MMP Sabots?

[Huntsman1]

I just bought 100 of these to try with some Hornady .300gr .452 XTP's.
I used the Nosler sabots before with good results but my local dealer does'nt stock much in the way of black powder accessories anymore, So I  found another dealer but he only lists the MMP sabots and the T/C Mag Express sabots.
The T/C sabots were $2.00 more assuming that I am paying for the T/C name, so I went with the MMP's.
Does anyone have any experience with these sabots?
Thanks in advance,

[Busta]

Huntsman1,

Welcome to Graybeards. I have been shooting MMP Sabot's for around 20 years, they were introduced in 1984 by Del Ramsey and probably the most widely used sabots by the bullet manufacturers still today. Will you be shooting these out of a Huntsman? MMP makes an excellent product.

Here is their site.
http://www.mmpsabots.com/

Recommended Bullet List by MMP.
http://www.mmpsabots.com/recommend.html

[sabotloader]

Huntsman1

What rifle are shooting?

You may have a slight problem....  MMP is currently or has currently produced sabots for Nosler and before that they were Harvesters....  MMP produces 3 different thickness of sabots so you need to know which your gun likes.  I would bet you will need to get HPH-24's which are comparable to the Harvesters and the TC mag express sabots, (MMP currently makes the sabots for TC also)

Now here is the problem, for awhile when MMP was supplying Nosler with sabots they were using the HPH-12 which is a thicker sabot - same sabot Hornady supplies.  If these were the Nosler's you were using the nyou need the thicker sabot HPH-12 sabot.

If you call MMP, you will most likely get Connie on the other end you can tell here what you are shooting and she can tell you which sabot will probably work best in your gun.  Then you can check with your vendor to see what he is going to supply you with....

Hope this is not to confusing....

mike

[Huntsman1]

The gun I'm shooting is a T/C Encore SS,
The wall thickness on both the Nosler & MMP are the same .025" approx.
The only differences I can see are obvious, height(MMP's are shorter) and bottom cup(Nosler is stepped & MMP is smooth).
The info on the bag for MMP say's : " MMP Hi Pressure Black sabots  .450"- .452"
 Nosler says : 50 caliber sabots for .451" , Product # 50096
According to the recommended bullets, "black" is the right choice.
Thanks again,

[sabotloader]

Huntsman1

The only differences I can see are obvious, height(MMP's are shorter) and bottom cup(Nosler is stepped & MMP is smooth).

You have the older original Harvester made for Nosler. OOP's i just re-read your statement....  Nosler with a stepped cup is a MMP, but it could be a HPH-12, the smooth bottom MMP's you have are the older MMP sabots and are probabably not the new polymer plastic if they are shorter.  I really do hope everything works for you but I think you might have a tough time stuffing them down the barrel of an Encore....

The MMP's you have may or may not work that well - does the package say on HPH-12 or 24?  I am thinking you probably have got HPH-12's and they might be tough to get down the barrel.

MMP actually makes another black sabot that was built specifically for encor/omega shooters.... it is the HPH-3p-EZ load - it was built to go down the Encore/Omega like the Super Glide yellow sabot that TC sales with their Shock Waves...

Hope everything works for you - if not check out the EZ load sabot....

[Huntsman1]

Thanks  "sabotloader", I may just have to send the MMP's back or find another buyer.
I may or may not bite my tongue on this one, but I went with the 300gr SST's, I tried the 250gr'rs and they shot well, but I also heard alot of horror stories with thier(both 250 & 300gr) performance. My older brother switched to Barnes TMZ and is giving me all his 300gr SST's (4 boxes). The ultimate test will be the end of May on my bear hunt.
Please offer your oppinion

[sabotloader]

Huntsman1

  but I went with the 300gr SST's, I tried the 250gr'rs and they shot well, but I also heard alot of horror stories with thier(both 250 & 300gr) performance. My older brother switched to Barnes TMZ and is giving me all his 300gr SST's (4 boxes). The ultimate test will be the end of May on my bear hunt.
Please offer your oppinion   

I too have heard and read about all the stories of the SST's & SW's and I do have my own personal opinion of these bullets.  I personally have very little experience with these projectiles - I want to tell you that right off the top.  I honestly believe the bad experience stories come from shooting thinned skinned animals (deer) at close ranges, and in reality more deer are shot at 50 yards than 100+ yards.  We are shooting the SST's with such velocity it really does not have time to do much except pass thru, unless you hit a major bone.  Now that same load will work great on a deer @ 175/200 yards because it has lost enough velocity that it has time to function.  I personally lean to the 300 SST's being a better functioning bullet @ close range than the 250.

