Sabot question

[verzilli]

Shooting an inline, 240 gr. 45 cal lead bullet, harvester crush sabot.  Questoin is: do sabots shoot better at a bit higher pressure?  Long story, but it seemed heavier loads shoot better than a 70 gr load I started with (just wanted to sight it in as 50 yards).  Do the sabots perfomr better at 90-100 grains?  Are there different sabots for lighter loads?  Thanks.

[Semisane]

I've always suspected that to be the case, but it's hard to tell if it's the sabot or whether it's just that the bullet shoots better at higher velocity.

[verzilli]

Hmmm.  Well here's the whole story.  I only ever shot hawkens, round ball etc.  So this is my first fast-twist inline.  I was shooting 70-80 grs of Pyr with a sabot (as mentioned).  I was getting 4" at 50 yrds (with a scope).  I thought, "well, at 100 or 150 yrds that group is going to be 2 feet!"  Sort of bummed.

But then, I was at the 200 yard range a few days ago and a friend said, "load it up and shoot at 200".  No way, I thought.  Same sabot load, but with 120 grs...we both hit a 2 foot square at 200 yards.  Now I'm fascinated!  More testing to follow, I suppose.

[hunt-m-up]

I've always thought full-bore conicals shot better than sabots with lighter loads and wondered if it takes higher initial pressures to make the sabot seal properly? I have not experimented enough with loads lower than about 85 grains to really test it.