Any cold weather troubles with BH209?
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Yup! 
Any info is good! I think that's why I prefer the Pyrodex pellets for hunting,not for just the ease of loading,but also for the "black starter end" (Black powder) for good ignition under all conditions. I've shot my Prohunter at 5 above zero,and have never had any problems (with the gun,not me) . Also keeping the flame channel open,and clean is a "must" for consistant ignition. There's alot of residue that is left in there. Ron
Any info is good! I think that's why I prefer the Pyrodex pellets for hunting,not for just the ease of loading,but also for the "black starter end" (Black powder) for good ignition under all conditions. I've shot my Prohunter at 5 above zero,and have never had any problems (with the gun,not me) . Also keeping the flame channel open,and clean is a "must" for consistant ignition. There's alot of residue that is left in there. Ronplug
coltchris thanks for contacting them. I use the CCI209 M and have not had a hangfire. Thta' all I can say. I shoot the Pro Hunter, but admittedly I have not had an opportunity to hunt or shoot in the cold. We will see.
coltchris thanks for contacting them. I use the CCI209 M and have not had a hangfire. Thta' all I can say. I shoot the Pro Hunter, but admittedly I have not had an opportunity to hunt or shoot in the cold. We will see.
Minus 40 degrees is more "real" then my world is going to be.
Only reference that I saw to (possible) lab only testing was for the primers.
All products start their life in the lab so variables can be controlled, changed and monitored. I sure for a company like Western, this was only the first step and extensive field testing was done as well.
If anyone knows otherwise, it would be interesting to see.
Steve
Only reference that I saw to (possible) lab only testing was for the primers.
All products start their life in the lab so variables can be controlled, changed and monitored. I sure for a company like Western, this was only the first step and extensive field testing was done as well.
If anyone knows otherwise, it would be interesting to see.
Steve
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Doohan said:
So I'm NOT crazy. We have an old freezer for coon hides and I was thinking of doing that exact same thing to all of my ML's this weekend a couple of times. I wasn't going to admit what I did though.
I just want to make sure that the BH209 will be going off in my inlines and the H 4198 will be going off in my smokeless when the weather gets cold. Last winter I was out when -8*.Ok so todays quick range session I changed one variable. I switched the 260gr .40/50 DC for a 200gr Shockwave. This gun likes those bullets a lot but I had a ton of those 260s I wanted to use up. I'll have to measure both bullets but the 200 is definately a tighter fit in the barrel. Almost bent the ramrod getting one of the shots started til I used my short starter. 6 shots, no hesitation at all, bang, gone. So I adjusted my scope and thats the bullet I'll try hunting with tomorrow.
Tried finding Fed 209As but couldn't locate them locally. Wanted to add another variable with the 260s if I could. Maybe this weekend I'll locate some and give them a try.
Tried finding Fed 209As but couldn't locate them locally. Wanted to add another variable with the 260s if I could. Maybe this weekend I'll locate some and give them a try.
I left my Endeavor outside overnight. It was fifteen degrees when I shot it in the morning. It hit the same place as when it was 80 degrees. The components were left outside too. They loaded harder,200 gr SW, but shot with the first shot. Shot a doe last night. It was twelve degrees. I have never had a hangfire. 100 grains of BH.
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11/21 BH209 Testing
Loaded Omega last night with 110 BH209, 300 XTP, Harvestor Short Black and CCI primer(non-mag version).
This morning I placed it in my car truck at 6:30, temp was 9*. Gun sat uncased ~10 minutes to make sure sitting in a case didn't insulate it from the cold. Fired first shot at the range at 8:00. Pulled trigger... BOOM! 2 more shots with no patching, firing caps or anything both went boom. Waited ~10 minutes between shots. When I got back in my car at 9:00am it had risen to 15*.
1st shot was high, but expected due to no fouling shots fired from a clean barrel. 2nd and 3rd were touching.
