Inside Out Outdoors

Now that it is the off season, and I had a full season to try out Hornady's new SST-ML Low Drag sabots, I wanted to share the results with our readers.  If you are anything like me, once the off season starts I begin to correct any issues I may have had the previous year.  If you had problems or were not impressed with your current sabot for your inline muzzleloader then I'd highly recommend using these.  I've been hunting with a CVA Accura .50-cal for the past few years and started out by using the CVA slick load 300-grain sabots.  Although these CVA sabots loaded easily and grouped nicely at 100 yards, I was not impressed with their performance on game.  There were two deer shot with these sabots and neither had an exit wound.  Having only an entry wound can make tracking a hit animal difficult, especially in the South where we rarely have the pleasure of tracking in the snow! 
 
After seeing the Hornady sabots in the local sporting goods store one afternoon I went home and did some research.  I found that others were really impressed with these new bullets so I went back the next day and picked up two boxes of them.  Then came a trip to the range the following weekend.  I was happy with their performance on paper as only minor adjustments were needed to get them grouping literally on top of each other.  I also had the pleasure of taking three deer this past season with these bullets and with the results I won't be changing for sometime now!  Every one of the shots resulted in a pass through and the lethality was exceptional as each of these animals dropped within 50 yards or less of where they were shot.  I was shooting the 300-grain sabots and had my rifle zeroed at 100 yards as most of my shots are within that range.  If you look at the ballistics for this bullet they are very impressive.  Hornady recommends to zero them 3 inches high at 100 yards, making your shot at 200 yards be 3 inches low.  That's a 6-inch spread from 0 to 200 yards...not bad if you ask me for a muzzleloader!  I plan to get back to the range and do as suggested by Hornady so I can be more comfortable with a longer shot this coming year if one presents itself to me.  If you want to take a look at the ballistics for yourself you can find them here.
   
-Paul Nicolucci

When I purchased my Browning BPS about two years ago I wanted to take full advantage of the rifled barrel.  Having never used a rifled barrel on a shotgun before, I started to do my research.  I talked to friends and family who use sabot slugs as well as did a ton of reading online.  I settled on Lightfield slugs.  I wanted to be able to reach out to 100+ yards and still have great knock down power.
I decided to try the Hybred-Elite 3" sabot slug and I have never looked back! One of the great things about Lightfield is they list their ballistics on their website and the box, which allows you to sight in your slug gun more easily.  For the Hybred-Elite 3" slugs, it is recommended that you sight-in at 50 yards and ensure that you are shooting about 2.5 inches high at this distance.  Once you have 50 yards set it will ensure that you are dead-on accurate at about 125 yards! 

Now you might say "125 yards? That's it?". Well remember we are talking about a slug gun here...sure, modern day rifles shoot well over that distance, but where I do a lot of hunting in Upstate New York you can't use a rifle so you have to get the most of your shotgun!  Remember traditional slugs out of a smooth bore shotgun barrel are most effective inside of about 60-75 yards;  Yes you can take longer shots and many have been successful, but your accuracy starts to deteriorate.

Back to the Hybred-Elite slugs: I've used these for two seasons now and have had great success.  These slugs are very accurate, I can shoot 1 inch groups at 50 yards and they perform the same at 100 yards and beyond. Also, as advertised their knockdown power is unbelievable; the best I've seen in a slug yet.  They expand and do maximum damage to the game you are shooting.

Now I'm not done yet!!!  Lightfield has also developed what they call Same Site Accuracy.  Same Site Accuracy allows you to sight your gun in with the Hybred-Lites and they guarantee that you can shoot two other slugs and have the exact same performance!  That's one sight-in session and three slugs to choose from for your different hunting needs.  They have this available for 12 gauge and 20 gauge slugs!  Now even though some of the slugs have lower velocities, where one goes the others will go as well.  The slugs available are : Hybred-Elite 3", Hybred-Lites - which are reduced recoil and the most accurate out of rifled choke tubes, and the Hybred Exp which is the standard slug in 2 3/4".

Let's talk price.  The Hybred-Elites run about $14 a box, Hybred-Lites $13, and the Hybred-Exp come in at $13 as well.  These are by no means cheap slugs but they really do perform as advertised. Lightfield also has another line of ammunition they call the Commander IDS Plus Series.  These slugs are available in 12 and 16 gauge and are a high velocity, stable slugs that are made for larger game at long distances.  They offer one of the only available 3 1/2 inch slugs on the market (whoa!).

Ok, so now I'll get off my soap box, but I honestly do recommend these slugs to anyone looking for a good sabot slug for their rifled shotgun!  Now I do need to give a bit of a warning:  Although the knock down power of the 3" slug is great, it does pack quite the punch to the shooter in the form of kick when shooting these bad boys!  The kick is not unbearable and I never notice it while hunting, but if you are planning to shoot multiple boxes in the back yard during a sight-in or practice session, you might get a sore shoulder.

Has anyone used these slugs before?

-Paul Nicolucci