This is a round that I developed almost by accident in my ongoing experiments with sabots in metallic cases. It is simply the 260 Remington (6.5X51)with a sabot encasing a 75 gr Hornady .224 A-max bullet. Test bed is a Ruger 77 with a 22 inch bbl and a 1 in 8 inch twist.

IMR 4064 is, for some reason, the perfect powder for this round and 47 grains drives this bullet to 3770 fps with no signs of adverse pressure. Now, this is an untuned hunting rifle that has shot a number of 1 to 1.2 inch groups with 140 grain match bullets, but the sabot rounds are averaging .325 MOA.

This is the FIRST time in all of my sabot development that such an accuracy improvement has occured. Generally, I can get very high velocities with good accuracy, but not the excellent accuracy one might want for long range target work.

This bullet has a sectional density of .214 and a listed BC of .435. I know that these numbers are low for 1000 yard shooting, but at 3750 fps is it possible that the speed will make up for the lower BC with respect to wind drift, etc?

Could some derivative of this be a military round? Recoil is very low, the barrel does not heat up much and a 75 gr FMJ at 3750 fps will really burn a hole in something hard!

Sabot -

Long time no hear. Will you be at SHOT here in a few days? You should be ... can you Email me some more details about this development so I can pass it on to some folks that can make it go up the food chain fast?

G'day Sabot
I did a lot of calculations with respect to wind drift at 1000 yards for a lot of projectile and velocity combinations. The data is at home (I'm at work), but from what I can recall a 75gr A-MAX will be competitive on paper at 3750fps.

I'm impressed the A-MAX didn't explode. It must be spinning pretty fast.

Regards
Ben

Marty:

Nice to connect...I will email you later after I do a little more work. Custom sabots are still running me over a buck each, so its too early to get excited about the Market!

bjld: The A-max has a pretty strong construction profile and the spin rate is about the same as we get from a 55 grainer at 4400 fps out of a 300 WSM.

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Could some derivative of this be a military round?

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Military experiments with saboted bullets and flechettes goes back at least 40 years. In small arms applications they have no merit.

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Originally posted by Cheechako:

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Could some derivative of this be a military round?

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Military experiments with saboted bullets and flechettes goes back at least 40 years. In small arms applications they have no merit.

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Please define "small arms" and "merit". The .50 cal SLAP not only has merit but sees application in numberous guises and countries. The .30 cal SLAP was not further pursued in the US .... the .223 Timbs round is the 7.62x25 with a 22 cal sabot and Leitner Wise has a 10mm to 30 cal variant (7.62x24) Do not discount the use of sabots ... but Sabot and I have had this discussion before ;o)

Good for you Sabot. Many of us have been hoping for your success.

Everything can be improved.

Please define "small arms" and "merit". [/QUOTE]

In the US, small arms would be anything up to and including 30 caliber. In other words, shoulder fired arms. Merit would mean a practical use. The 30 SLAP had no practical use. The concept of engaging armor, even light armor, with the shoulder fired infantry weapon is the stuff WWII stories are made of.

I know it was a long time back and all, but in my day the .50 Cal was considered "small arms" by the US Army. I saw that in some Field Manual, somewhere.... they don't seem that small when they're inbound, but that'a just a subjective opinion.

I don't recall at what point that nomenclature is discarded but note the next larger round in the US portfolio is the 20mm. Next larger in the "Soviet Block" sphere is the 14.5mm, still a heavy machine gun IIRC.

Sabot -
This is very interesting. I have never heard of sabots being used except for .50 caliber and the thirty calibers / .224. Where did you get sabots for .264 ?
regards

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Originally posted by KRyder:
Sabot -
This is very interesting. I have never heard of sabots being used except for .50 caliber and the thirty calibers / .224. Where did you get sabots for .264 ?
regards

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I have been doing research on hunting/target applications for sabots for 2 years now and have 3 different suppliers that make small lots on a custom basis. Two of them make them from a variety of injected mold plastics, and one does extruded and anodized aluminum.

My work is confined to what I call "thin sabots", meaning that bullet diameter is generally less than .050 inches less than bore diameter. This supports the use of full pressure loads with off the shelf powders using the published load data for cartridges and their lightest weight bullets. The theoretical advantages are improved accuracy in factory bbls and a dramatic reduction in the amount of powder needed to make a given velocity. For example, the 338 Win Mag case easily drives 180 gr .308 bullets to the same valocities as the 300 RUM...less bbl wear, lower recoil and shorter bbls.Bore comes clean with a simple, mild solvent when plactics are used.

Oh yeah, the bullets no longer need ANY jacket and can be ANY shape. The sabots can be make to reach and fully engage the lands with almost any bullet one might choose for the task.