Anyone tried 20 ga Win 3" mag 280 gr Partition Gold sabots? (SSP203)

[gimphunter]

I haven't been able to find these for sale. Midway has listed them as "coming soon" for more than a year, and has raised the price on them several times without ever having them in stock. Their retail price is up to $17.99 for five shells, $16.49 dealer price. Has anyone here actually found them? If so, how did they perform on target or game?

Thanks,
D

[squidkid]

last year i tried them. i also tried the remington corelokts and federal barnes xpander.

just for fun(not real scientific) i shoot a few of each round into a 100# bag of shelled corn at about 20 yards. after digging thru the corn, i found that the barnes expanded and opened just like their picturs show. the corelokts mushroomed/petaled back very evenly. the partions for whatever reason had all the 'petal sections' sheared off the main base(core) and 2 of the rounds and had only 1 'petal section' still attached on the 3rd round. hard saying if this is a fair test, but i chose to use the barnes in my 20 and the remingtons in my 12...............don't know if this helps you or not.

[MI.sabot]

Squidkid:

I just picked up a couple boxes of the 20 ga. Barnes Exp. (3" - 1,900 fps.)
I'm considering giving them a try for next year if they pattern well.
Are you using those or the 2-3/4  1,600 fps ones?

How did they pattern for you?
Did you get an opportunity to test them in the field this year?
 

[squidkid]

mine were also the 1900fps and they patterned really well.
i did take a deer this year but it was with my 12 using the corelokts. sorry i couldn't help with the barnes w/20

[gimphunter]

Squidkid,

Sounds like you had the 2 3/4" Winchesters. The 3" loads are advertised at 2000 ft/sec. Those are the ones that seem to not exist. Your test results are interesting, though. I would have expected better results from the Partition Gold bullets.

I did try the 3" Federal Barnes Expanders. I didn't get great accuracy on paper, but the performance on game was excellent. I had two deer DRT within five minutes; one at 105 yards, the other at 10 yards. Both just fell over and stiff-kicked a couple of times with shots behind the shoulder. This from a 20 ga Tracker II barrel drilled and tapped for a scope.

D

[carbineman]

gimphunter, The 3" Partition Gold that I found where purchased at a Scheels Sporting Goods here in Wisconsin on special order. The Winchester website indicates they are 280 grain bullets but are in reality 260 grain as indicated on the box. I am thinking it was a typo on the Winchester website.

I have in the past used the 2 3/4" Partition Gold as well as the Remington Ultra Cor-Lokts in my/our 20 ga. Trackers that are scoped. Both have performed the same on deer with an edge going to the Remingtons for overall killing performance. I would think that with any other bullet shot placement is the key. In shooting the 3" (which I just received) I have noticed no increase in recoil and about the same accuracy. The price for 10 was $35.oo. The point of impact on the target was about the same. I plan on using the 3" Partiton Golds in 2007 here in Cheeseville.

[gimphunter]

Thanks, Carbineman. Strange that they'd leave bad bullet weight info out there for so long.

I received a notice from Midway that these are now in stock, but I decided not to buy any for now. I only have one slug-only hunt a year, so it will be a while before I need any more slugs. I also found out that Winchester is coming out with a new line of sabot slugs, and I thought I'd wait to find out the details on those. Remington may also come out with a 3" magnum -- just guessing.

The only slugs I've tried are the Hastings 15/16 oz lead sabots and the Federal Barnes Expanders. The Hastings slugs were fairly accurate on paper, but I went with the Federals for field use. Both deer I shot with them were DRT.

[carbineman]

To me it appears that these enhanced performance saboted slugs are all about the same with an edge going to the ones that perform best out of your particular firearm. When I first got started with them I was using the Federal Hydra-Shok in 5/8 ounce and they were around 1400 fps. Very accurate in anything I shot them in, but many deer I shot ran quite aways with no blood trail to speak off. I was disappointed in their terminal performance to say the least, and quit using them. I then started using the 2 3/4" Partition Golds and my son the 2 3/4" Cor-Lokt Ultras. The Cor-Lokt stopped deer in their tracks or with just a little dash from the point of impact. (though they received a bad review on the Midwayusa site) We were pretty much set on the Cor-Lokts, and had used up the remaining Partition Golds (I shot two deer this past season with the 3 remaining Partition Golds we had ) when I noticed the 2000fps 3" Partiton Golds and as indicated above purchased 10. I shot two at my range and will use the remainder in the 2007 season here in Wisconsin.

I think that they all have their merits and I'll continue to spend the big bucks to purchase them. I'm just glad I can switch barrels and shoot my 30-30 handloads for some trigger time instead of using those at $3.50 per pop for range practise.