A friend of mine bought a Marlin .50 caliber muzzleloader that looks about 95% T/C Black Diamond. From what I can find out, it was made by T/C for Marlin. It is configured as a #11 ignition system. My questions are does it use the same takedown tool as the Black Diamond and can it be upgraded to 209 ignition with the kit for the Black Diamond? Thanks in advance.
Leon
As far as being interchangeable with the T/C, I don't believe so. I had a Marlin and it's a completely different hammer/plunger design than the T/C.
However, I'm sure it could be converted to 209 if you had access to a lathe to turn a dimple in the plunger face and added a 209 nipple.
That is pretty much what I decided. A friend of mine had a Black Diamond that I polished the bore on, and it looked quite different than the marlin. I was hoping that I was wrong and that it could work. The owner of the rifle runs a seasonal produce stand and somebody came by wanting to sell the marlin. My friend thought it looked like it was a good rifle, so he bought it. The plunder action on those rifles gets really cruddy with #11 caps and he wanted me to look for a 209 upgrade for it. I guess I will call Marlin and ask. Thanks.