Blackhorn 209

[freakonaleash]

$39/8 oz at Walmart this morning. Half the price of what was posted previously

so, only $78 per pound. What a bargain!. I'll never shoot real black powder again!

[FergusonTO35]

Use it in my CVA Paramount. Our hunting club has mandated archery/shotgun slug/muzzle loader only.

This combo with 265 grain Fury bullets is more accurate than some of my centerfires.

Left it loaded with BH209 for 3 months. No corrosion as evidenced with borescope. Shoots clean.

Ten ounces will give you 62 shots at 70 grains each, if my calculator skills are valid.

Never misfired with the large rifle primer system.

762

It cracks me up how in some places the most high tech 500 yard muzzleloader is acceptable but a Trapdoor Springfield is not!

[762 shooter]

It cracks me up how in some places the most high tech 500 yard muzzleloader is acceptable but a Trapdoor Springfield is not!

Agree.

Makes no sense. We had more lost wounded deer from shotguns.

762

[megasupermagnum]

Agree.

Makes no sense. We had more lost wounded deer from shotguns.

762

What always got me is that asking to extend the muzzleloader season from 9 days to 30 days during December gets an angry mob of hunters against you who already get 100ish day seasons including the peak of the rut.

[indian joe]

Hi and welcome
The very first time I used it was yesterday, just got a new ml.
I shot 15 bullets without cleaning and it was just as easy to push them down as the second bullet was
and clean up is a breeze as well, to bad it's so darn expensive

I can do that with a patch round ball and proper blackpowder - shoot 50 without cleaning if you like to test me out. Its all about lubes and managing fouling - once you figure it out - real blackpowder is easy.

[Tradbowhunter]

Hands down the most accurate powder I shoot in my inline. If you can find/afford it

[megasupermagnum]

I can do that with a patch round ball and proper blackpowder - shoot 50 without cleaning if you like to test me out. Its all about lubes and managing fouling - once you figure it out - real blackpowder is easy.

Without a doubt real blackpowder and a well lubricated patch and ball is the easiest shooting thing you can use in a muzzleloader. You can shoot almost indefinately. BH209 is not bad though. Fouling doesn't really get worse after a few shots, and then the only real problem is the bit of crud in the breech plug which is easy to remove with a drill bit every 10-15 shots.

[OverMax]

I bought a lb of it some years back when it first became available on shelves. I liked it. Have a green mtn barrel 1-28 twist it shot well with BH-209 __under a 240 grain 40 cal cast that is. These days I'm back to shooting 2-FF Black only.

[doulos]

I have shot a lot of Blackorn 209. I found many advantages to 777. 1.Cleanup with just hoppes. 2. No breech plug removal problems at all. 3. Dont know why some say you have to clean between shots. I can shoot quite a few shots without cleaning my Encore. 4 Indefinite shelf life. Only Blackpowder can also say that.. 5 Very good velocity and accuracy. Ive shot many sub 1 inch groups with a Encore and plain old 250gr XTPs. 6. Not corrosive
Down side.
Downside. 1. Definitely better with CCi and Federal 209s in my guns. In fact those 209s were recommended by the makers of Blackhorn. 2 Cant use it in every style breech plug. 3. Cost, 4. COST 5. COST. They have gone out of their minds with what they want people to pay for this. 70-80 dollars for 8 ounces. Its actually offensive to me. Dont care how much I like it . Dont care how great it is. Something inside of me says to"shove it". I will find something else. I used to shoot real black out of all my inlines and traditionals. I will go back to 777 for my inlines and real black for the others. Without missing it. I hope they price themselves right out of the market.

[megasupermagnum]

I have shot a lot of Blackorn 209. I found many advantages to 777. 1.Cleanup with just hoppes. 2. No breech plug removal problems at all. 3. Dont know why some say you have to clean between shots. I can shoot quite a few shots without cleaning my Encore. 4 Indefinite shelf life. Only Blackpowder can also say that.. 5 Very good velocity and accuracy. Ive shot many sub 1 inch groups with a Encore and plain old 250gr XTPs. 6. Not corrosive
Down side.
Downside. 1. Definitely better with CCi and Federal 209s in my guns. In fact those 209s were recommended by the makers of Blackhorn. 2 Cant use it in every style breech plug. 3. Cost, 4. COST 5. COST. They have gone out of their minds with what they want people to pay for this. 70-80 dollars for 8 ounces. Its actually offensive to me. Dont care how much I like it . Dont care how great it is. Something inside of me says to"shove it". I will find something else. I used to shoot real black out of all my inlines and traditionals. I will go back to 777 for my inlines and real black for the others. Without missing it. I hope they price themselves right out of the market.

I'm not sure I agree with this.

#1 BH209 needing cleanup with Hoppes is a downside if you ask me. 777 cleans up just fine with water.
#2 I've never had breechplug removal problems, and I fail to see why powder has any effect on that. I actually find BH209 the worst for breech plugs, being as it builds up inside worse than most powders.
#3 I can understand why you would say that, you are mostly correct. The key word is "have". You don't have to swab between shots with BH209 for the most part, depending on what you are shooting. Just because you don't have to, doesn't mean swabbing does not offer benefits.
#4 I can understand the thinking, being as there have been so many junk substitutes out there. I think you are wrong saying BH209 and blackpowder are the only ones though. That's besides the fact BH209 hasn't been around long enough to really state that as fact, although being as it is basically a smokeless powder, I believe it to be true. While Pyrodex and 777 do seem to degrade over time, it seems to last 10 years without issue if kept in decent conditions. Pellets do not though, which may be why some say they go bad. Both Pyrodex and 777 pellets are noticeably lower velocity after only 3 years.
#5 Yeah, good accuracy, as do other powders.
#6 Not really true. It's mildly corrosive, but the bigger issue is the powder and primer fouling, however mild it may be, will suck moisture and rust your barrel. I've had it happen, and it doesn't take as long as you think.