Note: I use a range rod for loading and give a couple of good raps on it with my palm to FIRMLY seat the bullet. I'm going to go out on a limb and say my Omega with BH209 and a tight loading bullet are cold weather proof.
Loaded Omega last night with 110 BH209, 300 XTP, Harvestor Short Black and CCI primer(non-mag version).
This morning I placed it in my car truck at 6:30, temp was 9*. Gun sat uncased ~10 minutes to make sure sitting in a case didn't insulate it from the cold. Fired first shot at the range at 8:00. Pulled trigger... BOOM! 2 more shots with no patching, firing caps or anything both went boom. Waited ~10 minutes between shots. When I got back in my car at 9:00am it had risen to 15*.
1st shot was high, but expected due to no fouling shots fired from a clean barrel. 2nd and 3rd were touching.
Note: I use a range rod for loading and give a couple of good raps on it with my palm to FIRMLY seat the bullet. I'm going to go out on a limb and say my Omega with BH209 and a tight loading bullet are cold weather proof.
I think you guys are on to something w/seating pressure. The only hangfire I have had w/bh209 is when I used a Knight ultimate slam w/easy load sabot. As mentioned above, the SW's load hard in my gun and have shot a ton of em w/no hanfires. I was previously using CCI 209 primers(used when hanfire occured). Have since switched to Federals.
Decided to touch off the load in my Elite today. No issues at all. It was about 20 deg and I'd had it loaded since Monday and hunted every day. Didn't have much snow or rain this week and I left it locked in the truck when not hunting. Not that it matters since the deer seem to have "gone underground" since the gun opener on the 15th. :lol:
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I had a hang fire today but my temperatures only reach in the 50s. I admit i kept a charge in the gun for three days. And i use winchester 209w. I kept the gun in the garage and didnt take it in either. I have yet to clean the breech plug with the 1/8 drill bit.
I loaded my Endeavor Thursday night before I went hunting Friday mornind. Didn't see anything Friday so I left the gun loaded in the back seat of my truck (without the primer of course). The temp. was about 27 - 28 degrees when I got up the next morning to go hunting. I shot a hog at about 7:45 that morning and the temp. was still below freezing. It went off perfect. I know this isn't very cold compared to where you guys live but for Florida, that getting pretty cool. Any way I just thought I would post my results. I shot it again this morning (the gun was reloaded as soon as I shot the hog and was left in the truck again overnight) after the hunt without any problems also but the temp. was a little higher than the day before. Probably in the mid 30's. I propped up next to a tree and shot a target that we already had set up at about 85 yards. The shot was about 2 inches high just like it was when I siighted it in at the range. My load is 110gr. of BH209/250gr. Shockwave and a Harvester short black sabot and Win 209 primers.
My experience with Blackhorn 209 so far this season. I shot a buck on the 15th, reloaded and kept it locked in the truck over night for the past week. The temps dipped down into the low teens on several of those nights, low twenties a couple nights.
Deceided to come out a little early this evening and shoot out the load. I had a target at 170 yards, wind maybe about 5 mph from R to L. Got set up with a decent rest as the light was dimming, scope only on 4x. Fired perfect, no hang or delay. Walked to the target and hit 4" left of the bull. I figure the wind drift probably was to blame for some of that 4", maybe all of it. I sure can't complain about the way it performed after being loaded for 8 days and the cold temps it was subjected to.
I'll also add that I did not cover the bore or plug the breech over that whole week. We did not have any rain, other than it misting for a few minutes on the 15th.
Oh, and my load was 120 gr BH209, 250 grain Knight PBT (Barnes TMZ), Federal 209A primer. Knight Disc Extreme MHC .50 Caliber with the Non-FPJ Conversion. Boy does that do a number on a whitetail! :wink:
Deceided to come out a little early this evening and shoot out the load. I had a target at 170 yards, wind maybe about 5 mph from R to L. Got set up with a decent rest as the light was dimming, scope only on 4x. Fired perfect, no hang or delay. Walked to the target and hit 4" left of the bull. I figure the wind drift probably was to blame for some of that 4", maybe all of it. I sure can't complain about the way it performed after being loaded for 8 days and the cold temps it was subjected to.
