MOTurkeyTamer

Howdy to all! I believe this is my 1st post on the BP forum but surely won't be my last. Reason being is because ole Santa (my wife) left me a 50 cal. T/C Black Diamond XR, blued w/ camo stock under the Xmas tree this morning. Gotta love a wife like that! Anyway, just wondering what some of you have used in your Black Diamonds with good results. I am sort of leaning towards 777 pellets and Powerbelt bullets for the first time out with it, but I'm open to any and all suggestions since I haven't purchased anything yet. I have the feeling I'm gonna wish I'd have gotten one of these a long time ago! Thanks and Happy Holidays to all!!

Triple Se7en

Like every magnum T/C inline with a 1-28" twist, your rifle likes almost any kind of sabot/bullet between 180 & 375 grains. If you have one that sprays a sabot/bullet too much, simply change the plastic sabot manufacturer (Harvester?MMP) by purchasing one of their 50-packs. The optimum bullet weight (in my opinion) is 300 grains. The optimum powder volume varies. There are a suprising number of T/Cs that shoot 3-pellet loads well -- but starting at 80 grains & working yourself upwards until groups spread is still the best method if you intend on sticking with only one style bullet.

With conicals, the short lightweight ones (245-275 grains) shot well with around 100 grains FF while the real heavies (370-490 grains) performed best between 110-120 grains FF for us last month hunting.

herman

I would try the new Hornady or T/C shockwaves in 250 grs and 100 grs of pyro.Brother shoots this in his.

1950KID

I'd try the loose 777. You can vary the amounts.

GOBBLER TRACKS

A knight 50 caliber wolverine black synthetic blued barrel, i am new too here to but i regard these guys on this forum as experts, i think we can all get good advice and learn valuable things from them, god bless you all.

cayugad

I got a T/C Black Diamond XR .50 caliber a little over a week ago and have been throwing about any load down it I could find or try. Some worked great, others were almost impossible to load. You will need to be ready to swab between shots except for certain projectiles.

The Hornady .45 caliber 300 grain XTP loaded so hard I broke the small sabot head off the small starter, trying to push it down into the barrel past the starter part of the barrel. And yes, I was swabbing between shots, and this happened when putting the second shot down the barrel. [:'(]

100 grains of Pyrodex RS and .44 caliber 240 grain T/C Cheap shots worked beautiful. They not only shot great but loaded much better then the other sabots. The grouped very tight, and it was possible to load the second shot without a swab. A little more work and this might make a great hunting load.

100 grains of Pyrodex RS and the .45 caliber 250 grain T/C Shockwaves off the bench rest at 25 yards (sighting in the scope) had one problem, it was hard to see where one hole ended and the others began. I think this will be my hunting load. Groups were unbelievable tight. The second shot was hard to start, but once you got it going it went down fine. I could load this without swabbing as might be the case in a hunting situation.

A real shocker was the 370 grain T/C Maxi Ball .50 caliber conical. This rifle loved them. I shot them with 100 grains of Pyrodex RS and 120 grains of Pyrodex RS and the groups were fantastic, and no real difference with the additional 20 grains. They loaded like a dream. I forgot to use a wonder wad, and intend to shoot the rest of them with a wonder wad between the powder charge and the conical. This would make a fast loading second shot if the need was ever really there. You could almost load them without the short starter and using the ram rod only.

I am waiting for the Percision Bullet .45 caliber 300 grain Silver Lightening Green Tips to come. I have some Harvester Sabots to shoot them out of. They remind me of the Shockwave in apperance. If they shoot like the shockwave they will be a real keeper.

I am going to re-try the Hornady .45 caliber 300 grain XTP's with a different sabot and see if it makes the loading any better. I have not gotten my hands on PowerBelts but do intend to get some and try them also.

Keep me posted on how your rifle is doing. Perhaps we can learn a few pet loads from each other...

Good Luck. I really like the rifle so far. It is a real pleasure to shoot!!! I put a Bushnell Banner 1.5 X 4.5 power dusk to dawn scope on it, and it is really working out great. This is going to be a great hunting rifle.

1950KID

90 grains of 777 and a 300 grain XTP

MOTurkeyTamer

Cayugad, that was a real informative post. Looks like you have been doing some shooting with your new T/C. I really like the looks of mine, can't wait to try it out but it's going to be a while yet. I'm in the process of picking out a scope and mounts for it first. Just thought I would pick everyone's minds a little bit in the meantime to see what kind of loads have been working for them. I'll keep you informed of my results when I do get out to shoot it though.

RIStrutStopper

Good info in this thread. I had similar experiences as Cayugad with cheap shot and 300 grain Hornadys, but with 777 loose powder. It is my experience with my T/C Black Diamond XR that 300 grain Hornady XTP bullets load hard after the first shot. I haven't had too much trouble loading them as long as I swab between shots. The T/C 240 grain cheap shot loads much easier and I have shot multiple times without swabbing. I'd also go with loose powder. I've been using 90 grains of 777. Pretty much the same load as 1950 kid is what I've been using lately.