulp that was introduced in the 1870s, but which was completely unsuitable for metallic cartridge use.

[HSMITH]

The 3.5" 12 ga is designed for pressures up into the 19Kpsi range. It could be pushed WAY harder than a 3" gun, but recoil is the limiting factor for R&D in this area IMO. There is no commercial market for it so the ammunition and powder companies have not pursued it.

Current top end 3" sabot slugs approximate 458 win mag performance.........

[Dave McCracken]

I stand corrected, I thought Baker was still around for the Jubilee.