Silly thought from a new guy

Probably because it’s all about marketing, seems to be the standard today for these air rifles

I have some sabot rounds in .177 and .22
They fly amazingly well!
Crosman brand.
Gold Flights(.177)
Red Flights(.22)
Fast Flights(.177)

Standardizing barrel AND projectile diameters (SAAMI style): Yes, please!

Sabots: No, thanks. Too much extra cost and then too many plastic bits that would end up littered all over my yard

Pelletini said:

See? And somebody makes them. Toasty, why do you think they are not more widely used? Price?

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Price and "litter"

Pellets are remarkably tolerant of modest variation in barrel land & groove diameter, on account of two key features:

1. minimal contact area - just a small band at the head and at the skirt. So long as the head is large enough to "ride the rails"--meaning skating along the tops of the lands--it is sufficiently supported and will not tip in the bore. Likewise, if the head is 0.001" or 0.002" larger than the lands, it will readily accept the engraving from the lands and be similarly supported in the bore.
2. skirt obturation - pellet skirts are deliberately oversized by a few thousandths, and the pulse of high pressure air causes them to obturate (puff out and conform to the land/groove geometry) and produce a gastight seal.

So for example, a .177 barrel can have lands of 0.175" or 0.176" or 0.177" and be capable of shooting many different pellets well. Holding a tolerance of -0.002 / +0.000 is pretty trivial even for cheaply manufactured barrels.

Slugs, however, are a very different animal. Dimensional matching is much more critical.

Pelletini said:

You might be nervous, but you're on this100%. And Toasty has a good point. I'll sit down and be quiet now....

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Nonsense; asking questions will get answers(usually)/knowledge!

nervoustrig said:

Pellets are remarkably tolerant of modest variation in barrel land & groove diameter, on account of two key features:

1. minimal contact area - just a small band at the head and at the skirt. So long as the head is large enough to "ride the rails"--meaning skating along the tops of the lands--it is sufficiently supported and will not tip in the bore. Likewise, if the head is 0.001" or 0.002" larger than the lands, it will readily accept the engraving from the lands and be similarly supported in the bore.
2. skirt obturation - pellet skirts are deliberately oversized by a few thousandths, and the pulse of high pressure air causes them to obturate (puff out and conform to the land/groove geometry) and produce a gastight seal.

So for example, a .177 barrel can have lands of 0.175" or 0.176" or 0.177" and be capable of shooting many different pellets well. Holding a tolerance of -0.002 / +0.000 is pretty trivial even for cheaply manufactured barrels.

Slugs, however, are a very different animal. Dimensional matching is much more critical.

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Being that amount mass produced i think pretty darn good tolerance kept. Some just a bit better than others.

No doubt, pellet consistency is vital to accuracy. Emphasis on consistency over some specific head measurement. So for example I don’t really care if I order some pellets and receive a tin whose heads measure 0.176” or a tin that measures 0.178”, as long as all in the tin are consistent. And by consistent I mean in every conceivable way…pellets all from the same die, fully formed, geometrically and gravimetrically uniform, symmetric about the center axis, absent of flashing or other molding defects, made from a uniform alloy, undamaged from rough processing/shipping/handling, etcetera, etcetera. Consistent head sizes are merely a useful indicator of consistency more generally, but by no means a guarantee.

In contrast, my barrel simply is what it is. Say, 0.175” lands and 0.180” grooves. It stays pretty consistent I think

I just shoot out of the tin but there are a few thats no doubt a cull like easy undersized .. when one kinda just falls in to the leade on its own thats a cull. Pretty much know the head aint going to engage the rifling .. but overall the group difference is marginal overall.

Yea Hateful Mc Nasty, I follow same advice. That why I will always use a thumb loaded barrel for competitions. You can feel a cull easily. I also have a tiny lens on my key chain. I can use it to magnify a pellet for inspection. The lens is flat but acts like a loop lens.

DonC said:

Yea Hateful Mc Nasty, I follow same advice. That why I will always use a thumb loaded barrel for competitions. You can feel a cull easily. I also have a tiny lens on my key chain. I can use it to magnify a pellet for inspection. The lens is flat but acts like a loop lens.

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Same gun, same pellet over a long time you kinda got the "feel" of it

You would still have a terrible projectile design. Pellets are not exactly the best to squeeze out ballistic performance.

Another problem with sabots is most airguns are equipped with sound suppression devices which would catch the sabot.