Sabots in deerhunter?

[hanshi]

Tenngun is spot-on about 1-48" twist; it was indeed a rather common twist rate back in the day. I had a DeerHunter for 20 years that grew fat on a diet of prb. The rifling in them isn't a "compromise" twist. The grooves in mine were deep enough for prb to be fast and accurate. I've killed more deer than I can actually ballpark and every one dropped from only one .50 patched ball each. I load rather tight loads and snug loads are going to give you accuracy. With prb the rifling has to be deep enough to give the patch room to compress into the grooves.

 

[wishihadgunrights]

Tenngun is spot-on about 1-48" twist; it was indeed a rather common twist rate back in the day. I had a DeerHunter for 20 years that grew fat on a diet of prb. The rifling in them isn't a "compromise" twist. The grooves in mine were deep enough for prb to be fast and accurate. I've killed more deer than I can actually ballpark and every one dropped from only one .50 patched ball each. I load rather tight loads and snug loads are going to give you accuracy. With prb the rifling has to be deep enough to give the patch room to compress into the grooves.

Ok thanks for the info. What would you recommend in terms of amount of powder so they latches don't tear? I'm buying a ball starter anyway so doesn't matter if they're pretty tight. I will be hunting rabbits with just 20 grains of powder until the season is over. Buy for coyotes il go all in because I don't need the meat. Probably 50-60 grains. So what would be a good patch size?

 

[deermanok]

I've owned several Deerhunter rifles over the years. I can tell you that the barrels are pretty tight and you most likely won't have good luck with any sabot bullets, too hard to load even on a clean barrel.
PRB's or the Hornady PA conicals bullets are probably your best bet.
Somewhere in the 60 to 80 grains by volume range for powder should be the sweet spot for the Deerhunter.

 

[wishihadgunrights]

I've owned several Deerhunter rifles over the years. I can tell you that the barrels are pretty tight and you most likely won't have good luck with any sabot bullets, too hard to load even on a clean barrel.
PRB's or the Hornady PA conicals bullets are probably your best bet.
Somewhere in the 60 to 80 grains by volume range for powder should be the sweet spot for the Deerhunter.

Ok awesome. If love to get the conicals there just hard to find where I live. PRBs aren't so il start with that. What patches do you use?

 

[Bullit]

Well, this is a traditional forum and I'm probably shouldn't say it but, I tried the non-traditional plastic sabot in my GPR with a Hornady 180 gr. XTP and 50 gr. Pyrodex. My GPR is an older one with a 1:66 twist and guess what. It shot GREAT at 100 yds. So, not everything is black and white. You have to experiment around. Now I know that if push comes to shove, my unmentionables that I just mentioned will work too. Keeping safety in mind, don't be afraid to step out of the box. Hope this helps you.

 

[deermanok]

Ok awesome. If love to get the conicals there just hard to find where I live. PRBs aren't so il start with that. What patches do you use?

015, 018, and 020.
If I recall, a .490 ball, 018 cotton patch was a good combination. You should try some different thickness patches anyway. Every gun is a bit different.