Blackhorn 209 VS Pyrodex RS Pellets in a Knight Disc

[cayuga]

I was finally able to get a large supply of BlackHorn 209 in stock at the house. Then realized I only have two rifles that actually shoot the stuff. I might have to work on that aspect. But I have also purchased some Pyrodex RS 50 grain pellets.

I have always claimed that Pyrodex can shoot as well as any powder. And I understand the following of Blackhorn 209 shooters. And I will now admit this.. I know the rifle I was shooting today likes 100 grains of Pyrodex RS. It is my Knight Disc (original model) with a lehigh conversion. The rifle wears a Nikon Pro Staff 2-7x32mm (which I believe is a great scope). But I never shot Blackhorn 209 with the new lehigh conversion in the rifle. Before it was with the orange primer jackets and it shot great.

I decided to shoot group for group Pyrodex Pellets which I have not shot in the disc VS blackhorn 209 that I briefly shot in the rifle. Checking my notes I see that the rifle is sighted in with a 300 grain .452 Hornady XTP and a MMP HPH-24. The card lists 100 grains of Pyrodex RS. And also 90 grains of BlackHorn 209 was made note of. I was glad that I had once made note of some blackhorn information with this rifle.

The target was set up. The range finder said 52 yards. That would be fine. I was using Winchester W209 primers to set the works off. Since Blackhorn 209 might like a light bullet better then the heavy 300 grain XTPs I decided to also shoot some .400 diameter 200 grain Shockwaves with the blue MMP sabots as well, to let the rifle powders work side by side.


I prepared the rifle by swabbing the bore with alcohol and then dry patched it. I also popped two primers through it to get it ready to shoot. I was kind of excited to be shooting the Black Horn 209 again and decided to let that have the honors of going first.

I loaded the 90 grains and a 200 grain shockwave, squeezed the trigger and the sound was just this horrible fizzle, small puffs of smoke and nothing !! No BOOM!! I was heart broke.

The rifle did push the 200 grain shockwave somewhere down range I thought, but decided to check. But wanting to make sure the bore was clear.. I disassembled the rifle, and checked the bore. Filthy and empty. So I took some solvent and swabbed the bore clean again. I cleaned the breech plug. And then put the rifle back together. I popped two primers, loaded up and shot this five shot group without swabbing.

Ignition was perfect for the five shots (after the first disappointment). So not wanting to clean the rifle yet. I loaded up the 300 grain Hornady XTPs with the MMP 24 sabots. I then shot the next group... note the numbers.

That's right.. #4 was another fizzle poof!! No Bang. That bullet i heard thump the hard ground down range. So I popped two primers to blow out what ever might be in the bore.. and shot #5 and #6. Not the worst groups I ever shot. But those two POOFS!! really did bother me. I mean what if that had been a deer and my first shot goes POOF. Although I believe the first shot was caused because I did not take the rifle apart and swab the bore clean with solvent. But #4 was a real puzzle. No reason why it was shooting so well and then just did not go off. I was using a range rod and being very careful to compress the blackhorn very hard. The HPH-24 sabots were not impossible to load, but were nice and stiff. So I figured I was getting a good seal. Any ideas on #4 would be appreciated.

So I took the rifle apart, and with solvent cleaned the rifle on the bench. I dried the bore and actually got a clean white patch before I loaded the rifle to test the Pyrodex pellets.

So to be fair I started the Pyrodex RS pellet test with the 200 grain Shockwaves.

Shot #1 hitting the bull surprised me. But remember, this bore was clean and dry.. no oil what so ever. The next four were actually grouping as I suspected they might.. with the pellets. I was swabbing between shots with the Simple Green and then dry patches.

I then broke out the 300 grain Hornady XTPs to try with the pellets. Here is where it got exciting.

As I sat at the bench looking through the scope shot after shot, I could not believe what this rifle was doing with these pellets..

I would take a group like that any day of the week. 100 grains of Pyrodex pellets and 300 grain XTPs might be a darn good hunting load.

Now I will admit.. the Blackhorn charge might need some tweaking and I intend to do that. But in a shot to shot comparison so far... Pyrodex is looking pretty good.

 

[casper]

Let us know if you find the cause for the fizzles, with the BH 209. I have never had a FTF or hang fire with BH. I've used it in the Optima, D.I.S.C. Elite, Omega, Wolverine, Shadow and currently in MK-85's 50 cal and 54 cal. I've aways used CCI-M primers. I also make sure the flame channel and flash hole are clear. Nice write up by the way.

 

[ShawnT]

Great report Cayuga. Until the last 2 years I have always shot Pyrodex pellets in my MK-95, and like you , I always had much better accuracy with the heavy bullets (300 & 310gn). Since that rifle has the Lehigh conversion the FTF is quite puzzling. I am still learning with BH myself so sorry that I am not much help there.

 

[sqezer]

Dave, if you come down to Baraboo hunting, stop in at the Gun Shop in Medford, they have a .50 origanal Disc and a KRB or something like it there.

 

[cayuga]

FIRST OFF... this is last years picture. We do not have any where near that kind of snow on the ground right now here. Just spots, and that probably melted today.

That is my .50 caliber original Knight Disc with the Nikon Pro Staff scope. It sure is a nice handling rifle.

 

[Widude]

I'll bet a chrony would show a fair amount of difference in those loads also. A few years back I set my chrony up with a buddy who was shooting Shockey's Gold. His speeds were pathetic & had a LARGE deviation when compared to B209.

 

[cayuga]

muskrat.. interesting thought. How big a difference would you GUESS would be between the two loads. Also if a person was shooting 100 yards and under, what would that difference make in knock down power?

 

[Widude]

Pyrodex is listed on the lower end FPS(energy) wise, compared to 777 & B209. When I tested Shockey's Gold it was 450 fps or so on average less than the same 120 grn charge of B209. This is with the same barrel length & 250 grn projectile. The Shockey's also have VERY wide swings in fps load to load, in the 150 ballpark. B209 gave me a very low deviation 1950 fps.

Yes, I know you don't need max FPS to kill a deer, but we can agree consistency is important. I would guess with 100 grn charges of Pyrodex to B209 you could easily be 350+ fps slower with Pyrodex. Even the 'book' data is a fair amount lower with Pyrodex.

I mostly hunt in IL with my M-L the last few years. Since a guy can't use a center-fire for most deer hunting, I'll just use my M-L at the highest level I can.

 

[redbug9]

cayuga,

I had a little trouble to start with using BH209 in my Disk Extreme. Slow/hang fires with W209 and Rem STS primers. I highly recommend that you try the CCI and Federal primers. It makes a huge difference. I haven't had a slow/hang fire since making the change.