Downsides

#1, yep, only works well with 3 primers. I only ever shot it with Federal 209A's.
#2 yep
#3-#5 yep

You missed a big one though #6, similar to #2. It does not work in all muzzleloading guns. It does not work in really small, or really large bore guns. It does not work in most handguns, no revolvers. It does not work in shotguns. It does not work in anything except certain inline rifles of medium bore (say 40 to 58 caliber), with the right breech plug design, and one of three 209 primers.

I agree with you on the price, there's simply no excuse for it. BH209 is fine powder in the right scenario, and they hyped the stuff like crazy. It was always rather pricy, I remember it being around $28 for 10 ounces when it was a new thing. Then they dropped to 8 ounces of powder in the same can with no change in price, a real jerk move. Then for no good reason they tripled the price. They are banking on the hype, and a certain breed of shooters to buy the stuff. I guess they figure the biggest buyers right now are those trying to skirt muzzleloader hunting seasons as much as possible, and they may be right, but it still isn't right.

[Tom_in_AZ]

It gives great ballistics from what I can tell, but have heard a lot about finicky ignition, especially in cold weather.

[megasupermagnum]

It gives great ballistics from what I can tell, but have heard a lot about finicky ignition, especially in cold weather.

I have not experienced that myself. The stuff is fairly consistent in the cold. It doesn't loose a ton of velocity either. That is provided you use it in the narrow window it is good for, #1 being an inline rifle, #2 of medium bore size, #3 with the correct breech plug meant for BH 209, and #4 using a CCI 209M (NOT a CCI 209), or a Federal 209A primer. Apparently a Winchester 209 works too, but I've never tried them.

My guess is a lot of people who want to use the muzzleloader season as a cheat code think BH 209 will cure poor shooting practices, and it does not. If you load like junk, it will perform like junk.

[white eagle]

I use Creddite 209 primers without any fault
I have shot up to 15 shots and didn't swab only because I ran out of bullets
expensive but what isn't these days out of state and guided hunts are crazy expensive
so why not be assured of your powder bullet combo yes nothing replaces trigger time

[megasupermagnum]

I use Creddite 209 primers without any fault
I have shot up to 15 shots and didn't swab only because I ran out of bullets
expensive but what isn't these days out of state and guided hunts are crazy expensive
so why not be assured of your powder bullet combo yes nothing replaces trigger time

That reasoning is exactly why I mostly use real black powder. I'm afraid your Cheddite 209 and BH 209 combo will fail when you need it most.

[white eagle]

I have been shooting them all winter in some very cold temps
not 1 failure
also just read a article about the use of 10 year old Blackhorn 209 never a hitch with that either
I could never achieve 2700 + F.P.S with real black
I do use it ( Goex 2F ) shooting conicals out of my 54 cal though

[megasupermagnum]

I have been shooting them all winter in some very cold temps
not 1 failure
also just read a article about the use of 10 year old Blackhorn 209 never a hitch with that either
I could never achieve 2700 + F.P.S with real black
I do use it ( Goex 2F ) shooting conicals out of my 54 cal though

Unless I'm mistaken, that thread one month ago was the very first time you ever shot BH209. You can get that velocity with blackpowder, you just use more of it. With as hot a load as you are shooting, maybe the stuff works fine with those weaker primers. BH 209 usually will not work in the cold with anything but the strongest primers, but I don't think too many are shooting strong loads in 40 calibers either.

[NSB]

I started using Blackhorn 209 back around 2010. I believe it had been out for around two years or so when I first tried it. The only time I ever got misfires with it in ANY temperature was when I was shooting it in the winter and I was using PowerBelts. They simply didn’t seal the barrel on my TC Omega and later on my TC Encore and my Savage ML2. I’ve never found a problem with any 209 primer igniting BH209 when my breech plug vent hole was open and clean, and my barrel had a well fitting sabot. That would not be a PowerBelt. I’ve shot deer when it was well below zero and never had a problem as long as I stayed within the conditions I mentioned above. FWIW, I’ve used real black, 777, and a few other black powder subs over the years. BH209 has been very good for me, and figuring what it cost per shot and what it cost to go on a hunting trip, the cost of the bullet, sabot, and primer are inconsequential. You spend thousands on guns, time off work, clothes, accommodations, etc and worry about pennies?

[Edward]

What NSB said was pretty much my experience along with CCI 209 primers bein exclusively the primers I use (no magnum ) just plain 209 and I've killed deer in -5/-10 degrees . Not pleasant but the deer got hurt worse/and stayed colder longer / almost forgot that is in a TC Renegade side lock- Mag Spark 209 conversion-1-48 stock
54 for hunting /Leupold and for target Rice 1-17 twist\ 45 cal and Lee Shaver sights /Ed

[white eagle]

A month ago it was the end of January beginning of February around here those are the coldest months of the year
it's all about your set up if your gun can't handle the BH 209 don't use it
I have a state of the art ML that is designed for the new propellants so I have no worries about my choice of primers or powder
BTW there are a lot of 40 cal shooter's that use more higher smokeless powder loads than what I am using

[megasupermagnum]

A month ago it was the end of January beginning of February around here those are the coldest months of the year
it's all about your set up if your gun can't handle the BH 209 don't use it
I have a state of the art ML that is designed for the new propellants so I have no worries about my choice of primers or powder
BTW there are a lot of 40 cal shooter's that use more higher smokeless powder loads than what I am using

That's true, but that's also why your suggestion that cheddite 209s work fine for most people is not correct. Most people will not have as good of results.