Great day with the Black Diamond

[Confederate rifleman]

My .50 cal Black Diamond XR has been very impressive in the accuracy department since I bought her last July. With an aperture rear sight , she was given 3 rounders at 100 yards in the 1 1/2 to 2 inch range but occasionally she tosses me a bone with an incher or sub incher. I switched from Triple 7 to Swiss black and accuracy and consistency improved significantly.
Yesterday, I shot a decent group but pulled a couple flyers so I decided to get serious. I saw the first round hit but didn't spot the other 2 so I took a walk. Well, the other 2 really crowded the first round and the group measured ( center to center) 5/16ths of an inch, 3 shots 100 yards. The load specifics are .45 caliber 250 grain Hornady XTP in Harvester Crush Rib sabots over 70 grains of 3f Swiss black powder ( weighed charges) lit by CCI musket caps.Velocity of this load is 1540 fps( chrono'd). I LOVE a good rifle!

 

[Reese]

Good shooting. Sounds like you found the sweet spot.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Finding good loads for this rifle was easier than any other rifle I've ever owned , breech or muzzleloader. The only mods I've done to her were adjusting the trigger, putting a walnut stock on her and glass bedding it. Other than that she's stock.
I was very surprised that Swiss black , although not as powerful grain for grain as Triple 7, was more accurate,consistent and just as easy to clean as T7. The shot to shot velocity variations with T7 were generally in the 70-100 fps range. But Swiss ranges from 3 to 35 fps. Black is also alot less picky about seating pressure than T7 and it also gives ( properly stored) practically indefinate shelf life AND ignites very easily.

 

[Reese]

Where in South East PA are you finding Swiss black powder?

 

[flounder]

Fantastic shooting with the BD. I would love to find a walnut or laminated stock for mine. Do you mind if I ask where you found a walnut stock?
Thanks, Art

 

[cayuga]

I shot my Black Diamond XR with lots of different black powders and have to agree with you. With black powder and the right sabot/bullet combination my Black Diamond XR is just plain old accurate.

I don't have a fancy stock, just that black composite it came with. I also have a 1.5-4.5x32mm Bushnell Scope on it, but I can tell you.. at 150 yards it will lay them into a pie plate all day long. Normally with conicals I shoot 85 grains but depending on the sabot, I go up to as much as 120 grains of loose.

 

[Banerbird]

I can't agree with you guys more with the BD accuracy. My XR with 100gr 77 pellets and a 240gr XTP w/ MMP sabots will shoot the exact same hole @ 50 yds and a ragged hole @ 100yds all day long. I've also shot 130gr 777 and a 300gr Gold Dot with amazing accuracy, but I wasn't crazy about the kick. I bought an Encore, so I sold it a few years ago :cry: under the condition that the guy never sells it to anyone but me. Well, I bought it back last year. I also bought a std BD. I'm excited to get to the range. I'm going to try 130gr 777 with a 270gr Gold Dot for the XR and 100-110gr 777 with a 240gr Gold Dot.

Both are topped with a Nikon ProStaff 2-7x.

OH.. Even though my Encore shoots awesome (1" groups @ 100yds w/ 130gr 777 and a 270gr Gold Dot), it never shot as tight consistent groups as the XR. So I'm selling it to a guy I work with. Maybe I'll sell it under the same conditions as I did on the XR . It does weigh a lot more, but man does it shoot. I guess I've been lucky with what I've bought from TC. Both the BD XR and the Encore shoot great and aren't very picky. My Dad bought a TC Wildcat (essentially a BD) from Cabelas several years ago and it shoots awesome as well with 110gr 777 and a 200gr XTP. My cousin has it now and won't sell it for anything.

The guy I bought the std BD from has never been a big TC fan and leaned more toward Knights. He got 3 std Black Diamonds (2 used and 1 new) and sold me the new one. Between the time I last talked to hima dn the time I picked up the one I bought, he had gone to the range with the 2 used ones. When I got mine from him, he commented on the amazing accuracy and weight. He said "I think I'll have to keep one or both of them."

 

[Lee 9]

My System One has the same mechanism as a BD the only difference is that the barrels are interchangeable it like Swiss in the 50caliber and pyrodex in the 54 caliber, my 2 Hawkins and my Renegade also like Pyrodex but the under hammer likes Goex, my Omega ,Triumph and Endeavor all shot Blackhorn 209 the best by far. All of them will shot reasonable with 777 but none of the like it best and I don't like the crud ring any way. Lee

 

[cayuga]

I was once talking with some big shots in the tech department at Thompson Center about rifles and loads. He asked my why I had not bought a Omega yet. I told him the day it would outshoot my Black Diamond XR I would consider it. He then started to laugh and said, well you will never own an Omega then. He then told me that the BD might be a fouling dirty, rotten to clean rifle, but few rifles could out shoot one.

My understanding is they had very high quality barrels on them and as we all know, a hammer striker action is very dependable.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Reese, Dixon's in Kempton has Swiss for $25 a pound
Flounder, I got my stock from T/C last September.I called customer service and was told they didn't have any and hadn't made them for awhile.The lady said to" hold on and she'd check with the gunsmiths".She came back and said there was 1 left, for $211.00. You could call, maybe they could find another.
Had an Omega and it was a great rifle.But I cut my inline teeth on a plunger inline( Traditions Tracker 209) and the full length rammer combine with the fact the Black Diamond is legal anywhere an inline can be used made it a painless transition.I remember when 209 primed rifles came out the BATF demanded a Form 4473 because of the " modern 209 primer".If they go back to that crap again , a nipple can be a VERY good thing to have on a rifle!
Glass bedding her was the key to consistency.made a good rifle a great one.