I just picked up an omega .45 and figured I can't go wrong with T/C 200 gr shockwave sabots...right? Wrongo oh toothless wonder!! I just about dislocated my shoulder trying to get the bullet past the muzzle let alone all the way seated on the powder charge. So by searching through the internet I discovered some facts I would like to share.

read this first: http://www.prbullet.com/s45.htm

Ok, so I determined the twist rate of my barrel is indeed 1:28" so I was relieved to see that. Then I started looking at my renegade barrels, I have two, one is the original .54 cal 1:48" and the other is a green mountain .50 in 1:28". The main thing I noticed in loading those bigger barrels was how the ramrod tended to turn with the bullets as they were guided down the bore. With the .45 omega I was forced to grip the ramrod so tight to push in the sabots that I was actually forcing the sabot past the rifling which made it even more difficult to move down the bore.

So what I did was take an old hoppes .22 caliber cleaning rod that has a swivel in the handle and cut it off to 1-1/8" to fit into the 1" deep hole on the tapered end of the supplied T/C ramrod. The hoppes rod is .204" OD so I had to drill out the end of the T/C ramrod to .205" ID. This also gives me a "T" handle for extra leverage when seating bullets. I put my new device into the top of my possibles bag along with my pre-loaded charge tubes.

A short starter helps with a tight fitting sabot/bullet combo.. also try just a smear of bore butter on the outside skirt of the sabot.. should help ... somebody made a swivel jag that turns with the sabot on the way down.. HTH.. Les

I have no real answer for the Shockwaves, but I believe the MMP sabots are a bit thinner than the others. Do some internet searching; there are guys out there that know. Also, if you are thinking of buying projectiles and sabots and combining the two, there are two different Hornady 45-caliber projectiles: .451 and .452. Try the smaller ones...

Lastly, using silicone spray on the sabots will help, too. Spray and let dry. Just know in advance it makes them a bit hard to handle!

Good luck.

You can also just lick a sabot to make it a bit easier to load. Tastes like plastic.

About 100 strokes with JB Bore Paste on a tight fitting patch might also help - as would

http://www.grafs.com/retail/ca...duct/productId/20902

combined with http://www.grafs.com/retail/ca...oduct/productId/6514 or most any other .400 bullet you might wish to try.

Thanks Underclocked, nice to see you're on this forum also.