Hunter John

I discovered this within the link below:

"Finding a suitable sub-base for the popular .50 caliber is relatively easy. For the past couple of years, a number of Savage Model 10ML II shooters have simply been cutting the gas seal from the rear of a 28-gauge Winchester "AA" plastic shotgun wad, then loading just this cup over the powder charge. The sabot and bullet are then seated right down on top of this. The arrangement works very well, allowing these shooters to maintain great accuracy even when the weather turns hot."

Hmmmmm....wonder how well the home-made 28-gauge sub-base would perform when shooting conicals?? Could this alternative outperform using acouple of Wonder Wads? Is there a need to purchase the MMP sub-bases at all with this easy option available??

Well, what do you guys think?

http://www.gunweek.com/2004/feature0610.html

cayugad

John, I never tried it. But if you do, be sure and post your results. I'd sure be interested in what happens. I just ordered some sub bases and some 410 Great Plains Conicals I want to try out of my Black Diamond XR. I also want to try the sub bases on a couple other loads.

If this idea you are talking about works, it could sure save a bunch of money, and I for one am always in favor of saving a bunch of money...

ENCOREMAN

A good way to trim the petals off the 28ga AA wads is to use a good sharp cigar cutter.It'll save youa lot of time and it cuts very clean (noburr). I haven't given these (home made sub-bases) a good workout yet myself, because I've been busy working on loads for my .45's.If Toby Bridges says it works it's good enough for me.

ENCOREMAN

I was going to make up a little fixture to cut the petals off, but after I tried the cigar cutter, it worked so well that I didn't see a need for making anything.
The cost to make these in minimal compared to purchasing them.

ENCOREMAN

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is what it looks like cutting the petals off with a cigar cutter....nothing fancy and thiscan save you some $$

ENCOREMAN

Nothing like having trouble posting pic. It seems to upload "ok"??

ENCOREMAN

try once more

Roskoe

If you are going to cut off the petals of a Winchester AA 28 guage wad, don't get the red ones. For some reason, they are too thick to get down the bore of .50 caliber gun. The pink ones work fine - but not as good as the MMP sub-base. The MMP was made specifically for this purpose andhas a dome shaped front that matches up very well with the concave rear of most sabots - or, in my case, the concave base of a 410 gr. Hornady Great Plains lead conical.

Hunter John

Roskoe - Before I spend 7.25 plus shipping for only 50 MMP sub-bases, I gotta try the 28 gauge pink wad thing. I can buy 250 AA wads for roughly the same price!! Will maybe try a piece of cotton between the AA home-made base and the sabot / conical in filling the "dead space." Just a thought...

Boy, as soon as one strays for shooting PRBs, things sure do become expensive, don't they? That's probably just as the ML manufacturers want it..eh? Amazes me how most of the stuff on the market today revolves around fast-twist (and super fast twist) rifles. With all the combinations of this and that, a guy could spend half his summer on the range trying to figure out what his ML likes to eat. Again, probably just the way the ML manufacturers want it!! Gosh, I remember when the fastest twist that TC offer in an ML was 1:38. I think that was about 10 or 12 years ago.

Yeah know, the more I think about it, the more inclined I am to purchase a .54 cal in either 1:48 or 1:66 and use strictly PRBs. Sometimes simple is best.

-Hunter John (venting alittle on a slow day at the office)

ENCOREMAN

Winchester