Do plastic sabots leave fouling?

[Just Mike]

Do plastic sabots leave a fouling in the barrel? I've just started using bullets that use sabots (Barnes TEZ) with 100 grains of BH209. I've fired maybe 50-60 of them so far. Looking down the barrel after cleaing with Hoppe's and a brass brush it looks as if there may be residue left. Does any product work on removing plastic fouling?

 

[Mark whiz]

pushing sabots fast with a lot of heat can indeed leave plastic residue in the bore riflings. Scrubbing the bore with a bronze wire brush while cleaning will get 90% of it. You can run a few patches of Acetone down the bore first to help disolve the plastic and then brush and all should be well. CVA used to make a solvent called Sabot Shooters Solvent that melted plastic too - I'm not sure if that is still available or not.............but a cheap pint bottle of Acetone from Wally World will get it done for a LONG time.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Sabots can leave plastic in the bore.Alot of it depends on the condition of the bore ( tool marks , pits etc) and the powder charge.My Black Diamond gives no plastic in the bore with my usual load , but when I drop to my light load I find stringy plastic on my patches when I swab between shots.
I havent noticed clumps of plastic in the bore , as I used to with sabot loads in shotguns. I never had any success with the various sabot solvents ( I tried to dissolve sabots in the solution with no success whatever) If you should find your barrel plastic fouled my best recommendation is some Hoppe's #9 , a good borebrush (copper/bronze not synthetic) and some elbow grease. best of luck.

 

[tufcamo]

Fouling problems

I am a little biased on this subject, but I know you can virtually eliminate this issue if you coat your bore with Ultra Bore Coat... www.ultracoatingsinc.com. You might of seen an article on this in the November issue of the American Rifleman.

 

[cayuga]

The new sabots are made of a high grade substance that really leaves very little of itself in the bore. Of course, you rub a substance enough against another harder substance and it will leave something. But occasional brushing of the bore with a good solvent will remove any residue.

 

[Just Mike]

Thanks for all the tips.

 

[gunrac]

I use SHOOTERS CHOICE shotgun an choke tube cleaner. It cuts the plastic and carbon.

 

[Spitpatch]

I have never had plastic fouling...
I think it's rare if it ever happens at all.

 

[sabotloader]

Just Mike

They certainly can, but it less common today than it was in the past. The new polymere formulations have really reduced the severity of the problem.

Depending on how much you shoot, the velocity of the load you are shooting and the temperature you are shooting can all lead to some plastic fouling. Even the sharpness of you lands and the depth of the grooves can aid in the build up of plastic.

JB's bore paste is the great reducer... while boiling water is the great cleaner - even though a lot of folks do not like using water in a fine bore....

 

[hawgslayer]

8)

No problems with POWERBELT BULLETS :!: :!: :!:

 

[Bucker]

huh????

No problems with POWERBELT BULLETS

what no plastic on those?

 

[Doohan]

Absolutley! I have had plastic fouling in most every inline I have owned. My favorite remover is US Bore Paste.

 

[Mark whiz]

I would concur with using a bore paste too. I use it once or twice a year, depending how how much shooting I've been doing and it never fails that my next trip out results in some really tight groups.

 

[excess650]

The Shooter's Choice product for shotguns and choke tubes sounds like a good choice if available. Acetone, or MEK should take the majority out, or at least soften it so that a brush or abrasive paste isn't necessary. These strong solvents need to be handled with care, but should be available in local hardware stores.

When using a bronze brush, be sure to push it all the way through, meaning with breech plug removed, or else risk "brush cutting" when reversing direction of the brush.

I've not seen plastic fouling in my Omega, and can't say that I've felt it in my Grey Hawk. That isn't to say that it doesn't happen, but the modern sabots must be working well as formulated.

 

[spitfire100]

I've not had any fouling with T/C shockwaves.