MikeS
02-07-2013, 07:23 AM
Hi All.
I was in Bass Pro Shop today to pickup some black powder, and I noticed that they were almost totally out of smokeless powder, only having 2lbs of a rifle powder (I don't remember which one), and 1lb of a shotgun powder (again, I don't remember which one), but walking further down the isle I noticed that they had several different black powder subs in stock. In particular they had LOTS of Blackhorn 209, and I remembered reading about it a bit, and how unlike other subs you needed to clean it up with an oil based cleaner, just like any other smokeless powder, and totally different than black powder, or the other subs. I picked up the first jug and took the cap off to look at the granules of powder to see what the stuff looked like. Of course being the first bottle, I wasn't the first person to open it, and the seal under the cap was missing, but the things that really caught my attention was the look & smell of the BH209. It had the same smell that most smokeless powders have, and the granules looked just like an extruded smokeless powder, with a hole in it, very similar to SR4759, but smaller granules. It got me thinking, I know that Accurate sells a powder that's similar to 4759 (57xx?), and I was wondering if it looked like the BH209, and further I was wondering if it wasn't that powder just relabeled as a BP sub with a new name. So I reached back in the shelf, and grabbed a bottle that was still factory sealed, and brought it home with me. It sure is expensive stuff, the bottle holds 10oz and cost $32.00 at Bass Pro. Of course Bass is always more expensive on some things, Goex FFg black powder that sells at Graf's for $15.00 sells for $25.00 at Bass. If I'm just buying one or two pounds it's still cheaper to buy locally at Bass, as Grafs has a $27.50 hazmat fee!
The point I'm trying to get to is I wonder if BH209 could be used to load modern rounds? They have loading data for many pistol cartridges, as well as many older BPCR rounds, but considering the lack of other smokeless powders, and the availability of BH209, could I use it to load my normal smokeless cartridges? Of the cartridges that I load, they have loading data for all of them except two, 45ACP, and 7.62x39. They have listings for 45 Colt and 45 Shofield, so I was thinking I could figure out a starting load for the 45ACP from those, and I've been loading my 7.62x39's with the same loading for my 30-30, so I figured I could do the same, use their 30-30 load in my 7.62x39. I've also been using SR4759 for making duplex loads with BP in 45-70 to cut down on fouling (as opposed to making duplex loads for more power), and figure I could use the BH209 for that when my supply of 4759 gets used up. It's really amazing what 3gr of SR4759 will do when loaded with 60gr of black powder, that small charge of smokeless really seems to burn up all the fouling! I don't think I would load my 45-70 rolling block with only Blackhorn 209 as the rifle is over 100 years old, but I am going to try duplex loading it with BP to see if it cleans the bore like 4759 does.
I was in Bass Pro Shop today to pickup some black powder, and I noticed that they were almost totally out of smokeless powder, only having 2lbs of a rifle powder (I don't remember which one), and 1lb of a shotgun powder (again, I don't remember which one), but walking further down the isle I noticed that they had several different black powder subs in stock. In particular they had LOTS of Blackhorn 209, and I remembered reading about it a bit, and how unlike other subs you needed to clean it up with an oil based cleaner, just like any other smokeless powder, and totally different than black powder, or the other subs. I picked up the first jug and took the cap off to look at the granules of powder to see what the stuff looked like. Of course being the first bottle, I wasn't the first person to open it, and the seal under the cap was missing, but the things that really caught my attention was the look & smell of the BH209. It had the same smell that most smokeless powders have, and the granules looked just like an extruded smokeless powder, with a hole in it, very similar to SR4759, but smaller granules. It got me thinking, I know that Accurate sells a powder that's similar to 4759 (57xx?), and I was wondering if it looked like the BH209, and further I was wondering if it wasn't that powder just relabeled as a BP sub with a new name. So I reached back in the shelf, and grabbed a bottle that was still factory sealed, and brought it home with me. It sure is expensive stuff, the bottle holds 10oz and cost $32.00 at Bass Pro. Of course Bass is always more expensive on some things, Goex FFg black powder that sells at Graf's for $15.00 sells for $25.00 at Bass. If I'm just buying one or two pounds it's still cheaper to buy locally at Bass, as Grafs has a $27.50 hazmat fee!
The point I'm trying to get to is I wonder if BH209 could be used to load modern rounds? They have loading data for many pistol cartridges, as well as many older BPCR rounds, but considering the lack of other smokeless powders, and the availability of BH209, could I use it to load my normal smokeless cartridges? Of the cartridges that I load, they have loading data for all of them except two, 45ACP, and 7.62x39. They have listings for 45 Colt and 45 Shofield, so I was thinking I could figure out a starting load for the 45ACP from those, and I've been loading my 7.62x39's with the same loading for my 30-30, so I figured I could do the same, use their 30-30 load in my 7.62x39. I've also been using SR4759 for making duplex loads with BP in 45-70 to cut down on fouling (as opposed to making duplex loads for more power), and figure I could use the BH209 for that when my supply of 4759 gets used up. It's really amazing what 3gr of SR4759 will do when loaded with 60gr of black powder, that small charge of smokeless really seems to burn up all the fouling! I don't think I would load my 45-70 rolling block with only Blackhorn 209 as the rifle is over 100 years old, but I am going to try duplex loading it with BP to see if it cleans the bore like 4759 does.