Well, I was able to do some shooting, and ran into some surprises.

First let me say that I was only interested in trying out Black Mag3 today. Iwanted to see if it lived up to its billing on the lack of residue. In a word: YES. No crud ring, and very little residue. And after the session, very easy clean up. Beats 777 hands down in that regard.

Next I wanted to see how my Omega liked it. I had serious doubts at first. First I tried the lauded 460 grain No Excuses bullets and they did not perform well at all in my Omega!!! I fired 5 different 3 shot groups using 80, 85, 90, and 95 grains of BM3. My groups from 25 yards were HUGE. The best group I got was over 5 inches. I also tried both winchester and CCI 209's.

By this time I was pretty well disgusted, but I didn't know if it was the BM3 or the no excuses that my gun didn't like. So I then shot some 444 grain powerbelt flat nose bullets. I shot 6 bullets using 90 grains of BM3, and CCI primers.At that point I had to head for the house. However, this group was great. 5 of the six were touching and the sixth was about 1 inch away. I feel confident that I should be able to tinker with this combination and come up with a hunting load.

I may be the first person that has not gotten good results with No excuses, and they might very well do great with another powder. However, if I can get good accuracy with powerbelts, I will probably stay with BM3.

I have heard only good things about No excuses, so I am not sure why they did so poorly with my gun/powder combo.

I had the same results with BM3 and the NE conical. With 777 I get 1.5" or less at 100 yards. In my gun the BM3 works well with lighter bullets but does not with the big NE's. Next time I want to try it again with a wad/bore button under the NE to see if that helps. I just wish the wind would stop blowing so I could.

I get my best groups when shooting No Excuse Conicals with a very fast powder like Triple Se7en, Pyrodex P, or Goex 3f. Perhaps the BM3 does not get them started out as fast or something.. My Black Mag 3 will be here this month and I am looking forward to shooting it.

I shoot the Hornady Great Plains 385grand the T/C Maxifrom my Omega's and FireStorm 1:28" riflingwith BM'3 powder and they shoot excellent with around70-90 grains powder. I also use wonderwads over the powder. I have noticed that if I push conical's too fast, they strip the fast 1:28" and shallow .005" rifling of the Omega. This happens regardless of what powder I shoot (BM'3, 777 or Swiss BP). When I start stripping the rifling, I also start leading the bore and then I need to clean with a copper/lead solvent.

Just a thought, but arethe No Excuses a slip-fit or a rifling engaged conical?

I've not shot the NE conical and I've heard nothing but good things about them.

If rifling engaged, then perhaps your loading procedure might need some attention. I give non-slip-fit conical's a short "smack" with a short starter to "engage" them into the rifling. Then seat the rest of the way with the ramrod.

Otherwise thenrifling conical"pushes" into the rifling which affects accuracy.

I would also try them with a wad over the powder.

Tahquamenon

The no excuses definately engage the rifling and I may should have done what you suggest. However, I spoke with the guy who makes them and he said to simply start them with your thumb and then seat them with the rod, which is what I did. The funny thing was that in spite of the BM3 being very residue free there were two spots in my barrel that the no excuses were hard to get by. The first was about 1/2 way down and the second was just above the powder. This was fairly consistent. Could be I need to do a thourough cleaning for leading. However, I had an 18 inch round target at 25 yards, and some of the bullets did not even hit the target. Not sure that would make that much difference, especially when the powerbelts hit so consistently..

Not sure either...

Do the NE's shoot well with 777 or some other powder?

One thought: The Omega has a false muzzle (T/C's QLA) perhaps if you are thumb starting them you are not yet engaging the rifling as you are still in the false muzzle with the conical? Perhaps a tap with a short starter thereafter?

Tahquamenon

I have Z5 I experanced similar results, tried APP [Iam trying all the new powders]
and Gold [I have Pinnicle have not got to it yet] with the APP and Gold[ I can not tell any differance between them except price and color]
They shot good; I am inclined to believe from the lead in the barrel the BM3 that it was so fast it strip the rifleing even with light loads.It might work better with a gun that had deep rifleing, the Omega is more or less designed for sabots I think.