First time out with the new ML and the Blackhorn 209. First of all, I did borrow a shooting rest from a friend (don't know what they're called). That was nice. My initial sighting-in session was from 25yds. I just wanted to get on paper. I'll get out to the "big" range in a few days. About the 209.....NO DELAY (I didn't expect it to). None. I used the same sabot I was shooting (Hornady 250gr.) and loaded 100gr. of BH209 w/ a CCI primer. I have no idea how to gague how "clean" the BH209 is, based on as few shots as I made. Here's the progression of shots. I'm gonna shoot a lot more when I get to a spot where I air 'em out a little bit. So far, though....so good.
Im out of the loop anymore on the ML but i was thinking Jim Shockey had a powder out that was cleaner also. Its wild how far ML's have come. I built my first one from a kit when I was a kid, a 45 cal KY long rifle, used round balls, a powder horn and used pillow tic for a patch. I started the ball and patch then cut the excess off with a shaving straight razor. Jeff, you need a possables bag, its just not acceptable without one :D
Dunno, its a CVA inline...put a new breech plug in and am using 209 primers, mix of Rem and Win I think...not at hand. It was noticeable to me...compared to my normal center fires, I was dialing in an M4 that same day, not sure if that was a bad idea.
I'd be more concerned with the proepllant than the primer. The only time I've had a delay, is when I was using pyrodex pellets and rem. primers. Even then, I was probably not seating the load, optimally. Once I switched to loose powder, I never experienced the delay, again.
Using the same as you...the BH loose powder. Was shooing 100 gr with the SST Sabots, shot about 10 or so and called it quits. Mine is an open bolt, I was pondering this last night as I was doing some reloading that I may need to smooth the rails that it rides on and put some good lube on it so it glides better...maybe quieter? I've got very little into this thing... I normally shoot a lot..and this is my first ML, so may be an adaption for me.
Some interesting comments ... these are the worst from Cabelas ... the product got an overall 4.4 out of 5, which is great ... I just wonder about the ones below ... Random Misfires out of Encore Pro Hunter December 27, 2010 I have had problems randomly for the 2 years that I have used it. The first year I killed a B&C buck that scored 206 6/8 and then followed it the next week with a misfire. After speaking with Blackhorn they said to not use Winchester 209 primers. I switched to CCI Magnum 209s which were recommended by Blackhorn and after a summer of range testing I had 2 more misfires while hunting in the field. Both times I went through 4 caps and had to reseat the round after each attempt because the caps pushed the round 8" down the barrel. After speaking with Blackhorn again they said that the breach design in the Encore Pro Hunter causes misfires and that you need a tight fitting bullet to help the powder ignite properly. There is currently no 100% fix for the Pro Hunter and Blackhorn. Buyer beware!! It could be you with a misfire this season or next. Seems to not like cold moist weather. Which for Indiana is deer season. Share this review: 1 out of 5 xFlyboyx Orrinton Me Would you recommend this product to a friend? No Wouldn't Fire February 14, 2010 I bought this powder with high hopes it was going to be a great powder. Got to the range and fired 4 shots. The first one went off and the next 3 didn't. I used CCI primers. The primers went off and pushed the powder and bullet out the barrel about 5 feet. So there I was with 3 bullets and powder all over the ground. There right when they say you don't have to swab between shots because the powder won't go off. I could never trust it in the field hunting now. Would it fire or not? Im going to stick with Pyrodex and the Triple 7. They have always fired for me without a miss fire. Share this review: 1 out of 5 RYPH Kansas Would you recommend this product to a friend? No Interesting.... February 5, 2010 I find it very interesting there are so many positive reports on this product. This product cost me a 160+" whitetail this past muzzle loader season. I am not going to try and tell you which powder I am going to use in the future as I don't want you to think I am trying to sell something else. This is a true story and I'm sharing so the same thing hopefully will not happen to you.... I was lucky enough to have 3 chances at that buck... 2 misfires and 1 delay fire. Perfectly clear nipple and using HOT primers... should have fired the FIRST time... it's evident it was powder failure. I had a few issues during practice as well so it's my fault for not switching powders sooner. Moving up to the hotter primers I thought I had fixed it. I passed that buck up for 3 years... only to miss him due to powder failure and then finding out later he was poached. Definitely NOT the best powder out