BustaActually Blackhorn 209 is not a "smokeless powder", it is classified as a "Propellant, Solid UN 0499". Triple Se7en, Pyrodex, American Pioneer, Shockey's Gold, and other BP substitutes also all fall under this same classification.
The regulatory authorities who determine the classification of energetic materials are The Explosives Bureau and Canadian Energy Research Laboratories. They have determined the classification of Blackhorn 209 to be US/UN PROPELLANT, SOLID, UN 0499.
Totally agree the classification has been made as you describe. But the fact is it is still a Nitro based powder as any regular smokeless powder is. In fact Triple Seven is a smokeless powder but it is not Nitro based. You can request a MSDS for and read that part yourself. Western will not give you one but, with the 'freedom of information act' you can get one from the manufacturer. This also implies why General Dynamics makes the powder in Canada and not here in the US. Rules and laws are so much different in Canada.
The article this chemical information was taken from is available on line - I will have to find it again but it was composed by a writer that submitted the powder to a chemical analysis here in the US. + just open the lid and take a smell you can smell the solvent or ether from the Nitro.
The only question I have is whether it is Nitro Cell or Nitro Esters.
And of all the people in the world I would think you would have figured this out a long time ago. For my part it really does not matter. It is built and manufactured as a ML powder substitute. But, for those that it does matter and the states that have their own ruling sytem they can make their own decisions.
Here is another part of the article:
Yes, a tech advisor at Hodgdon told me that. I called to see if they were working on a product to compete with the BH209. (I am a FFL dealer)
The first thing out of his mouth was "you know thats smokeless, right ?"
He also said Hodgdon had several oportunities to market it but chose not to. He said they were not satisfied with test results they had with it. I opened a container of BH209 I recently obtained to test in my NEF and Savage. I must admit the sniff test is like smokeless. You reloaders know what I mean..the solvent smell..
After that call I had western powders fax me a MSDS on BH209.
The main component is Nitrate ester. I did some research on explosives then. My take on this is that nitrate ester is a "general" or "group" term of certain explosives. This type of explosive includes Dynamite, Nitroglycerine, RDX, C4, PETN, Semtex H, Nitrocellulose and smokeless powder.
I think marketing BH209 was a good idea. I have not tested it yet in my guns but from what results some others on this forum have had, I am expecting good results.
