Accura LR .45 Shooting without sabot advice?

[Lonehand]

I have a new Accura .45 that I need to play with. I have never shot an ML without sabots. I had a 250 grain SST 45 laying around and it fit perfectly in the barrel. Was a one-hand push in a clean barrel. scuffed the copper on the side of the bullet a little. I believe the SST is a .452, it is old stock with the hard plastic tip? Does anyone know if that is correct? Anyway if I were to try shooting the sabotless SST in the gun would all I need is a patch, powder and bullet? Should I have a break-in period with sabots before trying the sabotless method? Looking forward to your responses. I am excited. I have lots of powder and bullets!

 

[GM54-120]

The SST is difficult for me to get to shoot sabotless. The jacket is a rather thick harder alloy and the lead is not very soft. A better bullet to get the hang of sabotless would be the cheaper 250gr XTP or better yet the Nosler Sporting 250gr JHP with its pure lead core.

You dont use a patch, you use a wad under the bullet. Ive used veggie fiber wads for years but it looks like polywads from Buffalo Arms might be a better choice.

https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadi...e-463-060-poly-wads-bag-of-1000-wal463060poly

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I agree the SST is a little tough to shoot sabotless. I havent tried the XTPs. I shoot cast lead bullets in mine now, but have some Fury 265 bullets to try, size of my bore seems to be .452. I also use wool wad over the powder, not a patch. Although i have been getting good results cutting the petals off of sabots to use as wads(the base, not petals) when i forgot to bring wads to the range.
It would be great if it shoots that SST. Its a great bullet imho. Give it a try, see what happens.
Powder, wad, bullet. Give her a go. Start around 70-80 grains and work your way up. Let us know how it works.

 

[Lonehand]

Thanks guys. Will get some wads. It is safe to say I will be shooting anything I can stick down the barrel. I will let you know what works.
Bob

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I use those light blue sabots in my Knight. Some say theyre a bit loose in the Accura. I like them.

 

[GM54-120]

You are likely going down a rough road with those 358s in 45x357 PR sabots. They fit a lot better resized with a Lee 9mm lube sizing die.

 

[Lonehand]

Yes, I can tell with the flare on the sabots it is going to be a tight fit. I was thinking about resizing them. Have you done it? Is it worth the trouble? Other sabots look too short.

 

[sabotloader]

I have a new Accura .45 that I need to play with. I have never shot an ML without sabots. I had a 250 grain SST 45 laying around and it fit perfectly in the barrel. Was a one-hand push in a clean barrel. scuffed the copper on the side of the bullet a little. I believe the SST is a .452, it is old stock with the hard plastic tip? Does anyone know if that is correct? Anyway if I were to try shooting the sabotless SST in the gun would all I need is a patch, powder and bullet? Should I have a break-in period with sabots before trying the sabotless method? Looking forward to your responses. I am excited. I have lots of powder and bullets!

I have been shooting this bullet a lot in my fast twist Super DISC's. It is an excellent hunting bullet with extremely good 'Terminal Ballistics'

It is a .458x 260 CF. The bullet was made to fit custom ML barrels that were using a true 45-70 bore. I have had to resize them to .454 to fit one of my Super DISC's. The second Super DISC the bullet is tight through the crown but can be started with a short starter.

Follow this link to see more about the bullet

https://sskfirearms.lehighdefense.com/all-products?product_id=146
This shows the bullet resting in the crown and ready to push the barbs through the crown

It really does shoot well. This was shot with 120 gr (V) of BH

Here is some additional information

 

[Lonehand]

Wow, those look nasty and shoot great in your gun. Very interested in trying Lehigh bullets. I was looking at the nice selection of bullets at .458. and seems to be the bullet to use If I want more grains. Believe I would have to resize all the way down to .452. Would that be too far for an all-copper bullet? At what point would it fracture? Do you use a regular resizing die like a Lee or do you have one of those fancy adjustable Swinglock kind?

