Diablo Break Open, 12 Gauge Pistol, Midnight Black

[Open_Wire]

Hmmm...Could it be possible to just use the primer to fire rubber ball "ammo" to chase the deer out of the yard and prevent them eating the landscape?

I've tried spraying the yard with those deer repellants....or as I call 'em, and the deer treat 'em .... gourmet flavor coatings.

Not sure that would have enough power to do much with the rubber ball? Maybe a couple grains of powder behind it?

Or use CB caps out of a .22 perhaps?

I like a slingshot with paintballs.

 

[Alexx1401]

Hmmm...Could it be possible to just use the primer to fire rubber ball "ammo" to chase the deer out of the yard and prevent them eating the landscape?

I've tried spraying the yard with those deer repellants....or as I call 'em, and the deer treat 'em .... gourmet flavor coatings.

May just work. Have you tried a cheap BB gun? Not one of the higher end ones that could wound but the cheap ones we all had as kids? Or even the better air soft guns may do it. They have some of those now for adults to use like paint ball games. A paint ball marker would work too. Damn things hurt to get hit by but they should do no harm a deer. You could tell if the same ones were still coming back after being tagged

 

[albin25]

I'll need to look into the paintball idea over the coming summer, at this point backyard or ("Golden Corral" for deer) has pretty much been stripped now.
This past weekend there must have been a Deer convention in town and they ate everything but a couple pieces of lawn furniture, and the paint off of my garden shed....
....and I think a garden gnome is missing (I think I see signs of a struggle)

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Hmmm...Could it be possible to just use the primer to fire rubber ball "ammo" to chase the deer out of the yard and prevent them eating the landscape?

I've tried spraying the yard with those deer repellants....or as I call 'em, and the deer treat 'em .... gourmet flavor coatings.

Would the primer by itself be enough to fire the rubber ball and have it clear the muzzle...?
I would guess , yes ...but I am not sure that it would have enough "Oompf" to chase a deer away.
If one used a little bit of black powder , I would be concerned with the rubber / plastic ball melting in the barrel or perhaps leaving the barrel while lit up...as in : "Great balls of Fire"....
Andy

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Well made, corned black powder will not degrade with time, unlike smokeless powders. Sometimes black powder metallic cartridges, that were loaded way back in the day, fail to work as expected but that is due to the degradation of the primers and not the powder. The enemy of corned black powder is water. Sitting by itself corned, glazed (polished) black powder will not absorb moisture to any appreciable degree. It is not hygroscopic. Black powder residue IS hygroscopic.

Serpentine powder (the original form of black powder) WOULD degrade with time because it was not corned and therefore it would separate into it's three base ingredients while traveling over bumpy roads. Artillerists, after arriving at the battlefield, would have to remix their serpentine prior to loading their bombards.

Because serpentine was not corned it was relatively slow burning. This was an advantage for handgonnes because it would allow the operator to apply a hand held match to the serpentine that had been placed into the vent and then quickly raise the piece and 'sight' down the barrel before the serpentine in the vent burned through to the main charge.

 

[John Herrin]

I received my Diablo 12 Midnight Black some weeks ago after about a wait of almost 6 months. It became almost a joke to me but when it came it has lived up to the reputation. Currently I'm running #4 buckshot with a 100 grain FF power. I have no problems. The only possible issue I've found, well two issues are, that the grip is not as conducive to one hand as I wished it could be (Small) and that I've not been able to find a holster for it yet. Other than that its an out standing firearm. Muzzle Loader.

 

[timmpls]

Link Diablo Holsters

 

[DLS]

...Currently I'm running #4 buckshot with a 100 grain FF power. ...

Is that correct? The manufacturer recommends 40 grains.

 

[DLS]

I think I'll pass until you can fix a bayonet like my Mossberg 500!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Is that correct? The manufacturer recommends 40 grains.

Good question DLS...100 grains of 2F...seems a bit much in my book.
I only use :
80 grains of 2F in my .54 Caliber Hawken Rifle...
60 grains of 2F in my 20 gauge fowler...

