Reloading Data for Sabots: Shoot .224 in 30 Caliber

Posted by EB on 9/24/2020 to Tech Reports

Our .30 caliber sabots are wildly popular. They allow .30 caliber firearms to shoot .224 caliber bullets at substantially increased velocities. The sabot nylon resin material is extremely heat resistant and offers less wear on the barrel. The barrel does not experience a build-up of copper or lead residues and any sabot material is easily cleaned. Upon exiting the barrel, the sabot flowers away allowing the .224 rifle bullet to fly normally.

Big Accuracy Requirement - Before firing sabots in any gun, clean the copper and lead fouling out of that barrel. If you don't accuracy will suffer.

Big Safety Requirement - Never fire sabots in barrels that have muzzle brakes. Premature flowering in the brake could act as a barrel obstruction.

Use 50-60 Grain Bullets - The rifling twist rate on most .30 calibers is 1:12 or 1:10. For .224 caliber bullets, this twist rate is best suited to bullets in the 50-60 gr. weight range.

Caution with Chronographs - After separating from the bullet, a sabot may hit your chronograph if the distance to the chrono is too close. Test fire first. Or, use a shield.

A General Approach to Loading Saboted Cartridges...

Always start with light loads and "work up" your loads to find what functions and shoots best in your firearm. NEVER USE LOAD DATA AS THOUGH IT WERE AN EXACT RECIPE. Every barrel and chamber is different and pressures peak at different levels. Load data is merely a reference or a hint of where to start, what powders to use, and what the potential results might be. Here is an excellent way to proceed:

Check below to see if the cartridge you want to load with sabots is listed in our computer generated loading reference/data. If it is, use that data as a reference for developing your own loads. By "reference", we mean to use the powder types as a reference for the burn rate of suitable powders. (There are burn rate charts for gun powders available on the internet. One is in the VihtaVuori Free Reloading Guide.) Also by "reference", we mean to use the powder charge weights as a starting point for a particular case capacity: If you are developing a load for a cartridge that has 80% of the case capacity of a listed cartridge, use your judgment to figure a suitable starting load. Case capacities for most cartridges can be looked up on www.ammoguide.com.