"Accelerators"

[Noob_71]

Have any of you ever heard of "Sabotted" ammunition being offered in calibers of than .308?

Also, shouldn't any .22 caliber bullet be able to be loaded using standard sabot technology in any .308 caliber rifle?

For example, shouldn't it be fairly simple to load a 7.82 MM Warbird with a .22 caliber - 20 grain bullet and launch it out of a 30 inch barrel? Even a .22 caliber - 80 grain bullet should come out pretty fast and if it's a VLD bullet with a Ballistic Coefficient of .489, it should be pretty flat shooting. A 7.82 MM Warbird should be able to kick out a 80 grain "Accelerator load at over 4,000 fps I would think.

Could you imagine launching a .22 caliber - 20 grain bullet out of a .50 BMG without having to worry about the extremely short barrel life and potential for explosions you would experience if you necked the cartridge down to .22 caliber?

 

[demarpaint]

I only saw the .308 versions and they are not very popular anymore because the accuracy stinks. They do work OK in a shotgun for a slug.

 

[Guest]

I have seen a 50cal sabot with a 30 cal bullet for the bmg for sale on line. Dont know how they work but if they worked well your barrel would last a lot longer and you could rocket that 30 cal bullet crazy fast

 

[Mysticplayer]

The 50cal sabots are very popular with the forces. I believe they are called SLAP. Intent is to launch small nasty projectiles are very high vel to defeat hardened targets.

Another common application is in the Abrahams where sabot projectiles are the norm. No question about their effectiveness on their targets.

For rifles, the 30cal sabot was made popular in the 60/70's (?) so that a big game rifle could be used for varminting. Didn't seem to work too well. eabco.com carries sabot stuff and may know more about getting them to shoot. In general, accuracy sucked but that might have been because chambers weren't set up to max performance. Also, sabots may not have released consistently causing bullets to go everywhere.

Barrel wear is still there because powder is still being burnt. A little less due to less powder but an extra thousand inaccurate shots really won't impress many on this board.

If you can figure how to make sabots shoot well in rifles, let us all know. Would be fun getting a 140gr 6.5mm going over 3600fps.

Jerry

 

[milanuk]

I remember seeing those in the stores when I was younger. Most of the people I knew that bought Accelerator rounds were firing the .30-30 Win version, where accuracy was already not so good (not that they'd know) and they wanted something a little flatter for the occasional coyote pot-shot.

Anybody know if there is any truth to the rumor about why they stopped making them: government pressure? IIRC, that was around the same time as the big 'cop-killer bullet' craze politically (roughly) and the concept of a hyper-velocity bullet (relative to what the alternatives were in say, a .308 Win) that had no rifling engraved on it for forensics to trace back to a particular gun had people in some circles in a frenzy. Yes, I know the accuracy was ****-poor, but to some people being able to hit a person from 150+yds is 'sniper' grade (i.e. the DC Sniper debacle) and the rounds can surely do that well. Yes, a police forensics team may have good odds of finding the discarded sabot, if they knew what to look for. But from what I remember/heard it was quietly put away, just like the Black Talon handgun rounds, because of subtle gov't pressure.

Anybody able to confirm or prove otherwise? I've always been curious, as it does smack slightly of conspiracy theory

Monte