I do not own a 300 BLK, but a post in another thread which mentioned sabots in 7.62x51 made me curious.

Could a 300 BLK be loaded with a 223 sabot? Would the length work in a mag? Would it cause feeding issues?

No real reason to ask, just curious.

I know it would be pointless, kinda like the time my dad was trying to neck a .380 down to .22, but it could be interesting.

If anyone has done this, please post velocities, would be interesting if you were able to get close to 5.56.

You are gaining no case capacity over a regular .223, so speeds would not be increased.  

I guess I always figured sabots main function was to drive a smaller caliber projectile then the parent bore at a higher speed due to the larger case capacity available for the charge.

This.  /thread

 

Would the use of pistol powders make a difference ?

I like the idea of taking a .223 case, necking it up to .308 and cutting the case down then loading a .223 (.224) bullet in it anyway. Has a certain absurd charm to it.

I thought part of the reason pistol powders were used with 300BLK was because of the desired performance out of short barrels? 7-9" AR pistols in .223 spit out a lot of unburned powder.

30-06 Excelerator?

Problem with pistol poweder is that it burns up fast and in a rifle barrel it would produce a sever over pressure. The idea of a sabot is lower projectile weight. That is what increases the speed, no more powder / pressure.

I understand the reduced capacity and that it is an absurd waste, I just want to know our it has been or can be done?

The additional area being worked on by the chamber pressure

.308/2 x.308/2 x pi. Vs .223/2 x . 223/2 x pi

would act to increase velocity and might offset some or all of the

lost case volume.  The only practical reason I can think to do such a thing

is probably illegal so probably anyone who tried it wouldn't discuss it.

Read on a 300 forum that it has been done with pulled tracers and 77SMKs (iirc). Guess it is possible.

All of this made me wonder about muzzle velocity of a .50 BMG with a sabot 55gr.223, accuracy be damned.

Would there be an issue with the sabot opening in a suppressor?  I know it could be bad, but would it be something that would make doing it not advisable?  I know that some sabots stick with the projectile but I assume that some might start shedding early causing problems.

From what I have read, suppressing sabot rounds is a no go.

This was just a curiosity thread. Wondered if one barrel could basically be a 5.56, 7.62x39, and a .45 (all ballistically speaking) with only ammo changes.

ztug...

No flames intended here.  Im just trying to save your life....


Now, please step away from the reloading press...

Your question is:  Would pistol powder make a difference?  Yes.  It would.  You'd loose a rifle, and eye and part of a hand...

The 5.56/.223 is a rifle.  The 300 AAC takes the 5.56, necks it up, and either fired subsonic loads at reduced speeds or fires supersonics at full speed.  The potential use of a sabot enables one to use sub caliber bullets, at higher than normal speeds (using full charges).  A subsonic sabot load would have so much Derp, it would implode.

Using pistol powder as a substitute for rifle powder in a full rifle charge (ie>  Sabot) would cause spontaneous disassembly of said rifle and likely cause injury or death.  If this isn't apparent to you, please stop loading. You'll kill yourself.

The ONLY time pistol powder is used in a rifle case is in some VERY limited situations where one wants a truly low velocity plinker load.  Sometimes some one will do something like a little unique in in a 30-06 with cast lead plinker bullets for truly subsonic loads.

Fro

I do not load 300 blackout, but isn't pistol powder already used?

Do you know a lot of popular Blackout loads do in fact use magnum pistol powders like H110?

ETA- I do use Unique for subsonic loads in 300 BO where there is no need for gas to cycle the action.. i.e bolt or single shots.

Sabots load okay in the 300blk, but you need to use solid copper 55gr or heavier .224 bullets to get enough cartridge length to prevent them moving forward in the magazine.



I got about 400fps more with the sabots (~2500fps with 69gr SMK in sabots) but the gain in velocity is destroyed with the drop in bullet weight. Accuracy was also quite lacking and my best groups were around 4".



The only semi-effective purpose for a sabot in 300blk is driving tungsten cores for penetrating armor, but with this you lose the ability to use a suppressor thanks to the sabot expanding when it leaves the muzzle.

For AP in the 300blk, it'd be easier and cheaper to copy the Russian 9x39mm's subsonic AP, which is a tungsten cored 240gr bullet (think 220gr smk with tungsten instead of lead for a core) that penetrates just as well and can move through a suppressor as normal.