# 150 Grains of Pyrodex



## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

I have been using Pyrodex pellets. Can a Thompson Center Black Diamond with a .209 conversion handle 150 grains of pellets? Does anyone shoot this for a flatter trajectory?


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

First thing I would do is read this if you haven't already. http://stevespages.com/pdf/thompsoncenter_black_diamond.pdf That's a hefty load for sure, be careful but it does say on page 53 that it can handle a 150gr charge as a max load if your not using sabots. If you are, than according to page 56 100gr is max load. Than again on page 60 it says if you use Mag Express sabots you can use 3 pellets lol.

I always ended up having a ton of unburned powder when I used 150gr. I did some research and found even with a 26" barrel the max that seems to burn efficiently is about 110gr. I'm not sure what the barrel length is on that gun but if its under 28" I would say you will not be burning all that powder. What you will find is your barrel gets real dirty real fast. Try some BH 209 if you can find it, much better powder, cleaner burning and generates greater velocities with smaller charge.


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## meltedsnowman (Jun 1, 2012)

IMO 150 gr. is too much, especially with pellets. You will have to clean after 2 shots, they leave so much unused powder behind. With 110 gr. of bh 209 you can reach 2k fps if that's what your after, and there is A LOT less fouling. With any loose powder, when its fired you burn more of the powder resulting in flatter trajectories, higher fps and less fouling than with pellets. I think bh 209 is widely regarded as the cleanest burning powder. I have almost a full box of pellets that I will never ever use. A friend recommended I switch to loose powder which I did, it made such a difference in accuracy for me. I also feel a magnum load is extreme overkill. Much more accuracy from smaller charges In my experiences.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

I tried 3 pellets in my TC once... no twice. The first shot knocked my hat and glasses off. For the second shot I held on tighter, same results. I then decided I wasn't going to do that to me no more.


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## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

Shoot it through a chronograph, it will show that you loose velocity


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## dark_cloud (Oct 18, 2010)

120 or 130 will shoot faster with a sabot, then 150. Too much pressure will melt the plastic and create blow by. I didn't believe it either, until I was proven wrong. After 2 hours of testing numerous loads, they all showed the same thing in two different guns, short and long barrels.


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## 270win (Sep 16, 2010)

I have the Black Diamond XR and have shot 150 gr many times but prefer to 120 gr in it though shoots good groups at 100 yds it has the 26 inch barrel


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

More than 120 grains or so you get diminishing returns. I think it's a combination of pyrodex burning slowly and your barrel getting effectively shorter each time you add another pellet. I don't have a Black Diamond but I do have an Omega that I've done plenty of testing with. 120 grains gets me right around 2050 fps with a 250 grain sabot, 150 grains gets me up around 2150. Those velocities are close enough that I'm not so much concerned about velocity as I am accuracy. My gun shoots the 120 grain load very accurately, whereas my buddy's Encore shoots the 150 grain load more accurately. 

I will probably try out some BH209 loads this year to see if I can find an accurate load with that. It stands to reason that you will get better velocity out of BH209 since it's actually smokeless powder with a little added smoke. It's capable of producing far higher pressures than any of the traditional black powder substitutes. It needs to be treated like smokeless too....work up in small increments!


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