sorry to keep asking simple questions, but you guys are good.

I decided to go with the t/c black diamond xr. What loads should I start with?

What are good bullets to use? I've seen the ones with the plastic tips. Will those be good? Are the sabots good?

Finally what grain bullet should I use.

I plan on only using this for deer. I am curious to effective range of a muzzleloader, When is to far for a common load to make a quick clean kill.

Again, I apologize for all the simple questions, but thats why were all here right!

thanks guys.

No problem with the questions....

I was shooting my Black Diamond XR today shooting 80 grains of Triple Se7en and a 460 grain No Excuse 460 grain conical. The accuracy was outstanding to say the least. At 50 yards the six shot group was a little bigger then a quarter.No Excuse Bullets

The T/C Shockwaves will shoot excellent out of the Black Diamond. Try the 250 and the 300 grain (yellow aero tips). I have the best luck shooting 110 grains of Triple Se7en FFg powder and the 250 grain. Start out using 100 grains and climb in 5 grain amounts until the group starts to open up. Be sure and swab between shots. It will make loading much easier. Also go to hornady bullets and get an aero tip jag for you ramrod. It will do less damage to the nose of the projectile and give you better accuracy. I am sure there are other sites that sell that jag also. That is where I got mine.

A bullet combination that will really surprise you and is inexpensive to shoot and you can sure hunt with them are T/C Cheapshots. I think they are a 240 grain pure lead bullet with sabot. 100 grains of powder and they are real accurate. They will also clean the clock of a deer from some of the posts I have read. I never shot one with them, but others have.

Hornady 250 & 300 grain XTP's will also shoot good out of the Diamond. In my rifle the best sabots for the Diamond are the T/C mag express. They are the black ones and made for the .451-.452 diameter .45 caliber bullets. Make sure the XTP's you buy are the .451-.452 diameter ones. T/C also sells an XTP and sabot combination that works really good.

The range of the Black Diamond is determined by how far your willing to and able to shoot and place your shot. I have a 1.5 X 4.5 Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn Scope on mine, so I would limit my shots to 150 yards and prefer them at 100 yards or less. I have shot to 200 yards, but even though I could hit a white paper plate, I would not call the bullets sprayed over that plate as acceptable. I have only shot that far twice, just to see if I could do it. At 150 yards I could shoot a respectable group good enough to shoot a deer, but again, I do not practice that far, so I would rather not shoot that far.

With open sights, I would limit my shots to around 100 yards. Again, that will be determined by practice. If I put a 3 X 9 X 40 mm scope on the rifle I think the groups would be much better at the longer distances. Even with a 4.5 power, the bull starts to look real small....

Get a good socket extension 9" is the best, and a 9/16th socket and it makes and excellent breech plug wrench. Be sure and grease the threads with some CVA Slick breech plug and nipple grease or something similar. When you screw the plug in, do not crank it tight. Finger tighten only.... I also give it a turn every 5 or 10 shots to make sure it is no seizing up.... Have fun with your new rifle and keep us posted....

I'm a fan of lead conicals, but you probably didn't buy that XR for lobbing big lead slugs. I would try the T/C 370 gr maxiball just for kicks, but also powerbelts, and probably a sabot or two. I've heard plenty of complaints about reloading difficulty after a few sabots are shot, but its really a one or at most two shot deal wit muzzleloading. I like the idea of a boresized bullet more than a sabot, but to each his own.

I'd start at 80 grains of loose pyrodex and work on up. I don't see the need to go past 100 gr, but some guys do it and have good results. You can probably find a load that works well with most bullets.

As for range, "they" say you can shoot out to 200 yds with 150 gr of powder, but I still haven't shot that far with a rifle, forget about a muzzleloader. I shoot most of my deer at less than 50 because of the places I hunt. My load of a 435 gr maxiball over 100 gr pyrodex really wilts 'em. I would shoot out to 100 yds with that load.

I get good accuracy with the 250 gr Shockwave out of my Omega. It was the first bullet that I tried and it shot awesome the first session.

Thanks for the replies, you guys know your stuff!
On the sabots, what keeps the plastic from melting in the barrel. I would think that the plastic would build up over time?

The plastic is made not to melt, but some does get left behind. I don't use them, but have heard it needs to be removed. BP guns are usually cleaned after each shooting session, and that takes care of it I guess. Not sure if between-shot swabbing is enough to get it out.

The stuff they make the plastic sabots out of will not melt when shot. If you recover some of your sabots, look at the bottom of them at the shot cup. Check to see if there is burned spots (not just powder stuck there) and small fissures where the plastic has actually failed and cracked or split. If there is, that means the load is too hot. You would then need to put a buffer between the powder charge and the sabot to take some of the heat off of it. Or you could change your powders or cut your charge. Another option is to go to thicker sabot if you can. Sometimes for reason of accuracy this is not possible.

This is a good reason for swabbing the barrel between shots. It gives the rifle a chance to cool down and wipes a lot of the crude that would othewise build up in the barrel. Although on a hot day I have had the barrel so hot, you would not want to hold it. I usually shoot a couple rifles on those days and while one rifle is cooling in the shade, I shoot a different one.

You can get a build up of plastic in the barrel of the rifle and it can happen faster then a lot of people think. This can especially on a hot day when your shooting a lot, the barrel has no time to cool down. The result is it the sabot will softened from the heat. The plastic sabot is worn off as it travels up the rifling and it lodges in the lands and grooves of the barrel.

This is why when you clean your rifle, always use a brass bore brush and a quality solvent when you scrub the barrel. It will remove the copper, lead, and plastic fowlings found in the barrel. I use Butch's Bore Shine right now, but prefer Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber. (I ran out and bought some Butch's at Wal Mart... works good actually). Again, remember... after you have used a strong solvent to scrub the barrel it is very important to be sure and coat the inside of the barrel with a quality oil even for short periods of storage. I use Birchwood Casey Sheath. This stuff really works and comes right back out before shooting the next time with a patch soaked in denatured or isopropyl alcohol and windshield washer fluid. Two dry patches then and your ready to shoot.