 

[sabotloader]

Wow, those look nasty and shoot great in your gun. Very interested in trying Lehigh bullets. I was looking at the nice selection of bullets at .458. and seems to be the bullet to use If I want more grains. Believe I would have to resize all the way down to .452. Would that be too far for an all-copper bullet? At what point would it fracture? Do you use a regular resizing die like a Lee or do you have one of those fancy adjustable Swinglock kind?

The only part of the bullet that is .458 are the barbs 0 the rest of the bullet is smaller and will pass down your barrel. A true full bodied .458 bullet, you are correct, the whole bullet would need to re-sized. When I re-size I re-size the barbs to .454 with a simple Lee re-sizer and a small press. With the size of your bore I am not sure sure you would need to re-size at all. Pushing the bullet through the crown would size it to the bore. It is a all copper bullet. The bullet nose does open and a 40* the petals break off and outward into and puncturing the vita organs in the area. The petals do not have enough energy to move in muscle tissue. I have tested them down about 1100 FPS and the CF function worked. Lehigh says the low end is 1200FPS.

To get them through the crown of the bore you can use a short starter or wood device like I have made.

 

[GM54-120]

If the CVA bores are running nearly .452 on the lands you can probably just give the sabotless Lehigh a good whack with a short starter to seat it. After that it wont be too tight to load with your rod.

Think about it like this.....You are only cutting into the "barbs" by about .003-.004 each land. Your grooves should be .458+. The barbs most likely wont touch the groove bottoms but will scrape down a little fouling each shot.

 

[Lonehand]

Great information. Thank all of you for explaining things so clearly to a newbie. I will report back with good and bad results and hopefully contribute a little bit to the great resource you have here.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I just got a TC .45 maxi-ball mold today. Im going to cast up 12 in 40:1and 12 in pure lead and see how they shoot in my Accura and the Renegade.

 

[GM54-120]

Yes, I can tell with the flare on the sabots it is going to be a tight fit. I was thinking about resizing them. Have you done it? Is it worth the trouble? Other sabots look too short.

MMP makes their own 45x357 sabot AND the sabots for PR. The PR 45x357 sabot is longer and might be a newer polymer. A 9mm/355 bullet however fits both sabots better than a 357 or a 358. I dont have the length available off hand but i would imagine a 358 200gr bullet is also getting a little long for a 1-22. Not too long but its gunna need some MV to be stable. That is where you run into issues with the 45x357. Its not a good choice for stout loads. Too much plastic between bullet and bore.

Its not impossible but its not nearly as easy as 45x40.

 

[gle3105]

Lonehand, I just received a 45 Accura LR . Using pin gauges mine mic’d at .452 at muzzle. Slid down about half way and stuck/ stopped. Inserted a .451 and it slid all the way to the breech.
BTW. I can second sabotloader’s advice for the Lehigh 260 /458. He advised me to give it a go. Superb pill.
Accurate and performs very effectively on game. ( using a 45 Knight, I have used on whitetail WV deer) .
When I get around to it I’ll be trying the 260 in the LR.
Will post results.

 

[Lonehand]

Lonehand, I just received a 45 Accura LR . Using pin gauges mine mic’d at .452 at the muzzle. Slid down about halfway and stuck/ stopped. Inserted a .451 and it slid all the way to the breech.

Similar here a .451 just slid through untouched. As mentioned had to drive the .452 with a light one hand pressure.

 

[muzzlestuffer]

The only part of the bullet that is .458 are the barbs 0 the rest of the bullet is smaller and will pass down your barrel. A true full bodied .458 bullet, you are correct, the whole bullet would need to re-sized. When I re-size I re-size the barbs to .454 with a simple Lee re-sizer and a small press. With the size of your bore I am not sure sure you would need to re-size at all. Pushing the bullet through the crown would size it to the bore. It is a all copper bullet. The bullet nose does open and a 40* the petals break off and outward into and puncturing the vita organs in the area. The petals do not have enough energy to move in muscle tissue. I have tested them down about 1100 FPS and the CF function worked. Lehigh says the low end is 1200FPS.

To get them through the crown of the bore you can use a short starter or wood device like I have made.

Not sure if it's in this post but when sizing a bullet down i use a little lube and rotate and run the bullet thru the sizer a couple times for uniformity