there. I have to trust my equipment... I will not trust this one again. If I could have given zero stars I would have... but I guess it should earn one for ease of cleaning. I'll tell you this much... I'd rather clean my muzzleloader all night and have a 160" on my wall than to only clean for 10 minutes and miss the buck of a lifetime. Share this review: 1 out of 5 OVUSA Miami, FL Would you recommend this product to a friend? No CVA Electra Muzzleloader January 25, 2010 It will not work with CVA Electra Muzzle loader. After many attempts never got one ignition. I switched to Pyrodex and my Electra worked perfectly. Blackhorn Powder Nightmare October 17, 2009 I've hunted all my life, deer, ducks, turkey you name it. Within the last few years I've started travelling out west to elk hunt in Colo. and absolutly love it. My buddy and I got drawn for the 2009 Colo. BP season and began planning early in the year. Now this isn't a guided hunt we simply hunt public land and do it on our own. Well, I decided to try this new powder I saw (Blackhorn 209) in my new Knight KP-1 with 300 grain belted bullet. On the range I was impressed. High velocity and dependable; however, I only fired the stuff in warm dry conditions. On the first afternoon of my Colo. elk hunt the temp. averaged around 55 degrees and periods of light rain. I had a rubber muzzel cover over my barrell to keep out any moisture and full plastic CCI 209M primer in place. An hour before dark out stepped a 340 class bull! I never anticipated seeing this on public land. I pulled the triger on my Knight and heard the primer pop and then a "sizzle." The 120gr. charge pushed my bullet about 12 inches up in the barrell. I almost passed out! All of the time and money I invested into this trip went up with a "sizzle." If you plan on hunting in perfect conditions or sitting on the range go ahead and buy it. But I still have nightmares about that Sept. day in Colo. Share this review: 1 out of 5 SMARLIN Utah / Colorado Hunter Would you recommend this product to a friend? No Miss Fires September 21, 2008 I purchased the Blackhorn 209 Powder and was at first happy with the results at the range so I talked my brother into purchaseing the Blackhorn 209 Powder for our 2008 Colorado Muzzle Loader Elk hunt . I loaded my rifle and 5 Hrs. later shot at an elk and I had a delayed fire or Pop Bang reaction . Weather was not a factor that day, later that day my Brother had a delayed fire happen to him while hunting. That evening my brother wanted to clear his weapon and see if his second shot he loaded would miss fire so he fired the rifle and only about 1/2 of the load fired off without a kick. We were useing two different kinds of primers and had 3 Delayed fires in the same day. We were not happy with the field results. Share this review: 2 out of 5 duramaxman hartford il. Would you recommend this product to a friend? No blackhorn 209 November 21, 2009 very good powder if you are hunting in dry weather.does not like the damp weather.priced to high for what it is.blackhorn needs to get is troblem fixed then they would have a great powder. Share this review: 2 out of 5 Pak43 Would you recommend this product to a friend? No 45 cal Knight Master Hunter Disc Extreme May 28, 2009 I really wanted to see this powder work in my 45 Cal Knight. I have used 110 grains of 777 for the last few years and have had excellent results. The bullet I use is a 240 grain QT from Precision Rifle. I tried the same load in my Knight and ruptured the primer! Meaning the rear of the primer ended up inside the bolt. I then lowered the charge to 100 grains and again ended up taking the bolt apart to remove a piece of the ruptured primer. At 95 grains I still had the same primer problem!! I finally ended up with a usable load of 85 grains! This was a disappointment to say the least. Misfiring of the charge has not been a problem as discussed in several other reviews. I use a Winchester shotgun primer with excellent ignition. All in all I am sorry to see that the Blackhorn powder will not be used in my hunting plans. Poor Ignition December 13, 2008 I bought this product hoping I would get improvement over the 777 pellets. I am disappointed with the several misfires I had in my CVA Optima Pro. I was using standard Winchester shot shell primers and cleaning the 209 breech plug with a drill bit and still had several complete ignition failures. This stuff is a hassle to ignite and cannot see the benefits over 777. I cannot recommend. Share this review: 3 out of 5 loueetoo Schuylkill county , Pa Age: 46-55 Gender: Male Would you recommend this product to a friend? No Blackhorn ongoing July 19, 2010 I really want this stuff to work. As with some others , I had problems with ignition , heck in my new optima it would not even go off. Mag primers did not help. So I called Western powder . They told me to send the breech plug to them and they would open it up. I did and it came back . I shot