Sabots or Powerbelts?

[Picknlittle]

I've been pretty unhappy with my saboted 50 cal bullets. I can't seem to get any consistency. Today, I picked up a package of 245 gr powerbelts. A friend of mine shoots them in his Knight and get ragged holes at 10 yds. I on the other hand get 4" groups that suddenly go haywire.

Who is using what and to what success.

 

[floridaboy]

I've used power belts, and sabots, in my .50 in-line. roughly 4" groups at 100 yds with either is about what my rifle does.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

my t/c likes sabots much better than powerbelts. what kind of rifle are you shooting/rate of twist?

might want to try something like a maxi-ball instead of a powerbelt. also, how much powder are you using? If you are using 150 grains of FFG, check your fired sabots. Sometimes the charge is too much and damages the sabot causing poor accuracy. You can either switch to a different sabot, or put a sub base below the sabot (available online from places like cabelas for not very much money). these sub base or ballistic bridge or whatever they heck they call them prevent the sabot from being damaged and can drastically increase accuracy. Also, some inexpensive (cheap) muzzleloaders have barrels that are so tight they damage the sabot during loading....poor accuracy is usually the result.

 

[Aries-]

something i read on a site is that sometimes when you are pushing a sabbot down the barrel it jumps over the rifling and messes up the outside of the sabbot ruiing your accuracy. what they recomend is a ramrod with a turning head, so the sabbot follows the rifling and the ramrod tip turns with the bullet. keeping the sabbot in tact.

 

[Picknlittle]

I'm shooting a CVA in-line 50. I've used 777 and pyrodex pellets. I've tried 100, 120, 130 and 150 gr loads with similar results . The only real change is POI climbs as the load goes up. I thought it was the scope, but that doesn't seem to be the problem either.

I think I'm gonna buy a crossbow

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Try a smaller load. You should be able to take an elk with a .45-70 BP cartridge, right? They make the Pyrodex pellets in 30 grain increments as well as the 50 grainers, so you can combine them with a 50 grain to make a ".50-80". Give that a try.

LD

 

[Mark whiz]

I'll give a second to Dave's advice - drop your powder charge, and if possible, switch to loose powder.

I can cut dime size groups at 75yds with my Knight USAK with sabots and the right charge. For example here are my general loadouts:
300gr sabots get 80gr of 2fg 777 loose powder.
350gr sabots get 90gr of 3fg 777 loose powder.
400gr sabots get 100gr of 3fg 777 loose powder.

I've found that bullets lighter than 300gr are REAL easy to push too fast and accuracy goes downhill quickly.

If you try the Powerbelts, stay a little on the low side of the charge and never use 3fg powder - otherwise the plastic cups have difficulty falling off, destroying accuracy. Try the 348gr .50cal powerbelts with 85 or 90gr of 2fg 777 (or equivalent). Also, before loading the powerbelts, loosen and lube the plastic cup on the post so that you are assured it falls off properly.

 

[submarinerdad]

I've been using powerbelts in my Optima Pro Mag since I got it about 3 yrs ago and have great results. My brother tried them in his Knight and sprayed them all over the place. We talked to friend who happens to be a dealer and he informed us that Knight over-bores their barrels and that causes the erratic bullet flight and that powerbelt makes a bullet just for Knight and after trying these he wound up with some really good results. My next project will be using the platinum offering from powerbelt this year and see what happens.