Break-O-Way & the 1 in 48

[arcticap]

Took my son to the range to proof test a hunting load out of a cold, clean barrel with his Traditions Deerhunter which is similar to the CVA Bobcat [.50 caliber, plastic stock, 1 in 48" twist, 26 inch nickel barrel, adjustable sights]. I loaded a TC Break-O-Way sabot with a 240 grain lead hollow point in front of 85 grains of Pyrodex P. It shot to the same point of impact at 50 yards as a PRB plinking/target load that uses 1/2 the amount of powder. :thumbsup:
After shooting it off the bench with a heavier load for the very first time ever he said that the recoil wasn't too bad.
In the past I've found that shooting a saboted bullet generally provides the best and most reliable 1st shot accuracy when shooting heavier hunting loads out of a cold, clean medium twist barrel. When hunting, there's no fouling shots or warming up the barrel (or unfrozen patch lube :grin: ). Not every sabot/bullet combo. will accomplish that, the bullet can't be too long or the weight too heavy to be stabilized. Previously I found that a Knight sabot/.45 TC Maxihunter (255 grain) combo. shot to about the same point too, also with 85-90 grains of Pyrodex P. But I wanted to see how the TC Break-O-Way sabots would shoot.
Plus the additional weight of the 240 grain bullet over the 177 grain ball should allow it to penetrate and expand better. If it was another rifle with another rate of twist, it might be better to use a round ball. But that's why we buy 'em & try 'em out! :winking:

 

[Russianblood]

Sounds like a good combo for your son. Me personally, I can't bring myself to put plastic in my muzzleloaders. Not even a plastic shot cup for waterfowl hunting.

Have you tried any LEE R.E.A.L bullets in it yet? I've heard they are great out of a 1:48 twist barrel and they make a mould that goes up to 320gr.

 

[roundball]

Personally I'm not sure you'll get as much expansion with that as you'd get from a .490 round ball...and remember, you're starting out with a smaller diameter projectile...bet you'll get more penetration but the terminal expansion will be a smaller diameter than an expanded .50cal ball.

You might be interested to run some side by side tests just shooting straight into gallon jugs of water lined up in rows for at least some sort of expansion comparisons

 

[arcticap]

It may not expand as much as a ball, but I'm most concerned about getting 1st shot accuracy with a heavier powder load. And this particular design and weight of sabot/bullet didn't require the rifle to be resighted in for just a limited number of days hunting (since he's in school).
I figure that most lead projectiles should expand by about 1/3, depending on the angle of entry, the amount of tissue penetrated and whether it hits bone or not, among other factors.
Here's a picture of the expansion of a 20 gauge shotgun sabot slug that was originally .40 caliber, then traveled diagonally through a deer and finally ended up being approximately .64 calber when it was recovered under the hide on the far side. It's a much heavier slug so maybe it did expand more, but the 240 grain bullet is also heavier than a ball and it's a hollow point. There's always going to be trade offs based on personal preference, and these TC sabots were inexpensive! :grin:

 

[playfarmers]

My wife has the same rifle and uses 70g of 2f, a .490 ball and 15th patch. She gets very good accuaracy, and got a big doe this year at close to 100 yards we found the ball under the hide on the off side. The ball took out a rib going in and went through both lungs, and broke another rib. This rifle has shot REAL bullets and Hornady Ball-ets with good accuracy. One thing we did find is that it shoots a lot more reliably using real black powder. She used to get the odd hang fire using Pyro.

 

[powder jack]

We have a local radio station that has a swap-shop call in program. Last week someone had a Deer Hunter for sale for $100. Temptation too great, couldn't resist. Barrel looks great, it has a wood stock w/ couple of scratches. We are in the process of moving and I haven't got to shoot it yet. Now my triger finger is really getting itchy. I'mm glad you posted this.

 

[rabjr]

Well good luck with those.

Years ago when I was working up a load using those sabots, tryed several differant bullets and could never get anywhere near as accurate as I liked. After pulling much of my hair out, I called a friend who happened to work at T/C and explained to him what I was using and he said first of all get rid of those damn break A Way sabots, they are POS.

He sent me some new bullets and sabots to try. I found a big differance soon as I switched sabots.

 

A friend of mine used to shoot those out of his 1 in 48 Renegade and they were tackdrivers.Hard to load without swabbing the bore every shot.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Break o way sabots need to be driven at sub 100g loads to work best and the 240g bullets should stabilize fine in 1:48 twist rifles. Boy I havn't shot them in years and never thought of trying them in a traditional rifle :hmm:

As far as ballistics goes I am sure it will give much more energy down range than a roundball I mean shape gives it the bc advantage and the weight gives it the energy advantage.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Hey, just for giggles I checked my Encore manual which happens to have load data for both projectiles. (don't know why anyone would shoot roundball in a 1:28 twist) I found this very interesting. The break o ways have terrible ballistics in this rifle and the roundballs actually have a couple hundred more pounds of muzzle energy than the bullets :hmm:

I think someone better tell Tobey :grin:

 

[wtilenw]

I'm suprised that sabots are being discussed here.
Idaho PRB

 

[arcticap]

Forum policy allows us to discuss the use of sabots in traditional muzzle loaders. :v
[url] http://www.muzzleloadingforum...tid/192383/post/253711/hl/sabots/#253711[/url]