BH209 bad weather concerns

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I will total agree with ocw or optimal barrel timing is absolutely key for precision long range shooting.
And is worthwhile if pushing 500yd plus accuracy with muzzleloader .

But without a doubt temp sensitivity of powder does matter. When chronograph readings verifying velocity drops as temp drops and very well documented in cartridge world.

Applied ballistics one of the best ballistic program available has a specific input for temperature sensitivity for a reason.

Have you tried blackhorn ?
 
bestill said:
I will total agree with ocw or optimal barrel timing is absolutely key for precision long range shooting.
And is worthwhile if pushing 500yd plus accuracy with muzzleloader .

But without a doubt temp sensitivity of powder does matter. When chronograph readings verifying velocity drops as temp drops and very well documented in cartridge world.

Applied ballistics one of the best ballistic program available has a specific input for temperature sensitivity for a reason.

Have you tried blackhorn ?

Have noticed with blackpowder also but have never noticed with velocity , just noticed MOA difference .
 
bestill said:
I will total agree with ocw or optimal barrel timing is absolutely key for precision long range shooting.
And is worthwhile if pushing 500yd plus accuracy with muzzleloader .

But without a doubt temp sensitivity of powder does matter. When chronograph readings verifying velocity drops as temp drops and very well documented in cartridge world.

Applied ballistics one of the best ballistic program available has a specific input for temperature sensitivity for a reason.

Have you tried blackhorn ?

I did not mean to state that powders are NOT temperature impacted. they are...anything that burns will have an impact due to temperature. My point was, I am betting that ALL muzzleloader powder acts very similarly with weather changes. If people are seeing extreme changes in their POI from cold to warm weather...id bet it has WAY more to do with their rifle, bullet, loading procedure than it does with the powder itself. I do long range shoot and reload. Almost all modern centerfire powders are what we like to call "temp" stable. Go join the longrangehunting forum. Lots of info there. But at muzzleloading hunting ranges (which I believe was the point of this thread) telling someone "watch out, BH209 powder is not temp stable" is just pointless. Id put money on it that if someone was getting POI changes from warm to cold with BH209, they would get similar changes with 777, or whitehots (assuming they were using similar charges). As an FYI...I have used BH209 in temps as warm as 80F down to -15F same load...same point of impact out of my optima out to 125 yards (furthest I shot it at the time).

as another FYI...there was a nice article out last summer showing how temperature changes with 75 degree swings did not change the burning rate of many of the powders tested (temp stability)...but what did change was the shrinking and expanding of the metals in the rifle from the barrel, to the chamber, to the bullets and their cases. This all plays much more of a roll on velocity changes imho.
 
Someone above posted that they were concerned to leave his ML loaded on a fouled barrel for any length of time. I had the same concern at first but found that hunting on a fouled barrel is nothing to worry about. With BH209, the accuracy is better after a fouling shot or two. What I did was zero the load I was going to hunt with, clean up the ML and put it away, then before the hunt, fire a few 209 caps (non corrosive) so it fouled the barrel. That worked like a charm. I tested zero doing it this way and it was spot on.
 
I shoot 209 and do all my range work when its fairly warm outside. But hunting here in Minnesota can toss a curveball at weather related issues so I make sure to proof the loads the week prior to the season. The gun are cleaned, then 3-4 primers are popped off in each weapon to dirty the barrel, then loaded. This last year we had some wet/cold weather during the season and I never saw a problem with either of my CVA guns that went to the woods in rain....they fired when they needed to.
 
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