45 Cal R.E.A.L. bullets saboted in 50 cal gun?

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altitude_19

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Simple enough question here:
Can you stick a cast 200 gr 45 cal Lee R.E.A.L. bullet in a sabot and fire it in a 50 cal muzzleloader? I have the mold lying around and would love to stop paying $1 a round for BP bullets (RIDICULOUS to begin with!). Thanks in advance, friends!
 
I've been using RNFP 45's that are for my sons Blackhawk, in sabots for my 50 for years. They are very accurate and weigh in at 255 gr. cast with pure lead from a Lee mold.
 
I have always wondered about if you could load them in a cap and ball revolver, someday I'll have to give it a try. I want to buy an inline someday, but I don't want to pay $1-$4 for some fancy bullet in a blister pack with a Lucite tip. Primers, powder and sabots are cheap enough for me, but I'm not buying any expensive bullets. I'd rather cast my own, and if I can use them in my revolver as well... cool. That's a bonus! :)
 
altitude_19 said:
45 Cal R.E.A.L. bullets saboted in 50 cal gun?

Simple enough question here:
Can you stick a cast 200 gr 45 cal Lee R.E.A.L. bullet in a sabot and fire it in a 50 cal muzzleloader? I have the mold lying around and would love to stop paying $1 a round for BP bullets (RIDICULOUS to begin with!). Thanks in advance, friends!

The answer depends on the diameter of the cast .45 REAL bullet. The Lee Precision website doesn't list the diameter for that bullet mold. However the MidwayUSA website lists its diameter as being .467 which is oversize for most every .50 sabot.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/14...0-real-45-caliber-467-diameter-200-grain-real

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/MOLD-D-C-45CAL-200.html


MMP makes a .50 sabot that will fit a .457-.458 bullet. If the Lee REAL actually casts at .457-.458 then it will work.
However, if it casts as large as the MidwayUSA website states then it won't fit into a sabot unless it's run through a sizing die first.

http://www.mmpsabots.com/
 
Lee REAL bullets have three bands of differing diameters. On my .45 REALs the bottom band is about .445, middle band .455, top band .468. It is made this way to be small enough to be easy to start in a muzzle loading barrel but have the top band seal the rifling. There is no reason why you cannot size the REALs to .458 and use them in a sabot but without sizing they will be difficult to load.
 
What else can you fire in a .50 sabot? I've heard of 45 LC getting shot. Anything else like 45 ACP bullets?
 
robhof

The 255gr bullets that I use are .454 when cast, I usually size all my 45 cast to .452 for use in the 45Lc and they work fine in 45 sabots in my .50 rifle. I tried a few jacketed hollow points in the sabots, they were 200gr and grouped larger than the 255's.
 
So, you think a REAL bullet sized down to .452 is even an option? They weigh in at 200 gr. The only other options I have lying around are 45 ACP bullets (230 gr).
 
you can fire almost any 45 cal bullet in a 50 cal sabbot. only thing you cant fire is a 45real bullet. as the real bullet is cast oversize so that it is actually sized when loaded. now knowing this you can play with any 45 bullet some will give you better accuracy than others you will have to play around and experiement on them. i found that round nose 45 work really good i did not have that much luck with wad cutters or hallow points but regular cast 45 round nose were awesome.
 
Interesting...maybe I'll take those old golden sabre rounds and see what they'll do out of it. MIGHT even try to size the REAL bullets down to .452...
 
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