Is it recommended to lube 50 cal Sabots before loading?

Camp Cook

Camp Cook

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I'm totally new to the world of muzzle loading, I just bought a used 50 cal Gonic ML barrel for my Contender carbine. We have been to the range once now and I find that after the first/second shot it got a lot harder to push the Sabots into the barrel so I have a couple of questions on loading 50 cal Sabots...

Is it recommended to lube Sabots before loading them or just ram them in if you lube them what lube would you recommend?

I am using Triple 7 powder...

CC
 
I've used Magnum Muzzleloader sabots in my .50 cal. Thompson/Center New Englander. Using Pyrodex I have found that it is necessary to swab the bore after about 5 shots. I switched to Goex Clear Shot and have found that I can shoot all day without cleaning. I believe that Clear Shot has been discontinued and has been replaced by American Pioneer Powder.
No where in the literature for sabots have I found a reference to lubing the sabot. Thinking about it I can't see as it would do any good. There's no place to put the lube on the sabot and the sabot is such a tight fit that any lube would just be forced up onto the muzzle as you pushed it down the bore.
I think you're just going to have to swab the bore regularly or switch powders.
 
Back when Gonic was in business they made their .50 cals. slightly smaller then standard, and may be the case here ,not sure, but if they did, you shouldn't have bought that barrel 'till you checked here. You will be fighting that smaller barrel thing forever...IMHO
 
You'll need to brush or swab the bore as the fouling is tightening up. Not unusual and I find I need to swab my MDM after a couple shots. I wouldn't lube the sabot though....
 
ben hunchak said:
Back when Gonic was in business they made their .50 cals. slightly smaller then standard, and may be the case here ,not sure, but if they did, you shouldn't have bought that barrel 'till you checked here. You will be fighting that smaller barrel thing forever...IMHO
Click to expand...

I've already sourced before I bought the barrel then purchased 500 Gonic .429" X 50 sabots from Precision Rifle while the barrel was intransit, PR tells me they can supply as many Gonic sabots as I want so this isn't an issue I also have over 800 .429 bullets on the shelf 500 of them are Bullet Barn 300gr FN BB so I am set.

Forty original Gonic 430gr conical slugs came with the barrel and I have a source for another 170 of these same bullets I just need to get my act together try some of these out and if they work buy the rest for $80.00 + shipping.

Another option is to get a sizer die that will size any 50 cal slug to .500"...

I'm thinking I am covered and having a ML barrel that fits my Contenders is major bonus...

:)
 
OK no lube just clean the bore...

I had been swabbing the bore with a moistened patch after every shot but it was when I tried shooting/loading like I was in a hunting situation (3 shots) that it became harder & harder to push the sabot in...

Thus my question...
 
You might also be able to use some soft cast bullets from a mold meant for the .500 S&W, I've had quite a few folks contact me about Gonics and their smaller dimensions......Ben
 
I've also had a few people tell me that they are using standard size .452 X 50 sabots in their Gonic barrels I've been thinking of picking up a few just to try with my .452 bullets I have from 200gr/250gr FTX - 405gr Beartooth WFNGC's on the shelf that I would like to try out.
 
Even with a clean bore Gonic 44/50 cal sabots are really tight to push down the bore. I got a removeable wooden ramrod cap to put on the rod to push the sabots down, it looks like a wooden ball with about 1/3 cut off and a hole drilled in it. A friend of mine sticks the ramrod along his forearm and pushes with the tip of the rod inside his elbow.
 
I bought a T handle and screw it onto the ram rod when I'm loading at the bench I'm thinking a round one may work better.

Thanks for all the thoughts...

:)
 
Camp Cook said:
OK no lube just clean the bore...

I had been swabbing the bore with a moistened patch after every shot but it was when I tried shooting/loading like I was in a hunting situation (3 shots) that it became harder & harder to push the sabot in...

Thus my question...
Click to expand...

did you read about this technique on the PR site?

I too lick a patch and run it down, then flip it and run it again.

Never needed that fast a followup shot, so have grown confident that all my shots will be consistant.

I wonder how a fouled bore, after say 3-4 shots where you can hardly get a sabot down, would affect POA or accuracy....
 
No found it on You-Tube...

I'll probably never need a fast follow up shot as well but that doesn't mean I don't want to know how to do it if I ever did need to.

I'll have to shoot a lot more to see how point of impact does change and is something I definitely want to see what happens as well.

CC
 
Harvester "Crushed Rib" sabots will put the fun back in muzzleloading - especially a tight bore. You are best to order them direct from the manufacturer. You can get em in 44/50 or 45/50. I get 500 ata time and I love em.
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