t/c encore magnum 209/50

[ginoe]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/ginoe/guns/tcencore20950.jpg

50yds, no wind, 47ºF, sunny
9 shots, .50cal t/c cheap shot sabot 240gr lead
80gr blackhorn 209, remington kleenbore 209 primers
spit/dry patch between shots
once i got it on paper & dialed in the iron sights, i'm happy with the results.

[arcticap]

It looks like you got it dialed it in pretty good.
Did the Blackhorn 209 leave the barrel clean enough to not require wiping between shots?
How did you like the BH 209 compared to other powder?

[ginoe]

1st day at the range using 2 50gr triple 7 pellets, forgot to spit/dry patch between shots. managed to get the sabot loaded about 1/2 down the barrel. lucky for me the 2 r/o's have seen this happen before. they brought out a long thin pipe & an axe, took the 3 of us maybe 30-45mins to hammer the sabot down into the breech until it was seated - i shot it out (phew!). i never wanted to repeat that experience again. this was the 1st time shooting a muzzleloader & i was not used to the kick. my shoulder was sore & i think i loosened a few fillings in my teeth :)

i switched to using 100gr pyrodex rs powder, always spit/dry patch between shots. i fell into the trap of 'more is better' & continued using 100gr. kick was really bothersome, so i got a recoil pad. started reading more about 'working up your load' & realized - more is not better. i found that 70gr of pyrodex works well in the percussion hawken.

i read about how you could get away with not cleaning between shots using the bh209 but i did not want to chance it. with the bh209, the spit patch comes out just as black (and stinky) as the others. the r/o says 80gr of this bh209 should be plenty enough for deer.

[arcticap]

I have read actual range reports of 20 shots in a row being taken using Blackhorn 209 without any wiping between shots and other reports have verified taking multiple shots too.
I can understand you not wanting to try it. The black residue shouldn't have been too hard or crusty but still soft enough to ram a sabot down through if necessary.
Keep playing it safe and swabbing and then at least you won't degrade the accuracy or have the sabot get stuck again. :)

[ginoe]

i'm still stung from what happened to me using the triple 7 pellets BUT i've gotten in the good graces with the r/o's at the range - as soon as they see me the teasing starts....'remember, charge before the load...' as i would always forget & they would have to bail me out.

i'm sure the other reports are accurate enough - next time out i will try the bh209 without the spit/dry patch between shots & see what my results are.