I'll also add that I did not cover the bore or plug the breech over that whole week. We did not have any rain, other than it misting for a few minutes on the 15th.
Oh, and my load was 120 gr BH209, 250 grain Knight PBT (Barnes TMZ), Federal 209A primer. Knight Disc Extreme MHC .50 Caliber with the Non-FPJ Conversion. Boy does that do a number on a whitetail! :wink:
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Hi guys, I am new to this forum and love it. As far as the BH209 I just started using it. I have always used FFF blackpowder and thought I would try BH209 in my new omega. I am currently using 100 grains with a TC SW 250 bullet and CCI 209M primers. I hunt in Michigan which has been allittle colder than normal, the blinds I use are heated so the gun is going from warm to cold conditions everytime go out, so on Saturday afternoon I thought I would see if these conditions would affect the proformance of the powder. The gun went off without hesitation and drilled a can at 144 yards. So as of right now I don't see anything wrong with it. My primer choice was the gun dealers choice where I purchase my Omega from.
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I tried the 1/8 drill bit to my breech plug today and i couldnt believe the mess that had got caked up on the side walls. Believe me i had no idea it was that bad. I bet thats why i had the hang fire the other day. When I started with the drill i thought i was drilling in the metal. I forgot what the breech plug looked like when it was new. I had no idea how caked up it could get. It looked like part of the breech plug that i was wearing away. To others out thier like me who dont pay attention to detail TRY THE 1/8 DRILL BIT. I cant confirm it yet but i bet i do not have another hang fire.
funman said:
Great post, funman. I was in the same boat, but realized how carboned up my breech plug was after my second range session with BH209 last spring. I now clean my breech plug after every range session (15 to 30 shots), using a 1/8" drill bit so that I know I am getting the flash hole "chamber" completely cleaned out.
Once I figured out my "routine," it's no big deal and I have become a big BH209 fan. I am on my 6th container of BH209--all have been shot in one Omega that I use only with BH209, and I have had zero hangfires or ignition issues. Have been shooting mostly 250 grn .452 XTP's and black crush ribs, or 250 grn SST's or SW's and short black Harvesters with 100 grns of BH209. Both Winchester and Federal 209's have worked fine for me, but I plan to hunt with the Feds in Iowa in December where it might get pretty cold.
Loaded Encore with 209 at noon, temp around 10. Brought rifle inside cabin that night. Hunted all next day in temps around 10 and left rifle outside all night because worried about condensation if I brought it inside again - temps at nigt around 0. Next day around noon dropped a moose with no problems from gun. Reloaded with speed loader that had been in pocket for 3 days, inside and outside, and after hunt was over it discharged without a problem. While sighting in at range several days before season I fired about 35 shots in temps around 10 degrees without any problems.
on a 3 day ML hunt in IL a week ago.
temps as low as 18 and extremely windy. started with clean gun, shot 3 primers and loaded.
shot first time at about 10AM first morning...AND GRAZED THE DEER my mistake, thought I had a good rest and as the deer trotted after his doe I rushed the shot. we tracked for several hours and found a couple of drops of blood.
back on stand that afternoon and shot again killing a fine 10. then reloading and shooting again to clear the charge.
all three shots fired perfectly without hang or delay. highest temps while on stand that day was in the mid 20's
temps as low as 18 and extremely windy. started with clean gun, shot 3 primers and loaded.
shot first time at about 10AM first morning...AND GRAZED THE DEER
my mistake, thought I had a good rest and as the deer trotted after his doe I rushed the shot. we tracked for several hours and found a couple of drops of blood. back on stand that afternoon and shot again killing a fine 10. then reloading and shooting again to clear the charge.
all three shots fired perfectly without hang or delay. highest temps while on stand that day was in the mid 20's
