209 Primers

[Kemmer]

Due to the shortage of primers I will have to shoot what I can get.  Has anyone performed a functional test with Blackhorn powder and the MU breech plug to see which primers work and which are hotter? I think I'm looking for a list of primers by burn rate?  Any help would be appreciated. I will be hunting in damp conditions. 

[PA-Joe]

We haven't seen a 209 primer shortage up hear in the NE. Check any shotgun reloading manual and you can get a table of cold to hot primers. There are also specialty ML 209 primers out there that are colder. I'm using some older Rems.

[Keith Lewis]

Generally the Federal standard shotgun primers are the hottest. If you can find them that is what I would recommend for the BH209 powder. I have a whole brick of them so I am pretty much set. Primers should start to become available soon from what I hear if the people would just settle down and quit trying to hord all that are on the shelf. Obama is not going to eliminate primers and they have not figured out how to make them time sensitive or any of the other rumors that are going around. I would not panic until after the next election. He will pull all the stops then as he won't have to worry about the gun crowd since it will be his last term anyway if he does get elected by the uninformed masses. Up until the election I think he is smart enough to not go after the guns like he wants to just to keep up the smoke screen.

[Busta]

In my testing of the MU Plug with BH209, ALL the primers have worked without so much as a hiccup. I have tested the Rem 209-4 (410 primer), Rem Kleanbore, Rem STS, Win 777, Win WML209, Win W209, CCI, CCI 209M, Federal 209A, and probably a couple I forgot. Never had a problem with any, as the flame only has to travel approximately .200" through a generous flash hole.

If you want the hottest, get the Federal 209A or CCI 209M primers. If you will be hunting in damp conditions, make sure to use the o-ring, it seals out weather as well.

[Reese]

FWIW - Although we still seem to have a good supply of 209 shotgun primers around my area, I thought I would test using small rifle primers in the variflame 209 adapter and Blackhorn 209.

http://www.prbullet.com/vf.htm

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0034484.shtml

I had no problems igniting 90 gr BH209 using the CCI 400 small rifle primers/variflame adapters with the MU plug in my Huntsman.   This was on a warm day (80F+) and I was not shooting for accuracy.  I plan to do some more testing when the weather gets a lot colder. 

[Kemmer]

Thanks for the great information.   I'm waiting for UPS to deliver my Blackhorn powder and CCI 209M primers today.  I will be shooting targets Tuesday. Blackpowder season starts Saturday, nothing like waiting till the last minute to get things ready. I have the hogs in my hunting area named, they are some good ones. Once again thanks for all's input.

[walmpus]

Hey Guys,

Just FYI..........I took a T777 primer and put it in a cup filled with water and let it set for about 6 hours. I drained the water out of the cup and put the primer straight in my huntsman and it fired INSTANTLY. I have hunted in below zero weather, a week of non stop pouring rain, 4 days of non stop snow, even in t-shirt weather and I have never had a single problem with one. So with the new MU plug and o-ring I just dont see alot of problems in the field. They may not be the cleanest or cheapest primer on the market, but they are dependable in just about every weather condition imaginable and you can find them just about anywhere, which is a nice option since 209's can be hard to find sometimes. So that could be used as a back up plan if your preferred primers are unaccessible.

One would think that most shotgun/muzzleloading primers on the market today are about the same.......being impervious to weather. Has anyone else ever done any "testing" with primers? I would be interested to hear about the results.

WCB