How soon do sabots drop off?

[tpcollins]

I recall seeing sabots laying on the ground when I've shot but I don't recall exactly how far out they were. I've noticed some say they set their chronos at 25 yards but I just made a polycarb debris shield for my brother-in-law's Chrony. I'd really like to get it as close as possible and get my exact muzzle velocity - whether the sabot is still attached or not seems like a moot point. Is 10' ok with a debris shield?

 

[ronlaughlin]

My chronograph is a Shooting Chrony that is many years old. It was purchased about 20 year ago or thereabouts.

My first outing with a muzzle loader gave me quite a shock. The chrony was reading bullet speeds of around 300 fps. Then it dawned on me that the chrony was reading the last object through. I had placed the chrony quite close, because like you i wished to know the 'muzzle velocity'. The sabot separated from the bullet right away after they left the muzzle, and the chrony was displaying the speed of the sabot, not the speed of the bullet.

This forced me to place the chrony about 20 yard away, because by then the sabot is nearly on the ground, and then the bullet was the only object passing over the 'eyes'. Knowing the bullet speed at 20 yard allowed me to find the muzzle veloctity by using a ballistic program.

Here is one of the ballistic calculations:

How this particular program is used, is one inserts the muzzle velocity to find the ballistics. In my case i didn't know the muzzle velocity; i knew the velocity at 20 yards was 1899fps, so what i did was guess at the muzzle velocity a few times until the program calculated the correct velocity at 20 yard. Now i 'know' the muzzle velocity even though i was unable to measure it because the sabot separated from the bullet right away.

Some here say their chronograph measures the first object through. If that is the case with yours you could place your chronograph very close if it has a protective shield.

 

[58hawken]

I would guess that the sabots are released from the bullet very soon after they leave the barrel. However they keep traveling for a while before they hit the ground due to the force of the explosion causing it to leave the barrel originally. You would probably need high speed photography to really see how quickly the bullet and sabot separate. Just my opinion. I may be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[tpcollins]

Thanks Ron, good ole "reverse engineering" - thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Sabots will generally seperate from the bullet in a few yards. Some as close as a foot or so. Seperation does not mean the sabot immediately drops to the ground. Sabots with thick petals such as the 50X40 do not seperate as quickly as thin petals such as 50X45.

I find sabots anywhere from a couple yards to as much as 50 yards down range.

The polycarb shield mentioned should protect the chrono at 10 feet from the muzzle concerning sabots............bullets are another matter! :shock:

 

[saxman1]

I found sabots very near the chrony but none after it.
I seem to remember reading that this chrony only records the first thing through but I will double check.

The sight says time between shots is 250 - 500 Ms

 

[GM54-120]

Ive seen them at a wide variety of distances too but also from a wide variety of calibers/bores. 44/54 sabots really go far. I never understood why the most common 54 sabot was for 44cal bullets.

I have some .475/50s on the way..those should open up and drop very fast.

 

[Anonymous]

Ive seen them at a wide variety of distances too but also from a wide variety of calibers/bores. 44/54 sabots really go far. I never understood why the most common 54 sabot was for 44cal bullets.

I have some .475/50s on the way..those should open up and drop very fast.

We offer three 54 cal sabots.

54X.429/.430 White
54X.451/.452 Red
54X.499/.500 Purple

I shoot several 54's and they invariably do best with the Purple or Red sabots.

 

[GM54-120]

Ive seen them at a wide variety of distances too but also from a wide variety of calibers/bores. 44/54 sabots really go far. I never understood why the most common 54 sabot was for 44cal bullets.

I have some .475/50s on the way..those should open up and drop very fast.

We offer three 54 cal sabots.

54X.429/.430 White
54X.451/.452 Red
54X.499/.500 Purple

I shoot several 54's and they invariably do best with the Purple or Red sabots.

Yep your 50/54 Purples are my favorite 54 sabot and they fit all the bullets ive tried very well. I cant believe how well they worked with the really long Barnes 325gr Expanders. Never blown one yet either...even with very stout charges.

The most common "pre packaged" with bullets though are 44/54.... Hornady cough cough. I bought your 50/54 and 45/54s on my last order too.

I cant wait to try my new Rem 50cal 385gr CLHPs in those purple sabots.

These look plain nasty and expand well at ML velocities.

 

[paia]

I set my Chrony at about 10-12 ft and it's fine as long as I have a shield. I had sabots kill one Chrony a couple years ago, before I realized that the shield is needed. My tripod has also taken some hits from sabots and has a couple dents but no real damage. Sabots seem to separate very quickly but I have never had them interfere with getting good velocity readings. YMMV


edited--set at 10 to 12 feet, not yards

 

[greatbasin]

I find most of my sabots between 20 and 25 yds.

I have had Powerbelt skirts make it all the way through the paper at 50 yds.

 

[saxman1]

I am going to order a debris shield for mine but most likely will still keep it at 25 - 30 yards from the bench

 

[sabotloader]

saxman1

Not that it matters.... but I shoot mine @ 10 feet and I do have the debris shield...

Jusy my opinion but I think it is safer there than 25 yards - by 25 yards the sabot could be on any un-known course. At 10 ft the sabot is still flying pretty much strainght ahead.... well that is my theory anyway. That is also why i wrap my chrono in heavy turkey basting foil - so power burns will not bbother it at all if I were to get them...

 

[greatbasin]

Ya, I like to get a reading with the bullet / sabot still flying together, as close as possible to the muzzle. That way I hope my trajectory calculations are as close as possible to the charts. At 6-7 yds. I don't seem to get bad readings from powder and smoke, far enough to not need a impact sheild and close enough that the sabot just falls away on the other side.

 

[Lee 9]

I believe how far the sabot stays with the bullet changes with the sabot the length of the bullet compared to the sabot and the powder load.
I have found 50/40 MMP sabots as far as 30 yds out on a regular basis.

 

[GM54-120]

I believe how far the sabot stays with the bullet changes with the sabot the length of the bullet compared to the sabot and the powder load.
I have found 50/40 MMP sabots as far as 30 yds out on a regular basis.

Thats about as far as ive seen some 44/54 sabots too. Thick petals and their length do make a big difference. Some sabots have more of bevel on the front of the petal and that seems to help them separate faster too. Kinda of an air scoop effect.

This is one of the reasons im trying the .475/50 sabots. They are probably about the thinnest petal on a 50 cal sabot i can find....Plus its fun to experiment.

Which just arrived UPS. artyman:

Man these petals are thin!!!

 

[john keyes]

I want that sabot off ASAP, and my best shooting load does just that.
the sabots are right in front of the bench in plane sight, petals flared

five consecutive shots at 100 yds, during the summer

I'm not saying a sabot can't stay on longer and still have good groups but that has not been my experience

 

[minst7877]

My Mk85 loves the purple sabot with the .500 Speer HP 325gr uni-core. After trying to work up loads for many muzzys my rule of thumb is if the bullet dia is more than .06 less than the bore you will probably have trouble finding something to work well.

DC

PS Razorback please don't ever stop making that purple sabot.

 

[Lee 9]

I guess that rule of thumb is one I missed. The 50/40 200gr bullets Lehigh and SW consistantly shoot as good as anything else for me.