Hornady 50 Cal sabotless load

[DHinMN]

I went to the Smokeless Load Data Base to check if anyone has tried the new Hornady 50 Cal, 300grain Flex tip bullet (item 50102) as a sabotless bullet in the ML II. I didn’t see anything so I’ll ask if anyone has. The listed diameter is .500 and I believe that is the same as the land to land measurement of my ML II. I have a number of questions here. Is this something that could be tried or just a bad idea? Would the bullet fit or would it have to be sized down and then knurled up, or just knurled to fit tight. Being it is the same weight as other bullets we shoot with a sabot would the recoil be the same or would it be more? Thank you, DH

[Dave W]

I cut one of those bullets out of a Hornady SST slug round a year or so ago, they lightly engrave in my gun which has a tight bore without knurling, knurling would be needed to shoot it for me. I tried the same bullet in a newer gun that needs a HPH12 for a tight fit for a .452 bullet as opposed to my gun that uses a HPH24, it fell straight to the floor in this gun. Unless you have a very tight bore, I think knurling to some degree will be needed.

[rangeball]

I just posted right before you on this exact idea... Great minds and me think alike

I figure being a lead core, one should be able to size down then knurl back up, the bc is listed as .200 so not terrible, my main concern is terminal performance at smokeless speeds. If it holds up like the 300 gr sst, it just may work