diyj98

I' ve got a TC Black Diamond that I can' t get to shoot any better than 8" or 10" groups at 100 yards. I know these guns have a better reputation than that. It' s not me. I' ve benchrest shot for years and have shot rimfires, magnums, other people black powder rifles, etc. I' ve tried from 100 grains up to 150 grains of Pyrodex and Thompson sabots and Hornardy sabots with a Hornady 180, 200, and 240 grain 44 magnum bullets. I finally settled on 100 grains of powder and the 240 grain Hornady sabot, but I' m still looking at 8" three shot groups at 100 yards.

What loads are other Black Diamond shooters using?? I guess there' s a chance I just got a bad barrel.

My normal procedure is to wipe the excess bore butter from the bore before firing the first shot so my barrel is as clean and dry as possible. I' ll then clean with wet patch then dry patches after every third shot.

trac209

Ok in my opinon here is your mistake using bore butter with a saboted bullet thats a no no.Try just shooting the gun untill the bullets are hard to load,which should be at least 5 shots ,I can shoot all day without cleaning I use 200 gr hornady with high pressure sabots.I don' t know what the weather is like there so try and shoot with the barrel cool.If you are using a scope don' t keep adjusting it over and over,get the gun to shoot right than adjust your scope or sights acordingly.hope this helps.

RandyWakeman

Absolutely clean your barrel, removing all traces of that nasty rendered animal fat and wax, artifically colored and perfumed nonsense called " Bore Butter."

A .44 / 50, 300 gr. green saboted " Dead Center" pushed by 90 grains of Pyrodex to start with should vastly improve your situation.

lonewolf5347

diyj98 I HAVE A T/C THUNDEHAWK IN 54 CAL. I YET HAVE NOT FOUND A SABOT BULLET MADE BY PERCISION THAT DID NOT SHOOT CLOVER LEAF GROUPS AT THE 100 YARD TARGE.I WOULD THINK THAT THESE TWO GUN ARE PRETTY CLOSE THE WAY THEY ARE DESIGN A QT40 235 GRAIN WITH ABOUT 100 GRAINS OF LOOSE PYRODEX SELECT WOULD GET YOU OFF TO A GOOD START
CHECK OUT THERE WEB SITE ALSO CABELAS SELL THEN IN CALLED EXTENED RANGE SABOT http://www.prbullet.com/

M38

I use bore butter as a protectant in my Black Diamond after cleaning and have no problems at all. The load I use is 100 grs of Pyrodex and Nosler 250 gr sabots and it shoots great.

RIStrutStopper

Maybe try loose powder, starting with about 80 grains and working up. I' m currently using 90 grains of T7. Unfortunately, I have only sighted in to 50 yards this year due to time constraints, but don' t expect any shots further than that anyway...

diyj98

Thanks for everyone' s input. I don' t use the bore butter for lubricant. Only to protect the barrel between shooting sessions.

I did notice my sabot slide in very, very easy. I think the sabots might be outrunning the rifling. I may pick up some sabot designed for 45 caliber bullets and see if this gives me a tighter fit. Actually I' ll probably just sell the thing and pick up the Savage 110ML and shoot smokeless powder.

M38

Smokeless powder isn' t legal in VA during muzzeloader season - if it were I would buy one of those Savage 110ML in a heart beat!

trac209

Using a sabot for a 45 cal will actually give you a looser fitting load because the sabot is thinner due to the fact it is made for a larger bullet diameter.To make the load tighter you would use 45 cal bullet in 44 cal sabot although I don' t recommend that.Your bullet should not be that loose unless your barrel is very worn.Just lose the bore butter and you' ll be fine no need to give up on blackpowder.As for the savage smokeless rifle it is no more accurate than your blackpowder,it just shoots farther.Don' t forget it is also illegal to use during many muzzleloader seasons.

Silens_Venator

I had the same problem when I first started " fooling" around with my Black Diamond last year. The " solution" that I came up with was to toss the sabots, lower the powder charge to 100 grains, and load the 245 grain Aerotip Powerbelts.
All of that, coupled with a minor scope adjustment or two brought the groupings to under 3" at 100 yards. I' m dead on at 50 yds.... just what the doctor ordered.