Blackhorns 209

[Wendyj]

I just got a can of this. Have been using 2 fifty grain pellets of pyrodex. It was shooting good groups out of Thompson Center Impact with 250 grain Hornadt sst. According to blackhorns web 100 grains by volume is 70 grains weighed on scale. In tube that is about equivalent of the size of 3 fifty grain pellets. If I put it in volume measure it is 75.5 grains weighed. Anyone have any experience with this powder? Little confused of how much powder to use and don't want to go through cleaning process of pyrodex or triple 7.

[FrontierGander]

powder measures are all over the place. I have one that comes in at 69.9 grains which is close enough. I have 2 others that throw in the 75 grain range which to me is to inconsistent.

70gr weight = 100gr volume with BH209, so you are right on with that.

If you want to figure out lighter charges for example, 70 grains X .7 = 49 grains Weight

[Wendyj]

I was googling a few sites and most sites showed 80 grains by volume would be 2 fifty grain pyrodex pellets. Saw some info of several breech plugs getting clogged and advice was to drill the hole or use paper clip. My breech plug hole is smaller than a sewing needle. I usually soak breech plug at end of the day in dawn and hot water and dry in my brass dryer. Hope soap and water in breech plug not an issue with this powder. I will clean barrel with Montna extreme or Butchs bore shine. My barrel on this rifle doesn't come off so it's a pain to clean. Have to open breech put barrel muzzle in water and draw water up from the bottom. Thought it would be nice to use cleaning solvent verses water.

[NoSecondBest]

All breech plugs will close up to some degree with any powder in a muzzle loading rifle. Blackhorn 209 will close up some after nine or ten shots and your POI will change some due to this. However, every other black powder sub I've tried did it a lot quicker and even to a greater degree......the hole will be completely plugged. Don't get too hung up on a half grain in weight either way when you weigh vs measure. You'd be very, very hard pressed to prove a difference in accuracy due to this little amount. If your breech plug unscrews off the back of your barrel, you can clean BH209 with any solvent such as Hoppe's. It cleans up like smokeless powder. No soap or hot water necessary. One big advantage using loose powder over pellets is that pellets can crack when seating the bullet and this will change the burning rate of the pellet and will effect accuracy. What kind of ML are you using?

[Wendyj]

It's a Thompson Center Impact. Not high dollar but it was shooting really decent groups last year when I zeroed it in with the Pyrodex. Seemed like a decent gun for the money. Time will tell I guess. It is a break action like my husband Encore but his barrel comes off.

[NoSecondBest]

It's a Thompson Center Impact. Not high dollar but it was shooting really decent groups last year when I zeroed it in with the Pyrodex. Seemed like a decent gun for the money. Time will tell I guess. It is a break action like my husband Encore but his barrel comes off.

You have a removable breech plug on your gun, so you don't have to use soap and water to clean it. BZ209 will clean up with any common solvent such as Hoppe's using a wet patch, wire brush, and dry patch. Just like cleaning any other smokeless powder firearm. Go to Home Depot (or any welding supply store) and buy a set of Lincoln torch tip cleaners. They're a set of very fine pics used to clean torch tips. They work great in breech plugs and come in an assortment of sizes. They run a whopping four bucks for the set and will last a lifetime. You can buy a plastic jar of breech plug cleaner that will do a great job of cleaning your breech plug by letting it soak in the solvent while you clean the barrel. It's reusable until and all you have to do is drop the plug in the jar, put the lid on and shake it, and then let it sit for a while. Run the pick in the plug and you've got a clean plug. It's made by Traditions (they make guns also) and it's called Blackout 209. It's pretty cheap also and I'm using the same jar I got two years ago. The good part about loose powder is that you can find the "sweet spot" your gun likes for the most accurate load. Start at 80 grains by volume and work your way up and see what level your gun shoots best at. Your gun is more than adequate, it's really a good gun for the money. It has all the good parts and just doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It's accurate, well made, and it's great for women and young people due to the ability to adjust the stock length. It shoots as well as any of the more expensive models as well. Good luck, hope you get great results with your gun.

[Wendyj]

Got to use the 209 today. Groups were as good as Pyrodex pellets. After getting it zeroed it was printinting sub moa at 100. Cane home and barrel and breech plug cleaned with Butchs bore shine ok. End of muzzle won't come clean. Scrubbed with brushes. All kinds of cleaners. Finally used dawn and water and a bore brush and it's some cleaner but not like the pellets. Got to find another cleaner.

