Question For Blackhorn 209 Shooters

[Bullseye]

Finally broke down and bought a can of Blackhorn for my wifes Encore.

Notice they say to use STANDARD 209 primers.  Then they list primers not to use and they are mainly the lower power muzzle loader only primers and high powered rifle and pistol primers.

I have some Winchester 209's that I was using in my Savage but quit since they are so dirty since they changed the manufacturing.  I have switched to CCI Magnums for the Savage and have some of these also.  Has anyone used a Magnum 209 such as the CCI, or when they say STANDARD in all capital letters do they mean not to use a Magnum 209?

[Reese]

By STANDARD they mean the 209 primers that you would use to reload shotgun shells.  Not the 209 primers that were created for Muzzleloaders (like Win 777 and Remington Kleenbore Muzzleloading Primers).  I have read several threads that recommend using CCI 209 Mag primers with Blackhorn 209.  I have lots of Winchester 209 and Remington STS 209 primers around for reloading shotgun shells and both of those are working fine for me.

Toby talks about them here;

http://namlhunt.homestead.com/MLpowders.html

[Karl B. Andersen]

I guess now the question remains as to where we can BUY Blackhorn?

[Bullseye]

I bought mine at Bass Pro at a very salty $40.  If I like it, I will order some from Powder Valley next time I order from there.  Since the shelf life is supposed to be good I do not mind ordering a couple with some other powder to spread the HAZMAT fee out.

If I could only get my wife to go for a Savage like I did I would not have this problem.

[Busta]

I would recommend the Federal 209A, CCI 209M, Winchester W209, Remington STS, in that order for best ignition. I have shot a few cases since April 2008, in several rifles. The Federal 209A has never had so much as a hiccup.

Most breech plugs have a long flame path, you want as hot of a primer as you can get.

Reese is right on about the primers in his post.

[rebAL]

I've only used BH-209 once but have been studyng it for a while.  I read somewhere that because of the granular design, a magnum primer may cause inconsistent accuracy as some granules may delay ignition.  I will be using Rem STS primers but question how they will perform in colder weather.   I have also used Rem Kleenbore with no prolem in my brief trial.

[1sourdough]

 Right now Cabelas has B209 for $29.99 or so. So if you get 2 it's the same pretty much as the $39 local price. Yes Haz-Mat & shipping, but possibly no sales tax or driving/time.

[Reese]

Several weeks ago, I was at my local Cabela's (1.5 hrs away), and they had Blackhorn 209 listed for $29.99.  It did not seem to be an Internet only sale price but I do not know how long it will last at that price.  The enjoyment of a kid in a candy store usually offsets the cost of fuel for me.

[teddy12b]

I bought a can for about $35 and tried it out with my encore 209x50.  I used the regular primer I had been using for the pellets and they worked just fine.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not going to worry about what Primer I use.

[vengence]

I purchased some Blackhorn 209 from Cabelas and finally got a chance to get to the range. I have a .45 cal Encore muzzleloader. Started out with Pyrodex, Triple 7, American Pioneer, Black Mag 3. Didn't have good groups with the 1st two. Both were really dirty. American Pioneer in FF was good. I really liked Black Mag 3 but could not find it anymore, so I went to American Pioneer FFF, which was pretty good. My Encore likes Dead Center (PR Bullets) from 180-220 grain, Hornady 200gr and TC Shockwaves (Pretty much same as Hornady) in 200 grain. I tried the different primers. My gun really had problems with Rem Kleanbores and 777 primers. I just got the frame back from T/C. Firing pin fouled very bad. Spring and firing both pitted. They replaced it...no charge.

Back to the range. I have never shot 3 shot groups like that with this powder. I started with 90 gr powder. With AP I typically ran 95-110. My groups were so good I didn't even change my powder charge. I swab between shots so I maintain a pretty clean barrel. T/C advised me to go back to the CCI 209 primers, which seemed to be a good choice. One thing I did notice was my swabs were quite dirty. Suprising to what others have claimed. It cleaned up nicely at home.

Any ideas as to the dirty swabs, too much powder charge? Not really a problem because I really like the groups I'm getting.

John

[rebAL]

I notied that too with my trial of BH-209 but the "Fouling" looked more like ash or dust and didn't seem to interfere with anything.

[Bucker]

CCI209M is fine for BH209