baldman

I am a new black powder shooter. I was using 95 grains of 777 powder and Maxi-Hunter 350 grain bullets. The rifle I'm using is a TC black diamond with peep sights. My target was set at 25 yards. I was bench rest shooting.

I was all over the target. 6 -7 inches. I have no idea what I was doing wrong. The rifle's trigger is very smooth. I am an experienced high power rifle shooter and have never had this problem before.

At a hundred yards with my 30-06 I can shoot 1" or better.

Any help will be appreciated.

cayugad

It might not be you at all. Perhaps your rifle does not like that powder charge or that projectile. What other projectiles have you tried other then the Maxi Hunter? Of those did you have better results? Is there a reason why you shoot the maxi hunter and not some other projectile?

Why don't you try using 70 grains of Triple Se7en FFg and the Maxi Hunter and see if the groups do not get tighter. You might also want to put a wonderwad between the powder charge and the projectile and see if that does not make a better group.

If you can shoot sabots where you hunt, then get some 250 grain T/C Shockwaves and load 100 grains of Triple Se7en and shoot them. I get excellent results shooting the Shockwaves out of my T/C Black Diamond XR.



I also have great luck shooting 460 grain No Excuses Conicals with 80 grains of Triple Se7en out of the Black Diamond XR. If where you hunt you are required to shoot conicals this would be the way I would go (or at least try).

Some other good loads are the 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB with 100 grains of Goex 2f. I shoot outstanding groups.

Hope this helps. You have a great shooting rifle there.

C. Davis

Baldman,
At 25 yards, it doesn't get much worse than 6-7 inch groups. At 100 yards, you can multiply that by 4 and you have a 24 to 28 inch group. If you can call that a group.

If you are consistent with your loading, and your barrel is not excessively fouled from shot to shot, then I would say that your gun does not like the Maxi-Hunters.
My dad has a T/C Hawken that shoots a 385 gr. Buffalo Bullets very well. My T/C Hawken hates them.
My groups never got really tight until I learned to seat my bullet with the same amount of pressure every time. From measuring the powder, to seating the bullet try to do it exactly the same way every time.

Try several different loads. At 25 yards it usually doesn't take long to start making jagged holes in your target with a muzzleloader.

C. Davis

Triple Se7en

First of all, you bought a sabot gun with a fast twist. Normally, 350 gr conicals are fond of slower, medium twists from 1-38 to 1-48". Your rifle will shoot a conical well out to 100 yards, but the optimum conical bullet size to accomplish this is 430-460 grains.

Despite all this, you should still be getting pretty decent groups out to 50 yards with your combination of twist & bullet. Cayugad's mention of around 70-75 grains 777 is sound advice. So is a clean, dry barrel with no patched lubes like Bore Butter in your barrel. The lube that's on the Maxihunter is all the lube you need.

Swab your bore every 2nd shot with Windex to start.... one dry patch after each swab using both sides of the patch. The idea is to keep your bore just a tad dirty. Most muzzleloaders shoot better/more consistent with a fouled bore.

Also make sure your powder is not old or moisture-driven.... that will affect consistency & accuracy. Powder must be poured slowly for best results & bullet seated with the same hand force every time. Make sure your open sights or scope is tight. If the scope is a used model, remove & replace it for troubleshooting purposes.

You should also consider another bullet to try & possibly a wonderwad between the powder & bullet. Lead Powerbelt conicals are cheap to purchase at ...
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com
Your Bl. Diamond shoiuld shoot the 295 grain good. If you desire a sabot, start off with the T/C Cheapshots 240 gr. with around 90 grains of powder.

Lead Powerbelts are around $11.50 for 20 at that site. Click on "sabot/bullets" to find them after clicking on muzzleloading. Why they are listed under sabots instead of conicals is a real mystery to me. Also make sure your new bore is really clean. Most blackpowder solvents are weak.... use Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber Two In One, Butch's Bore Shine or Shooters Bore Cleaner. Use one patch of solvent - one dry patch - one patch of gun oil - one dry patch..... keep repeating this step until clean.

Accomplish all this & you should be on the right track to success. Good luck & keep us informed!

QTompkins2005

Very impressed cayudad, nice group. Other than the "oops" of course [8D]. Just wondering what a fouling shot is though?

rick_reno

I was shooting the same bullets using Pyrodex that day with Baldman (he's my neighbor), with the same gun. I had very good groups. Cayugad asked why were we using Maxi-hunters? Because that's what we found on sale at Wal-Mart. Finding a good selection of bullets here in N. Idaho has proven to be difficult.

cayugad

I have two different rifles that always throw the first shot from a clean barrel just a little bit off of where the others will hit. If I do not specifically fowl the barrel I get a first shot flyer. Some projectiles are not all that bad. Others are terrible. I have learned to combat the first shot flyer by fowling the barrel or as told by another poster I added a touch of bore butter to the end of the sabot of the first shot and that brought the group much more in line.

My Knight Wolverine will commonly throw the first shot almost an inch an a half to the right and at 2 o'clock. All the rest will be right on the money. With patched roundballs this is not so apparent. They do not seem to fly with the first shot as often although I have one ball rifle that will throw the first shot off a clean barrel.....

cayugad

I can well understand that. I live in an area of the State where there are no sporting good stores within 40 miles of me. Any large city is a two hour drive. So lack of shooting projectiles is common. Especially this time of year because the Wal Mart sold off all their stock of T/C Cheap Shots, XTP's and Shockwaves.. I know, I bought them....

My rifle will shoot the maxi ball well out to about 75 yards. After that, they start to spread open. REAL conicals do well. I order most of my projectiles on line now. It is easier to answer the door then drive all over the place...

Good luck with your rifles.. they are good shooters....

Roskoe

I have a couple of Black Diamonds and, like Rick Reno, have had pretty good luck with the 350 gr. Maxi-Hunters using Pyrodex Select. I use 100 grains with a Wonder Wad at the base of the bullet. Either of my BD's will shoot 3" to 4" at 100 yards with this load. It performs pretty good on deer sized game.

To be honest, I can't recall any MZ bullet ever shooting as badly as 6" to 7" at 25yards. Have a snub-nose five-shot .38 that will shoot that well . . . . Got to be something whacky going on here.

QTompkins2005

So does that mean you don't clean your barrel between shots cayudad? You leave the fouling in the barrel?