Can I shoot these in my huntsman?

[rc51kid]

I looked at the sabots MMP sells and it says to use 44mag pistol bullets that measure .429-.430 in their green sabots.  So tonight my friend gave me this box of 44 mag bullets.  They look to be .430 in my micrometer.  Could I use these in the green sabots for at least target practice?  I would think that they might not open up at all like a FMJ which would be bad for hunting. Could i use them to hunt with? 

[Hammerspur]

Check out Veral Smith's column in the Ammo/Handloading forum. There are lots of discussions re: cast bullets, and specifically hard cast used as hunting projectiles. His book "Jacketed Performance With Cast Bullets" contains much useful info and is available at this link:  http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/lbt/book.htm

If you'd like to test the suitability of these bullets for hunting, make up a bullet box with water-soaked newsprint and old hide and bones (or reasonably similar alternates) to simulate living tissue then let 'em rip!

A row of water filled 1 gallon milk jugs can give some reactive feedback in terms of bullet effectiveness also.

Check the target for effect and inspect recovered slugs to see how they fared. This kind of target practice can be informative and is more fun than punching paper.

As far as MMP's sabots go, I'd try another brand specifically rated for high power loads. (I don't know of any company offering high pressure sabots for 44 bullets, however.) My experience with the 'conventional' MMP sabots in the smaller calibers .357/.358 & .429/.430 for .45 cal bore, (NOT .50 cal. mind you, an even bigger gap to bridge!) repeated sabot failure demonstrated that they are strictly plinking numbers for use with low powder loads only.

Perhaps coupled with Precision Rifle's Magnum Sub-Base they might survive hunting load level energies: http://www.prbullet.com/sub.htm

[Odinbreaker]

I shoot a 240 gr cast and 310 g r430  cast with 80 to 100 gr of powder with good accuracy I use the green 429/ 430 sabot.  I have not had any problems.  I cast with soft lead and wheel weights.