BH 209 - No need to clean? Explanation?

[Brad7348]

I have a crazy BH209 story for you guys. I just got back from a ML hunt in NM. The last time I was out there was 4 years ago and I hunted with a guy that was new to MLs. The day before I drove out there to meet the same crew, I get a call from this guy who is out in a field sighting in his ML and had a few questions for me. So he says, "guess what, I just fired my ML for the first time in 4 years today" and I said that's great you are probably a bit rusty. He said "I cant remember the charge weight we used when we sighted in last time, do you remember?" I remembered the charge weight because it was the same as mine at that time and we had marked a few of his field tubes as a sanity check so he couldn't make a mistake. So I told him where to look for that, and what the weight was then I asked him how he had fired it the first time without remembering the charge weight to which he answered, "oh it was still loaded from the last hunt" (4 years ago) He fired a ML that had been sitting loaded with BH209 for 4 years. Result - 1" off bulls eye at 100. Totally nuts. When I got to NM the next day I looked at his rifle. It had not been cleaned in 4 years, had sat loaded for 4 years. We ran a swab through it a few times and cleaned it out real good. The barrel was slick and shiny all the way down. It felt slick and smooth in the breach and didn't seem to have any signs of pitting or corrosion. It basically looked new. I was shocked.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

But you did smack him in the head anyway, right?

 

[Brad7348]

yeah, hes just one of those guys who has always had everything go his way... luckily.

 

[GM54-120]

Unfired BH209 with low humidity should not cause corrosion. Once its fired it can with some humidity. Heavy BH209 fouling will even get sorta gummy under really bad weather conditions. I think it was Bestill or Doug ran into this at a shoot when it was raining. If you want to swab with BH209 use that mix with isopropyl alcohol. You can even go heavier on the ISO. Patch should be very lightly damp. Make them up ahead of time and store them in a jar or something. Squeeze out all the extra solvent. The ISO helps it dry really fast.

 

[Brad7348]

Yeah I think his saving grace was the fact that he lived in Ruidoso NM where it is fairly dry most of the year.

 

[GM54-120]

I shoot a lot of sabotless so bore condition is more sensitive. A jacketed bullet that loads good and snug on a clean bore can get really tight on a fouled bore. I have a method to get around this but its time consuming getting the bullets prepped.