Does anyone out there know if Nosler is still producing muzzleloader sabots? I have been shooting the .50 cal orange sabots with a 300 grain bullet but can't seem to find them anymore. This sabot seems to work really well for me so I'm hoping that I don't have to start working up a new load.Thx.
Nosler Sabots
- Thread starter Big Game
- Start date
If worst comes to worst, give the 300-grain SST a try. It'll likely fly a bit flatter but seems to be a shooter out of most muzzleloaders.
I used the Nosler 300 gr S.H.O.T.S. (orange sabot) for deer hunting for several seasons with excellent results, last year they switched to a black sabot which does not engage the rifling in my Traditions rifle. I was getting tumbling bullets and no groups that could be measured in feet rather than inches. Went back to Hornady XTP's for the season but want to try to work up a new load this year.
Sabots are sized to the calibre of bullet and the calibre of the gun and it sounds to me like you had the wrong sabots. The only other possible explaination is that you were blowing a hole through the base of the sabot and the gas was escaping. The proper sabot with the proper calibre bullet will engage in the rifling of any gun....I can't see that being the problem unless they were using .50 cal sabots designed for use with .45 cal bullets with .44 cal bullets but even then tumbling bullets would unlikely. Only time I've seen that happen is with full blown sabot failure. I got a bad batch a few years ago and nearly pulled my hair our until I noticed the big holes in the bottom of the sabots. Del's explaination was that no matter how careful you are in manufacturing, sometimes things can go wrong.
How much powder are you shooting?
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I checked the site you linked, but unless they specially make an orange sabot for Nosler, the numbers don't match up. The Nosler Shots are .429 diameter while the MMP orange sabot is for a .457 diameter bullet. Thanks for the info though. Can you import MMP sabots into Canada or do you have to jump thru hoops?
Exactly right - as are the black sabots. The only ones MMP lists for the .429 are the green.
I shoot 100 grs loose Pyrodex RS and this has been my pet deer load for several years. When loading the "new" sabots, I literally could push them down the bore with just one or two fingers pressing on the ramrod. Also recovered several sabots down range and on one of them you could barely see where the lands made contact. It was pretty obvious that I was basically shooting them as if I had a smoothbore. Went to the XTP's and no such problems after that. I also did some crude ballistic box testing of the two rounds and am a little concerned that the XTP's may be a little too tough a bullet for deer. In the wet newspaper they hardly deformed at all (one of which probably could have been reused) , where as the Nosler mushroomed nicely.
Anybody recommend a similar handgun bullet/sabot combination that I can buy in bulk and available locally ??? (Winnipeg)
XTP is definitely not too much for deer. It actually opens up pretty fast compared to other bullets. I've killed lots of game with the XTP over the years and despite its awkward appearance, it continues to perform amazingly well. I prefer the BC of the SST but don't have a bad word to say about the XTP.
