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Many years ago, before the brucellosis and tuberculosis eradication (BTEC) shoot-out, stray buffalo regularly wandered into mango plantations and small rural blocks around the outskirts of Darwin, capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. Large-bore centrefire rifles were not really a safe proposition due to the relative closeness of neighbours, so the usual 'medicine' was either Brenneke slugs or S&B 'S-Ball Plastik' from the 12-gauge. The latter were also favoured by law enforcement due to their effectiveness on car doors and alloy engine-blocks!

Unfortunately our importers don't seem to want to bring any decent solid slug-cartridges into the country any more, offering only Foster-style hollow slugs that are ineffective on large animals.

Some time ago I tested some S-Ball in my double-slugger, but didn't report the highly variable results at the time as I thought the powder must have begun to deteriorate, and I only had one packet.

Here's what happened:
Four shots over the chrono were R1=1193fps; L1=1350fps; R2=1223fps; L2=1324fps. Vertical dispersion at 25 metres was around 4 1/2 inches. There was noticeable difference in felt recoil between shots, the first shot seeming like a .22 rimfire! A fair amount of partially-burnt powder remained in the barrels after shooting. As far as I know the test cartridges were 'new' in about 1996 and had been stored in an air-conditioned building ever since. They are paper hulls, however. The slugs themselves are solid brass or bronze affairs, fully enclosed in a non-discarding plastic sabot integral with a large plastic base-wad.
I was surprised at these results because the slugs had a very good reputation back in the 'buffalo days'.

Anyway, my friend has passed me another box of S-Balls to test, so I will send a few more over the chrono when the weather permits and report back here. Perhaps the earlier test was on a bad batch. Also, I intend to mic everything and check slug and sabot diameter relative to the bore dimensions. Perhaps the base-wad is not expanding consistently to seal the bore. Maybe the plastic has 'hardened' over time? Many questions to explore: stay tuned!

Meanwhile, any of our Northern Hemisphere colleagues shooting the S-Ball Plastik? Any results to compare? Do Sellier & Bellot still offer this load?

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Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
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www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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