Alternative to 6.5 Grendel?

[SHORT-N-SASSY]

During the course of opening up old files in search of my experience with the intriguing Discarding Sabot option, in the 1970's - 1980's, I came across a large manila envelope enclosing some forty pages of hand-written notes carefully detailing the exact formula of each style used, along with the shooting results during my adventure with lathe-turned sabots. Rarely noted was a "Successful sabot design." The cartridge I chose was the .375-.358 Winchester wildcat. Not yet hooked on the 6.5mm bore, I elected to experiment with 0.224" and 0.243" diameter projectiles.

Decades before Bill Alexander issue his honest edict, "We shoehorned a bigger cartridge into the gun. . . . ,and you are right at the tipping point," I had the good sense to recognize the risks inherent with such a journey into the unknown. Accordingly, the "test bed" consisting of an AR-15 Bolt-Barrel Extension threaded to a 25-inch long barrel with a rifled .0.375" bore, clamped to a horizontal ladder, was fired, remotely, in the secure basement of the home. Given the cartridge chosen, the AR-15 Bolt face was opened up to 0.473" (That veteran of the "sabot wars" is shown standing on its neck, in the center of the image, below, unabashed and unscathed after hundreds of test firings).

More recently, I considered exploring Cal. 50 BMG Discarding Sabot ammunition. However, that project hasn't materialized, as yet.