it and it worked , for a while . As the shooting session went on I had problems again . It was humid and hot . I started using a dry patch after each shot and that worked . But I again tried to reload a quick follow up shot without cleaning and it would not fire. I think the residue attracts moisture and creates problems. I shot about 30 shots that day. I went back to triple 7 pellets today and my gun bullet combination shot terrible . So I shot three shots with the blackhorn and I had a nice 1 inch group again. By the way it went off each time. This stuff is accurate , easy to reload after a shot , no crud ring around the bottom of the barrel. I am going to keep fooling with it as I have to 10 oz containers. But for right now I can,t reccomend it with out this caution. Share this review: 3 out of 5 ancientdeerslayer CO Would you recommend this product to a friend? No Blackhorn 209 June 12, 2010 Blackhorn 209 should shoot well, afterall, it is a nitrocellulose smokeless powder. Clean your gun after every use with a good solvent. Share this review: 3 out of 5 Trip99 Dorsey, IL Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes OK but not amazing June 23, 2009 I shoot my Omega year round firing at least 50 shots per month. I have shot all the BP substitutes. This stuff is somewhat cleaner. Just from shooting one can of this stuff I could tell their was an increase in velocity. Shooting 120 grains of this has as much or more recoil than 150 Grains of loose 777. You definately need to use the regular 209 primers as well. I wouldn't say this stuff is bad but their was no noteworthy differency in accuracy and I still produced the best groups by swabbing between shots. For someone who shoots alot like me, the marginal advantages this powder may offer doesn't justify paying quite a bit more for a considerably smaller container. I would say try a bottle and see if you like it, but I don't think it's the greatest thing ever.
No single arrow shaft, BH, fletching, etc., is going to work great for everyone that uses it. That is why it is always a good idea to check a variety of things out for yourself and find what you think works great for you (anyone). I imagine the same thing holds true in the ML world and also the firearms world. With that said, I do use reviews, especially those from people I know (forum members) to try and save myself a little effort and money. Hopefully I can avoid trying things that are down right crappy or just not good for my setup and get a step up on things that will be useful. For the most part I have found that when something receives overwhelmingly positive reviews it is usually for a reason. There will always be some negatives but, if they are a small percentage, that tells me even more good things about a product.
I've sent 6 rounds downrage using BH209. All 6 were immediate fires (no delay...no misfires). Admittedly, they were out of a brand new gun. If it gives me issues, I'll let you know. I'm not married to any product.
Yeah man .. I have pyrodex that I am gonna play with .. I will wait for your full report before I purchase BH ...
First time I can make it to a longer shooting range, I'm gonna shoot it about 20+X. I'll let you know what I find. I don't plan to clean it, during that session (unless accuracy is affected). I won't sacrifice anything, if I get misfires. I also got my Foxpro Spitfire, today. I plan on leaving my gin loaded between hunts. If I have a misfire, I'll let you know. I'm sure it'll get some moisture (air).
Reviews are funny, they tell an individuals story. I take everything with a grain of salt as you never know what kind of hunter/shooter is writing a review. Is it a guy that takes care of his stuff and is very thorough at the range or another type. Actually putting my hands on something and seeing if it works for me is my favorite way and it is generally pretty fun as well. FTR......at cabelas 61 out of 78 gave BH 209 5 stars and only 9 reviews were less than average(1 or 2 stars). Also could anyone else follow the review from July 19? I am biased, I love the stuff and will never go back to a pellet(pyrodex, white hots, 777, js, or any other for that matter). I make a day of it at the range, I usually take a few guns so I can take breaks and not shoot any one gun too much as I tend to see flyers and expanding groups if the barrel heats up too much. I am also kind of superstitious, I NEVER leave my gun loaded. I just feel better with a fresh load(in my head I'm sure). I have been enjoying the BP thing lately and I am thinking of getting a new toy soon but i'm going old school. I feel kind of guilty hitting the field during "primitive" weapons season with my current BP guns, they look more like sniper rifles than "primitive" weapons. Mountains of bp info on the web, shooting sites, bp sites, muzzleloader sites, etc Some cool stuff here fwiw: http://www.three-peaks.net/muzzle.htm and here: http://shootersforum.com/index.htm?
