What sabot should I use?

[HntnFsh]

 I have 2 boxes of Knight Bloodlines. .50 cal 300 grain .458
They load way to hard in my Bighorn. Was wondering what sabot I should get so they will load a little easier.
Thanks,
HntnFsh

[Sabotloader]

I have 2 boxes of Knight Bloodlines. .50 cal 300 grain .458
They load way to hard in my Bighorn. Was wondering what sabot I should get so they will load a little easier.
Thanks,
HntnFsh

You might have a real problem... since the bullets are .458 you do not have a lot of sabot options.  MMP makes the one that you are using.

Question? when you load a .452 bullet which sabot do you use? and how do they load?  With the 458's does the first shot load OK - then after that get hard to load?  Which powder are you using?

You might have to polish your bore with JB's - that might cure the whole problem... Do you use bore butter by any chance?  That can tend to clog up a bore over time...

[HntnFsh]

Ive been shooting Buffalo bullet company .325 grain spitzer hollow point boat tail bullets they are .451 diameter. Dont know what sabot they use. But they load what I would call nice. Fairly,snug.  I cant get them anymore so I wanted to try the Bloodlines. Should have paid a little more attention to the diameter. So I could try different sabots.

I tried Knight lead bullets with their sabots a few years ago. Cant remember the specifics on them. Think they were 300 grain. They were their original product that came in the clear plastic pack with the usual red and black packaging.

 I actually talked to the guys at Knight. But they werent able to help much. This was about 5 years ago though.

Anyhow. Those bullets and the Bloodlines load so hard that I'm afraid I will break my ram rod if I'm not careful. Doesnt matter if its a clean barrel,bore butter,first shot,second shot,etc. They just load way to hard.

I may have to see if I can bring back the unopened box and see what else I can find. After seeing your reviews and talking to others that have used the Bloodlines I really want to get a load worked up and give them a try on elk.

I'm always impressed with your knowledge on this stuff and the amount of time and effort you spend trying to help us out. Thank you.

[Exechobo]

I use the same bullet in my Mountaineer, and yes, they are dang hard to load. Any alternative sabots would interest me too. I like the bullet. The Bloodline 250 grains loaded easy.

[Z_rock01]

I have not personaly loaded blood lines but i use Barnes MZ and if i use the high pressure sabets i cant hardly get them down the barrol. So i asked Barnes and they told me to get a low pressure sabets, and they work better. You might want to look for a smaller sabet?? or different sabet bullet combo?

[Sabotloader]

HntnFsh

I really have not got a good answer or an alternative sabot for you to try.  I have my 50 Mountaineer in the process of cleaning so I did try some alternative sabots with a 458-300 Bloodline and they were harder to load than the a regular red or orange MMP.

As I think I have said there really is not a lot of options with the 458 bullet in that there just are not optional sabots out there.  Just for drill I tried loading one in a HPH-3p-EZ load sabot and even a Harvester Crush Rib - as I expected they were tighter than a regular 458 sabot.

There are only two options that I could offer one is a session with JB bore paste to smooth and clean the bore.  I do this with all my rifles, especially new ones.  The treatment is fairly easy...

This is a video of the treatment...

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=13084/guntechdetail/Using_JB_Bore_Paste_and_Kroil_with_the_VFG_Bore_Pellets

The video is really more extensive than you really need to do but it give you the idea.  Myself, I use a regular loading/cleaning jag and a tight fitting patch.  Just regular non-Teflon bore oil instead of the Kroll and work the barrel from top to bottom.

This is a short paragraph that I wrote of another person with the same problems...

Yes, you might have to double your patch to get a tight fit. But I ran an oiled patch with JB's smeared on the sides...ran that side 25 strokes top to bottom (important) then flip the patch over and run another 25 strokes. Did this 4 times then clean up the bore and see what you might have accomplished... On my Triumph I think I ran this operation twice.
 
Hope this helps
 
mike

There is one other alternative... well actually two...  The first one I might suggest is that Lehigh offers an alternative .458-300 grain bullet built for 45-70 rifles.  This bullet is built to tight specs and is slightly less in diameter but longer in length.  In my case it is very easy to load so easy in fact that I use regular .452 sabot to load it.

This is the bullet...



Because this bullet is over an inch long it needs every bit of the 1/28 twist it can get so it needs to fit snug.  If the regular bloodline is TIGHT then this one should be snug in the 458 sabot in your barrel.

mike

Sent you both a PM

[mossyhead]

Hornady 300 grain SST load excellent. You can stuff them down the pipe with just the ram rod. They shoot excellent (out to 200) and work very well on elk. You can save a few bucks and buy the Traditions SST made by Hornady- same exact bullet except they have a yellow tip not red. Our entire group uses them and having great results.

[GHETTO GUIDE]

I just switched to the Bloodlines in 300Gr.  They are more accurate than the Hornady's I was shooting and I am hoping they have a better expansion at close ranges.   

My buddy had a problem loading his first one and after that he was good. 

Ill buy them from you if the store wont take em back. 

[TriggerMike]

I have 2 boxes of Knight Bloodlines. .50 cal 300 grain .458
They load way to hard in my Bighorn. Was wondering what sabot I should get so they will load a little easier.
Thanks,
HntnFsh

You might have a real problem... since the bullets are .458 you do not have a lot of sabot options.  MMP makes the one that you are using.

Question? when you load a .452 bullet which sabot do you use? and how do they load?  With the 458's does the first shot load OK - then after that get hard to load?  Which powder are you using?

You might have to polish your bore with JB's - that might cure the whole problem... Do you use bore butter by any chance?  That can tend to clog up a bore over time...

Sabotloader, when you say top to bottom are you meaning that you run the JB bore paste from the muzzle to the bore, then taking the jag off and reattaching it to the ramrod then again running it from the muzzle to the bore and repeating this 25 times? Or do you just run it back and forth 25 times then flip the patch over? Also, I see you asked some specific questions about the sabots being tight. What does it mean when the bullet and sabot load easier with a clean barrel then progressively get tighter and tougher to load as your shooting session goes on? What do you recommend with that scenario? I'm shooting 50 cal 300 gr bloodlines in my CVA optima and the first 4 inches or so of the barrel are extremely, and I mean extremely, tight. Then after that they go down the rest of the way very easily. The powder I'm using is triple 7 loose.

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