Need sabot advice for the Endeavor

[SWThomas]

In the never ending quest for better accuracy I've decided to try some different sabots in my Encore Endeavor. I've tried Shockwaves, Barnes SFMZ's, and Barnes T-EZ's so far. All with the supplied sabots. The Shockwaves shot great but I'm not comfortable shooting them based on results a lot of other people have had on game. The Barnes SFMZ's were extremely hard to load. The T-EZ's shoot good and perform great on game. I've pretty much settled on the T-EZ as the bullet I want to use. Now I want to see if I can find a sabot that will increase their accuracy a little more.

Has anyone tried different sabots with T-EZ bullets out of an Encore Endeavor? I know there probably aren't going to be a lot of people that have so my question is this... What would be a good sabot to try? The T-EZ is .451 in diameter and I'm going to use the 250g version. I'll be firing it on top of 120g of BH209.

I'm hoping there's an easy answer to this question but I'm fully prepared to be told that I need to buy a bunch of different sabots and find out what works through testing.

P.S. I've tried Harvester Black Crush Rib sabots and they are way loose and don't shoot any better than the supplied T-EZ sabot.

 

[big6x6]

Here's my scoop on sabots...

To get the BEST sabot for a .450/.451/.452 diameter bullets I like to have at least TWO different sabots and THREE different sabots is BETTER. For the TWO sabot person I feel like one needs a Harvester short black and a MMP short black. For the THREE sabot person, add a MMP HPH-12 to that. Now saying THAT...for the T/C shooter(tighter bores) I would probably go Harvester crush-rib, Harvester short black, and MMP HPH-12. For the KNIGHT shooter... I would go MMP HPH-12, MMP short blck, and Knight High Pressure.

So in your case I would probably buy a pack of Harvester short black and MMP HPH-12s...

 

[SWThomas]

Here's my scoop on sabots...

To get the BEST sabot for a .450/.451/.452 diameter bullets I like to have at least TWO different sabots and THREE different sabots is BETTER. For the TWO sabot person I feel like one needs a Harvester short black and a MMP short black. For the THREE sabot person, add a MMP HPH-12 to that. Now saying THAT...for the T/C shooter(tighter bores) I would probably go Harvester crush-rib, Harvester short black, and MMP HPH-12. For the KNIGHT shooter... I would go MMP HPH-12, MMP short blck, and Knight High Pressure.

So in your case I would probably buy a pack of Harvester short black and MMP HPH-12s...

Thanks Chuck! Looks like I have some shooting to do...

 

[SWThomas]

I just called MMP and they recommended I try the HPH24. The lady I spoke with said that she wouldn't recommend the HPH12 or the regular black because they would be too tight. She said that T/C guns have tight bores and the HPH24 would be what I want. She did offer to sell me all the other sabots if I wanted but she was trying to save me some money.

Like I stated above, I've tried the Harvester Black Crush Rib and didn't care for the results. Do you guys think I would see any different results trying the regular black Harvester?

 

[black powder]

SWThomas i would personely follow CHUCK'S advice on the HPH12 sabots first [he is not a sales person] and knows muzzleloading more than a lady on the phone .but it's ur call ....

 

[big6x6]

To get the BEST sabot for a .450/.451/.452 diameter bullets

In that sabot selection...I was including basically ALL .45 cal bullets. Parkers are .450 and may need a HPH-12...

 

[Reese]

I have a rifle or two that shoot better with the Harvester smooth black than the Harvester crush rib black. The crush rib seem to be just too loose in these rifles using 250 gr (.452) SST's.

 

[SWThomas]

I didn't mean to dismiss what Chuck recommended. If it seemed that way I apologize. I called MMP back and they hadn't processed my order yet. So I went ahead and had them throw a bag of HPH12's in there with the 24's. Hopefully out of the two I can find one that works better with the Barnes bullet. I think I'm gonna go ahead and order a bag of regular blacks from Harvester also just to have something else to compare.

Thanks again for all the advice guys. I knew I could depend on you.

 

[black powder]

OK SWThomas let us know what sabot is tighter in ur T/C

 

[rt_con]

Here's my scoop on sabots...

To get the BEST sabot for a .450/.451/.452 diameter bullets I like to have at least TWO different sabots and THREE different sabots is BETTER. For the TWO sabot person I feel like one needs a Harvester short black and a MMP short black. For the THREE sabot person, add a MMP HPH-12 to that. Now saying THAT...for the T/C shooter(tighter bores) I would probably go Harvester crush-rib, Harvester short black, and MMP HPH-12. For the KNIGHT shooter... I would go MMP HPH-12, MMP short blck, and Knight High Pressure.

So in your case I would probably buy a pack of Harvester short black and MMP HPH-12s...

The Knight High Pressure is not mentioned too much anymore. They shot great out of the early Knights (MK 85). I always thought that they were the same as the MMP Short black...just with Knight label/packaging ?

 

[SWThomas]

Here's my scoop on sabots...

The Knight High Pressure is not mentioned too much anymore. They shot great out of the early Knights (MK 85). I always thought that they were the same as the MMP Short black...just with Knight label/packaging ?

They probably are. I know that a lot of the bullet companies get their sabots from MMP. I know for a fact that Barnes does.

 

[big6x6]

Here's my scoop on sabots...

To get the BEST sabot for a .450/.451/.452 diameter bullets I like to have at least TWO different sabots and THREE different sabots is BETTER. For the TWO sabot person I feel like one needs a Harvester short black and a MMP short black. For the THREE sabot person, add a MMP HPH-12 to that. Now saying THAT...for the T/C shooter(tighter bores) I would probably go Harvester crush-rib, Harvester short black, and MMP HPH-12. For the KNIGHT shooter... I would go MMP HPH-12, MMP short blck, and Knight High Pressure.

So in your case I would probably buy a pack of Harvester short black and MMP HPH-12s...

The Knight High Pressure is not mentioned too much anymore. They shot great out of the early Knights (MK 85). I always thought that they were the same as the MMP Short black...just with Knight label/packaging ?

No it's actually not. The Knight HP sabot is actually 0.002 larger in diameter.


SW...You REALLY don't need the MMP HPH-24 and the Harvester short black(practically the same diameter) unless you're like me and just HAVE to have 'em! 8)

 

[paia]

My Omegas prefer the Harvester SB over the MMP HPH24 with SW's and XTP's, so I think the Harvesters are worth trying. All things considered, sabots are cheaper than about everything but the primer so why not?

If the Harvester Black Crush Rib is too loose for you, it may be worth trying the tighter RED Harvester Crush Rib. This is a sabot they make with the Savage smokeless in mind, but you don't have to shoot smokeless with it. Midsouth usually has them.

FWIW, I got some great groups with my Omega and the Barnes 250 TEZ's with 100 grns of BH209, Harvester SB and Win209. In my gun they were not consistent though--one three shot group would be 3/4" but the next would have a 2 or 3" flyer...? I went back to 300 grn XTP's, but that's just me.

Have fun and good luck.