Sabot Rounds

62985 Views 60 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Fixitguy, Oct 26, 2020

Discussion Starter · Apr 20, 2004

What are the advantages of sabot rounds? I have seen the plastic leftovers on the range and I know sabot rounds are a popular ammo type for destroying tanks, but what are the advantages of a sabot bullet?

Save

1 - 12 of 61 Posts

mele

· #12 · Apr 22, 2004

You should go back and check the .408 cheytec posting, we got into a good discussion about sabot's. Be sure to read my review of the Swedish PSG-90. Their standard issue .308 ammo is a sabot round. A few things to note is that its much faster with higher energy at the muzzle. Accuracy is NOT as good as standard match ammo. The smaller caliber bullets have a lower ballistic coeffecient then heavier .308's, but the time of flight is so much shorter it more then makes up for it out to 1000+ meters. Penetraction of tactical armor is greater with sabot rounds.

Also, there are NO commercially available .308 Sabot rounds that I have found. Winchester makes a military .308 SLAP, not available for civilians. And remington does make their "Accelerator" rounds, but ONLY for .30-30 and .30-06 which is a shame. To get sabot .308, you have to reload yourself....

I do plan to do a side by side in the future of 175gr match and a .223 sabot in .308 at long range. But my plate is full, it might be a ways off.

MEL

See less See more

Save

mele

· #15 · Apr 22, 2004

Nek,

Thanks again for the details... you are the resident expert when it comes to sabots in 7.62 NATO for combat!

jeffvn,

I was actually looking at the 69 in order to try and get the velocity up more. But I have not totally decided, as I need to try and get some velocity numbers and compare BC's, flight paths, etc to find which will indeed work the best. More to come....

MEL

Save

mele

· #21 · Apr 24, 2004

For those of you not up to spec on the metric system, that equates to:

4134 FPS for a 95.7gr bullet.

Thats actually phenominal for a .308 case..... I'm hoping to get 4000 with a 69 gr.

MEL

Save

mele

· #22 · Apr 24, 2004

Nek,

With the new ammo, were your PSG-90's rebarreled? Is the rate of twist still 1:10" (1 in 254mm)? I wondering about stabilization issues of .224 bullets in 60+ grains out of a .308 barrel.

MEL

Save

mele

· #24 · Apr 25, 2004

interesting... I think I'm going to have problems stablizing a 69gr .224 bullet with a 1:10 twist .308 barrel. I may have to back down to below 60gr.... tests will tell

MEL

Save

mele

· #34 · Apr 26, 2004

Nek,

Yes, a longer then average .224 bullet "might help" but when you make them longer, they gain weight which then goes right back into needing an even faster rate of twist. I'm hoping for the right sweet spot bullet to show up in my research

MEL

Save

mele

· #36 · Apr 26, 2004

Well, actually, the required rate of twist is caliber and weight dependent. You must compare bullet weights in the same caliber. The reason most all the new crop of .223 rifles are at LEAST 1:9 is because the bullet weights have gone up. For the same given caliber, the required rate of twist to stablize a bullet must increase as the weight of the projectile goes up. There is actually a formula out there that computes this for you. I believe the length of the bullet comes into play also. I know to stablize the 69gr .224 bullet, you need at least 1:9 twist, if you go to 75+ you need 1:8, etc. Just like .308, 175 is very marginal for 1:12 twist barrels, 1:11 is ideal, 1:10 gets you to the 180's +.

MEL

Save

mele

· #38 · Apr 27, 2004

Well, since the sabot seperates from the bullet once it leaves the barrel, it does not have an impact on the stabilization of the bullet. In order for the bullet to become stable it needs to achieve a certain RPM, now, I am NOT certain if the extra velocity of the bullet (if its up around 4000fps) would effect the required rate of twist, everything I've read seems to indicate that it doesn't. BUT, I need to fully state that I am NO expert in this. I just know what is required normally to stabilize a bullet, and the ROT of a .308 rifle probably will not be enough for the heavier .224 bullets. Of course, the ROT for what you are shooting is completely different, as that bullet must be EXTREMELY long. 95gr in about a .18 cal. YIKES! I'd really like to know the BC of that projectile.... and how I can get some

MEL

Save

mele

· #40 · Apr 28, 2004

.52 !!! :shock:

Holy freak. Thats awesome. Guess I need to invest in some tungsten.

Yes, less time of flight is great, but if the bullet is not stabilized (not enough rpm) it will lose accuracy, and in a bad case, even tumble (as is evenent with trying to shoot new NATO 5.56 (SS109?) in old M16A1's with 1:12 twist). I've literally have seen perfect SIDE profile holes of bullet passing through a target TUMBLING. This was from old M16A1's. Thats not good for accuracy!! This is purely external ballistics.... is it spinning fast enough when in flight.

Anyway, I wont know until I test them.... I do appreciate your info

MEL

Save

mele

· #43 · Apr 30, 2004

Heh... no, I'm not feeling up to the task!! Perhaps I just need to find some ready made.

Nek, do you have ballistics tables for your sabot tungsten rounds you could send me offline?

MEL

Save

mele

· #45 · May 3, 2004

Thanks! That would be great

MEL

Save

mele

· #50 · Jan 24, 2007

Excellent, looking forward to the report.

MEL

Save

1 - 12 of 61 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month