I use 30 grains in my .54 pistol ...
If it was me...I think I'd stick with 40 grains of 2F or maybe even 30...
Andy

 

[timmpls]

Here is an interesting video that shows the 12 gauge Diablo with various loads and the resulting penetration, also comparing ballistics of the Diablo vs 45 acp rounds

 

[Certaindeaf]

Diabolical.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Didn't watch the whole video..did he even show how he loaded it...?

A patch and round ball may make it a bit more accurate...Or maybe trying powder , a over powder shotgun card or wad , then a patched round ball...or the same with a card over the ball....
Smooth bore muzzleloaders can be picky with a round ball loading.


As far as the casting mark on the round ball and accuracy...
In my experience...placing the ball with the casting mark so it faces up towards the muzzle works the best...
With that said...I don't over worry too much about this...and I have won many a shooting match and brought home dinner with hand cast round balls....

A buck and ball load may be fun with this gun as well....

Again even with someone on video usage and 80 grains...I think I would stick with 40 grains or so....
Andy

 

[Lilhigbee]

You would load the "Diablo" like this :
Measure the powder...I'd use 30-40 grains of 2F
Dump the powder down the barrels...
Place your shooting patch on the barrel...put the 12 gauge round ball on the patch , ram the patch and ball down the barrel...repeat for the second barrel...
Or...
Some folks get good accuracy by loading powder , over powder card , lubed shot cushion , patch and ball...
Or....
Powder , over powder card , lubed shot cushion , bird shot / buck shot / buck and ball , over shot card.
Prime with the 209 primers....shoot...repeat the process....

Didn't watch the whole video..did he even show how he loaded it...?

A patch and round ball may make it a bit more accurate...Or maybe trying powder , a over powder shotgun card or wad , then a patched round ball...or the same with a card over the ball....

Andy, you had to know this was coming!!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Yep you can also use the "Sylvester Method"...once....
Andy

 

[tac]

It all depends...
I have seen and shot black powder firearms that were stored for long periods of time.
( Months to decades )
One shotgun that was left loaded , had wads made from newspapers dated in the 1890's...not saying that the gun was loaded then ...but it does make one wonder...

How the gun is stored and just what the lube used is very important to this.
If stored in a dry place without huge temperature changes along with a lube that does not promote rust , then your load will remain "fresh" and viable...
That said...
Black powder will degrade over time and lose its "boomability" , which may result in a load that does not fire when needed...or you could get a "Hang fire"...
Perhaps even a weak "boom" and the projectile just dropping a few feet from the muzzle or getting stuck in the bore.
Or even if stored badly , the gun will still go off just fine , with tragic results....

I have at times stored my hunting guns loaded , during hunting season...if so I always place a strip of red cloth between the ramrod and barrel near the muzzle to remind myself that I have a load in the firearm.
Mostly though I shoot my firearm at a mark or target at the end of a days hunting , then re-load with a fresh charge for the new hunt.
Andy

I can add a true story for that. On a wall in one of our local pubs there was a nice old muzzleloading percussion shotgun that had been there forever, almost. At the turn of the milennium some bright spark though that it would be great craic to shoot it off by way of celebration, so the landlord, who was a real shooting man, unscrewed it off the brackets and went to load it up, but took the precaution of putting the ram-rod down the barrels first. They came up about three inches short...

Nothing daunted, he strapped it to a handy fence post, attached a couple of pieces of handy string to the triggers, capped both nipples up, and walked ten yards away behind a handy dumpster.

Both barrels went off, with showers of newspaper confetti swirling around in the air.

One piece of paper had a date on it - "3 September 1897" - the date of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Late Majesty, Queen Victoria.

So now we know that some BP has a long life - is almost 103 years long enough for ya?

 

[DLS]

Here is an interesting video that shows the 12 gauge Diablo with various loads and the resulting penetration, also comparing ballistics of the Diablo vs 45 acp rounds

Nice backstop used in this test!