While your older brother and my best friend really like the Barnes offerings I am stuck on Nosler's.  I do not think you can find a better bullet.  I shoot the 250 grain Nosler Partition for and the 300 Partition for elk and I will shoot them to a 175 yards without much thought and they work - as I am also positive the Barnes will....

But here is my problem with the SST, Barnes, and yes even the Noslers ($50.00 a box now).  I am basically a cheap person and I shoot a lot - I really enjoy shooting - so in fact I can not afford to to shoot those expensive bullets, I shoot alternatives.  My main alternative for years has been the offerings from Hornady.  I would use my Noslers for hunting and Hornady's for practice. But recently, well it has been a year now at least, I have made a switch.  One of the alternatives I found were Speer Gold Dots.  I have done a lot of research on these bullets.  They are a bonded bullet and they have been engineered to expand to a point and stop.  I shoot both the 250 and 300.  The 250 has an extremely deep and wide hollow point - actually remind me of some Barnes X bullets, and the 300 has a small dimple hollow point and a BC of .230.  Check these two strings out.... I think they say it all. (although these bullets are now up to about $15.00 a box)

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1791957

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1794250

There is one other dark horse I want to tell you about... It might really be an exceptional bullet for anything from varmints to deer class animals.  There have been several success stories with this bullet from "yotes" to wild pigs...  It is the Hornady 10mm 200 grain XTP in a MMP 40/50cal blue sabot.  I shoot this bullet from my inlines with a 110 grains of T7-2f, get remarkable accuracy and velocity (2150 fps) and at that speed it carries a lot of energy.  Again I can not afford the Shockwave variety so I shoot the XTP.  According to Hornady the perfomance velocity of the 10mm is not even close to the velocity that you are shooting it at from a ML, but the bullets stays together and expands great.

Just sharing some thoughts...

mike

[Huntsman1]

Thanks Mike
If it were'nt for the freebies from my brother(I also picked up 2 more bixes of SST's this wknd) I'd stick to plan "A" and shoot the 300gr XTP's. But since I live out in the Alberta prairies, 100+ yard shots are all too common, And the SST's will hopefully redeem themselves and offer the flatter tragectory I've read about.
Less than 100yd shots I'll leave to my sidelocks & sluggun.
I too like to shoot my m.l.'s alot, every Sunday actually. So economy plays an important part as well, but since I'll have enuf SST's to last for a quite few range practices, I'll take advantage of this opportunity and do some serious shooting.
So many deer, so little time,
Cheers

[sabotloader]

Huntsman1

Did not realize you were in Canada...  If you can not find the sabots you need there MMP can mail them to you in Canada but it is a little more of a process...

But since I live out in the Alberta prairies, 100+ yard shots are all too common, And the SST's will hopefully redeem themselves and offer the flatter tragectory I've read about.

Yup! can not argue that debate.... but, in that case I really think I would go to the 250 SST or even the 200 Shock Wave for deer class animals.  If you are going after the bigger then the 300 is the answer.

[Huntsman1]

I chose 300gr as deer (both whitetail & muley) won't be the only size animal. If my luck has it, I'll get both the moose & elk draw. Plus black bear the end of May.
Cheers,

[cherokee75]

Huntsman1-
I shoot the 300 grain T/C bonded superglide Shockwaves out of my Omega and the accuracy is excellent.  I shot my first deer, with this bullet, with this past IL muzzleloader season and had a complete pass through from approx. 80 yards away.  The exit wound was impressive.

[kudzu]

From  what I have learned about the SST's is that if you are shooting over 1900-2000 fps or shooting bigger game than southern (US) whitetail , go with the 300 SST. I started out with the 250sst in my savage and at speeds over 2450 fps thay just didn't hold up. Switched to the 300sst  and had farv greater results. The jackets on the 300's are thicker. Have taken WT from 40-180 yrds with this bullet and it has performed flawlessly. Ever the 180 yrd shot was a pass thru with great blood trail. (all 10yrds).
In my thunderhawk I still shoot the the 250's. This speed is fine for it and is very accurate.

I will be playing with the 250 Bonded SW soon to see if they will hold up to +2500fps speeds.

If the 300sst's shot good, I would try the 300 BSW for the bears.

I shoot the MMP 12's in my  thunderhawk and the HPH 24's in my savage. It's kinda a try and see thing.

Good luck DM