[Wendyj]

Finally got to use the 209. Muzzle season opens tomorrow. Groups all but touching. Cleaned breech plug and ran a dry patch through. Been using 90 grains by volume. 63 grains weighed. Chronographed today and. Average 1695 fps. May try next weekend to up the speed some. My calculater from Caldwell shows energy at close to 1500 give or take at the muzzle using 250 grain SST sabots. Hopefully the deer will be there tomorrow.

[4V50 Gary]

It may be the melted plastic from the sabot that you're having trouble removing. You need a special solvent for that.

[FrontierGander]

If thats the weather shield finish, it just stained. I hate that stuff. Its like having a nickel plated muzzleloader, black powder soot stains the heck out of it and makes cleaning it to look like new impossible.

[Wendyj]

It is weathershield finish. I finally broke down and put some mother’s paste wax on a bore mop and wiped the end where there is no rifling. Same stuff I use to clean stainless revolvers with. Didn’t do much good though. First shot and it was dirty again. Not bad enough that I can’t do the same on next thorough cleaning. Was afraid to use any solvents today since I’m heading off for deer camp now. Just ran a few dry patches to get powder residue out.

[eastbank]

for cleaning my traditions strikefire breech plug I found a 1/16 drill bit and its a prefect fit. a couple twirles with the bit and the channel is clear. it is very small and will be easy to lose. eastbank.

[FrontierGander]

man if you can fit a 1/16" drill bit into the strikerfires flash hole, that plug needs to be replaced asap. The flash channel on the other hand uses a 1/8" drill bit.

[eastbank]

I bought it as a 1/16 and it fits snugly into the forward channel of my strikefire breech plug, a 1/8th will not fit. eastbank.

[FrontierGander]

The 1/8" drill bit is the one for the flash channel,



The flash hole should be around .028 - .030 so if a 1/16" drill bit is going in, that is not good.

[Wendyj]

Mines really small. No drill bit going to fit in it

[NoSecondBest]

Go to Home Depot and get a set of Lincoln torch tip cleaners and use them for the flash hole. First, soak the plug in Traditions 209 plug and small parts cleaner and then use the torch tip cleaner. It's not that hard. Best thing is to carry a spare plug and change when necessary. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-E...H574/202939823

[eastbank]

show the pic of the other end where the flame comes out, that's what I use the 1/16 bit to clean. you will never get a 1/8 bit the whole way thru the breech plug. eastbank.

[thallub]

The flash channel is the 1/8" hole under the primer seat. The flash channel gets plugged up with powder residue causing hang fires and misfires. The flash channel needs to be cleaned out periodically using a 1/8" drill bit, as Frontier Gander said.

The flash hole in the far end of the breech plug is very small, somewhere around .030". If a 1/16" inch drill bit fits then that hole is much too large.

[FrontierGander]

Watch this video, I show exactly where the real issue is with BH209. Its not the flash hole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Z3bJ849pc

[NoSecondBest]

I have no problems at all with BH209. I've stated before that all subs will start to clog the flash hole it can effect accuracy. I typically get a mimimum of ten or twelve shots under the worst conditions before needing to clean the plug. A lot of this depends on the length of the plug-powder and outside temprature. Some in-lines require cleaning the plug more often than others. The best thing to do is to start every hunt with a clean plug and not have to worry about it to begin with. Beyond that, carry an extra plug with you if you plan to do a lot of shooting.

[shortwave]

As FrontierGander stated "1/8 drill bit for flash channel".

And as NoSecondBest stated "Torch tip cleaner for the flash hole".

When bench shooting running consecutive shots shooting BH209 in either my Accura or T/C Pro Hunter, can get away with anywhere from 10-15 shots before I notice accuracy starting to diminish. Seems the colder it is, and the longer I shoot with the steel bbl getting colder, that's when I have to clean the breech plug more often towards the 10 shot range.
At any rate, I use the 1/8 drill bit in the flash channel first, then run the torch tip cleaner through the flash hole. Figure I'm already there, why not clear any debris that may have fell into the flash hole.

In the field hunting, starting with a clean breech plug, have never had an issue. But after a day's hunt, if I would fire the rifle a time or two that day and was going out the following day, just as a precautionary measure, I'll quickly do the same drill bit/torch tip cleaner procedure as above usually without removing the breech plug. Just breaking rifle open, pointing muzzle upwards and cleaning breech plug. Pointing rifle upwards cause it usually has a load in it AND whatever debris that's in the breech plug will fall out instead of down into the flash hole.