How
to Select the Right Sabot for the Job
Enough
phone calls and e-mails have come through asking, "What
is the Best Sabot?" to attempt to address it in a brief
article. So very often, the conversation about a saboted bullet
turns to "how does it load?" Of course, the question
is not really how the sabot loads at all-- it is how your gun's
barrel "loads." The sabots are far more forgiving than
steel, and there are no universal muzzleloading barrel bore dimensions,
so it is our job to select the right sabot for our individual gun's
bore. Not all bullets on the market mic out at the exact stated
diameter, either-- which just adds more confusion.
Lighter bullets normally
have less bearing surface at their sides, so automatically a 250
XTP will be a bit easier to load than its 300 grain XTP counterpart.
MMP Sabots has been around for some twenty years now, and most of
the sabots ever shot from a muzzleloader have been made by MMP--
which stands for "Muzzleload Magnum Products."
They have long been the best sabots on the market, and Del Ramsey
constantly strives to make them better with every new formulation.
There is no such thing
as a "Magnum" sabot, and no such thing as a "High
Pressure Sabot." These terms are tossed about by gun makers
and various other parties-- but not by MMP. They are best forgotten
about, as those terms are meaningless. There are older, outdated
formulations, of course, but none are "low-pressure sabots."
There is only one way to be absolutely certain you are getting the
best, current formulation sabots (with a few exceptions)
and that is to call MMP at (870) 741-5019. You can also visit their
website at http://www.mmpsabots.com
. Getting sabots from MMP is easier, and cheaper than you think.
They come in bags of 50 sabots per bag, there is no minimum order,
no handling charge, no tax outside of Arkansas, and MMP is happy
to pay your postage for you. Not only that, if you order 5 bags
you get 10% off. If you order 10 bags, you get 20% off. Still, no
tax, no handling fee, and MMP pays for the shipping.
There are two basic
lines of MMP sabots: the "High Performance Standard Sabot
Series" and the "HPH Series." The HP standard
sabots are $7.25 per bag, the HPH series sabots are $10.25 per bag.
The HPH sabots are designed for hotter charges, and have thicker
or reinforced bases. However, they may not be necessary at all--
as recoil has nothing directly to do with pressure inflicted on
a sabot. All MMP sabots are made from similar MMP proprietary materials,
MMP's latest and best formulation polymer blends with either the
standard or HPH series. The sole exception to this is the HPH 50
/ 40 Blue sabots that have a unique
formulation all their own.
It comes up sooner or
later, so I will mention it sooner: "Why do the HPH sabots
cost that extra five or six cents each?" The answer is
a combination of very expensive, custom, multi-cavity molds and
a longer cycle time when producing them. It just takes more time
to make an HPH than a standard sabot.
You want a sabot generally
long enough to cover the bearing surface of the bullet. For the
Hornady 250 grain and 300 grain .452 XTPs, the standard 50 / 452
Black sabot works famously, and that includes for use in the Savage
10ML-II. 42 grains of Vihtavouri N110 pushing a 250 gr. XTP in a
50 / 452 Black sabot is one of the most accurate loads there is
in the Savage 10ML-II. This sabot is one of MMP's oldest designs,
and still works great due to the many polymer formulation updates.
It is also called the "MMP" sabot, or the MMP short black
sabot. If the 300 gr. .452 XTP loads a bit tighter than you prefer,
you might want to try the 250 gr. .452 XTP. For example, if you
want a bullet that loads just a bit easier you can go with the Sierra
"Sportsmaster" .4515 dia. (45 cal) 300 gr. JSP. The slightly
smaller outside diameter makes a difference you can feel.
There are only three
bullet makers that I know of that are using 100% MMP current formulation
sabots at present: Barnes Bullets, Buffalo Bullets, and Mark Lynch's
Hunterman Bullets. The rest use a mishmash of sabots of unspecified
make, or may use outdated MMP sabots.
Barnes MZ-Expanders
come automatically with MMP 50 / 452 Black HPH12 long-petaled sabots
in 250 and 300 grain. Here again, while as supplied may load and
shoot beautifully for you, if they load unbearably tight-- all is
not lost. Just sub in the MMP 50 / 452 Black HPH-24 sabots. The
HPH-24 Black sabots give you a stated smaller assembled OD of about
.002 inches less than the HPH-12 sabots, and that is a whole heck
of a lot to a sabot. The example MMP gives is with a .452"
bullet: HPH-12 = .507 - .508" assembled OD, HPH-24 = .505 -
.506" assembled outside diameter. Though I'm not a fan of the
Hornady SST muzzleloading bullet (Thompson "Shockwave")
at all, if you are shooting the 250 SST or 300 SST, the HPH-12 is
generally the choice but if it loads too tight the HPH-24 can solve
your problems. What actually comes in the box with the bullets is
speculative-- it could be MMP or not, it could be old polymer or
not. Getting sabots from MMP is the only way I know to be sure of
current product, unless getting fresh product from Barnes,
Buffalo, or Hunterman.
There are no "HPH"
sabots for .45 caliber muzzleloaders that I am aware of. Based on
the sales numbers I'm aware of, the .45 caliber sabot-shooter is
all but dead, so there will likely not be much future sabot development
for these white elephants in the near future. As mentioned, though,
all MMP sabots are the same latest formula excepting the unique
50 / 40 Blue.
To round out the HPH
coverage, the 50 / 40 Blue has proved
to be the best sabot of its type ever developed (great shooter
for the 200 SST in several Knight Rifles), the 50 / 430 Green
HPH-12 has a thicker, stronger base than the standard high performance
50 / 430 Green,
and I am delighted that MMP currently offers the 50 / 458 Orange
HPH sabots. That has opened up a whole new world, specifically all
the 45-70 rifle bullets that you couldn't use before with current
polypropylene blended product. Specifically, I've had great luck
with the Barnes Original Semi-Spitzer 300 grain, and the Barnes
"X" bullet 350 grain in these superb sabots.
So,
I hope that covers the basics. If you send Connie at MMP some chocolate,
that helps brighten her day. And, if I got anything wrong here,
Mr. Ramsey will likely slap me, or make me take his mom out fishing.
In any case, I hope it makes it a bit easier to order the sabots
you need to let your gun shoot its best.
©
July, 2005 by Randy Wakeman
