Black Diamond 408
Well-Known Member
Last spring I went P dog hunting with Ernie out in Wyo, The pistol needed some upgrades and finally had time to finish them up. The pistol is a Wildcat on the 408 case, shortened and necked
to 30 cal. It was built special to shoot the long High BC bullets from Henson, 211gn Alum tips.
The throat on the reamer was to shallow and didnt have time to fix it before the hunt so just went with 210 smk's.
I ordered a throating reamer and lengthend it so the bullet could be seated boat tail flush with the neck. It needed a bag bar to help ride when shooting from the rest so i made a detachable
bar for the pistol grip.
I had a old Tasco Custom Shop 8-40x56 variable scope laying around and decided to give it a
try on top of this rig. I changed out the 40moa base for a 30moa so i could get a 100yd zero.
Its not a NF but i was surprised on how clear it was even in the bad weather.
I wanted to try some slower powder vs the H1000 and Retumbo (85gns) i was using with the Sierra bullets. I have some US869 that is several notches slower on the burn chart, the 211 HATS I have are the GEN 1 type with a longer baring surface and they have a fatter ogive vs the
new style (GEN 2.5) I filled a case to the top of the shoulder/neck junction and weighed it to see the 100% fill, 96gns. I loaded one case with 90gns and fired through the chrono, it was 2500fps. This gave me a good idea on pressure and speeds with the slow powder.
90gns 2500fps
92gns 2612fps
94gns 2725fps
95gns 2775fps Bolt lift was showing signs of a slight firm lift. So i backed down to 94gns.
I loaded up 5 rounds and went to sight it in. Conditions! Blowing snow, 14 deg. I could see the 100yd target fine but the 500yd target was not visible. Earlier in the day i set up my 1127yd
steel plate, but that will have to wait.
I bore sighted on the 100yd target and fired two rounds, both were touching. I moved the scope 3" right and fired two more shots, both touching. I moved the scope up 1", bullet up 1".
These bullets look very promising. I might be able to push them a bit faster with the Retumbo or H1000, but for now this is a good start.
RG Henson said the new Gen bullet is sleeker and less bareing surface, higher vel will be seen.
My barrel is 20" Lilja 8 twist. Recoil is light with the fish gill muzzle brake, can shoot it with one hand.
The scope rings i had were some cheapo picatinny type, when tightening the cross bolts they
pulled through the alum bases. So i did a bit of re designing. I milled out the small cross bolts and installed 1/4" dia cross bolts that i milled in flats to fit the scope base, now you can torque the heck out of them.
After all the prelim testing we got hit with our 8th blizzard of the season so I decided the gun
will get a make over. It had the US Army digital camo pattern with gray metal work, it got scuffed up a bit while the barrel was in the lathe.
I was going to do a Multicam pattern, but ended up going with a Woodland type pattern. I put my own touch to it, I ended up using 7 different colors of Duracoat paint. I should of taken some pics inbetween coats and stencil changes. After the base colors were done, tans and light browns you put on the first set of stencils, 50% coverage. Then you use the same colors again but alternate light over the dark and vise versa, misting to blend in. Then take a dark brown and very lightly mist over some areas. After it sets up, about 1 hour you then remove the stencils...it looked amazing like that. All kinds of blends and contrasts. A perfect desert camo!
But i wanted a Woodland look with some greens mixed in. So you have to re apply stencils once again, 50% coverage. Then go over the entire stock with dark green and light green, just like you did with the original browns and tan. After it set over night i removed the stencils and i did
not like it, way too much green. So i thought well re stencil it again and go over it with the light, medium and darker browns. When i removed the stencils this time it was perfect, just the right
blend of colors. I could of made a reverse stencil and put in some black and white accents but
decided it looks good enough, besides i was tired of cutting stencils and mixing paint. I did the entire pistol, scope and mounts. Below are a few finished pics of the make over.
As soon as the weather breaks i will run some bullets out to the Long range steel plate.
to 30 cal. It was built special to shoot the long High BC bullets from Henson, 211gn Alum tips.
The throat on the reamer was to shallow and didnt have time to fix it before the hunt so just went with 210 smk's.
I ordered a throating reamer and lengthend it so the bullet could be seated boat tail flush with the neck. It needed a bag bar to help ride when shooting from the rest so i made a detachable
bar for the pistol grip.
I had a old Tasco Custom Shop 8-40x56 variable scope laying around and decided to give it a
try on top of this rig. I changed out the 40moa base for a 30moa so i could get a 100yd zero.
Its not a NF but i was surprised on how clear it was even in the bad weather.
I wanted to try some slower powder vs the H1000 and Retumbo (85gns) i was using with the Sierra bullets. I have some US869 that is several notches slower on the burn chart, the 211 HATS I have are the GEN 1 type with a longer baring surface and they have a fatter ogive vs the
new style (GEN 2.5) I filled a case to the top of the shoulder/neck junction and weighed it to see the 100% fill, 96gns. I loaded one case with 90gns and fired through the chrono, it was 2500fps. This gave me a good idea on pressure and speeds with the slow powder.
90gns 2500fps
92gns 2612fps
94gns 2725fps
95gns 2775fps Bolt lift was showing signs of a slight firm lift. So i backed down to 94gns.
I loaded up 5 rounds and went to sight it in. Conditions! Blowing snow, 14 deg. I could see the 100yd target fine but the 500yd target was not visible. Earlier in the day i set up my 1127yd
steel plate, but that will have to wait.
I bore sighted on the 100yd target and fired two rounds, both were touching. I moved the scope 3" right and fired two more shots, both touching. I moved the scope up 1", bullet up 1".
These bullets look very promising. I might be able to push them a bit faster with the Retumbo or H1000, but for now this is a good start.
RG Henson said the new Gen bullet is sleeker and less bareing surface, higher vel will be seen.
My barrel is 20" Lilja 8 twist. Recoil is light with the fish gill muzzle brake, can shoot it with one hand.
The scope rings i had were some cheapo picatinny type, when tightening the cross bolts they
pulled through the alum bases. So i did a bit of re designing. I milled out the small cross bolts and installed 1/4" dia cross bolts that i milled in flats to fit the scope base, now you can torque the heck out of them.
After all the prelim testing we got hit with our 8th blizzard of the season so I decided the gun
will get a make over. It had the US Army digital camo pattern with gray metal work, it got scuffed up a bit while the barrel was in the lathe.
I was going to do a Multicam pattern, but ended up going with a Woodland type pattern. I put my own touch to it, I ended up using 7 different colors of Duracoat paint. I should of taken some pics inbetween coats and stencil changes. After the base colors were done, tans and light browns you put on the first set of stencils, 50% coverage. Then you use the same colors again but alternate light over the dark and vise versa, misting to blend in. Then take a dark brown and very lightly mist over some areas. After it sets up, about 1 hour you then remove the stencils...it looked amazing like that. All kinds of blends and contrasts. A perfect desert camo!
But i wanted a Woodland look with some greens mixed in. So you have to re apply stencils once again, 50% coverage. Then go over the entire stock with dark green and light green, just like you did with the original browns and tan. After it set over night i removed the stencils and i did
not like it, way too much green. So i thought well re stencil it again and go over it with the light, medium and darker browns. When i removed the stencils this time it was perfect, just the right
blend of colors. I could of made a reverse stencil and put in some black and white accents but
decided it looks good enough, besides i was tired of cutting stencils and mixing paint. I did the entire pistol, scope and mounts. Below are a few finished pics of the make over.
As soon as the weather breaks i will run some bullets out to the Long range steel plate.