Looking for Performance!

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

_zeeander89

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
13
Reaction score
7
Hey Guys,

I have been whitetail deer hunting in NY with my H&R inline muzzleloader for about 15 years now.

I started out with FFF blackpowder but once that became impossible to get in NY I switched to Triple 7. Have had a one pound can for quite some time now. I recently heard of Blackhorn 209 and am going to try it out this weekend.

My big question is how much powder should I use. I have a powder scale and have measured out 95 grains on the scale. Which measures out to about 120 grains volumetric. Does this sound accurate? Will that be safe to shoot?

I have been shooting lead conicals since I began shooting. Should I switch to sabots? My only concern is the sabot coming apart in the barrel and ruining the barrel.

Thoughts? Experiences? Are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Zach
 
good morning I have no experience with your particular rifle but I do have with a handful of the lightweight break open Cvas,I would start at 70 Grain by weight if I were you p,even 65 grains by weight and work up, one thing I found with all the different volume measure instruments that I bought they all read a little different, that's why I've settled on weighing my charges on a scale,Black Horn is not going to blow Sabots until you get above that hundred and twenty plus arena,, if you're shooting 451 or 452 bullets,,if you're shooting some of the 40 cal solid copper bullets in a 50 barrel though you might have problems sabot problems,, there so much information on black horn and this website has a lot of knowledgeable people just keep reading
 
84 grains weighed = 120 volume of BH 209. Do not shoot 95 grains wt.as it would be a serious overload, especially with a conical. Good luck. And welcome to the group.
 
There is a blackhorn 209 specific powder measure available. I think 110 grains by volume is about the max load recommended. If you have had good luck with your conical bullets, don't fix what ain't broke. I'd say to try some loads between 70 and 90 grains, 100 max.
 
Thanks guys.

I was actually looking at ballistic charts on Blackhorns website and noticed that 84 grains by weight was about equal to 120 grains by volume.

I’m going to keep the conicals for now. Try 65 grains of both Triple 7 and Blackhorn 209. See how they act. Then I may get a box of sabots to see how they act. My goal is 200 yards in a 3” group.

when you guys are target shooting how often do you “clean” the bore. I was thinking to get a good handle on accuracy about pulling the breech plug and running a brush through the bore every 2-3 shots.

Thanks for the info!
 
Thanks guys.

I was actually looking at ballistic charts on Blackhorns website and noticed that 84 grains by weight was about equal to 120 grains by volume.

I’m going to keep the conicals for now. Try 65 grains of both Triple 7 and Blackhorn 209. See how they act. Then I may get a box of sabots to see how they act. My goal is 200 yards in a 3” group.

when you guys are target shooting how often do you “clean” the bore. I was thinking to get a good handle on accuracy about pulling the breech plug and running a brush through the bore every 2-3 shots.

Thanks for the info!
With T7 i brush then damp patch then dry patch after every shot . A bit of a PITA but it keeps me ahead of a Big Job just a few shots later on .
With bh209 youll need a oversize veggie wad between the powder and a tight .002" oversize conical for good ignition . . A full strength 209 primer too . Bh209 powder likes to be compressed as well . As for cleaning it depends . My hunting is done on a clean bore Always no matter the powder used . Target i can shoot almost all day !!!
 
You will probably need a upgraded breach plug for BH209 in that rifle.

Next, your typical conicals such as Hornady Great Plains and Maxis are horrible choices for a 200 yard conical. You want something like a No Excuses or Bullshop 460gr sized correctly for your bore. Yours may run a bit large like White Rifles do. No Excuses sells a sizing pack. If you plan on shooting BH209 with conicals you will want some over sized wool wads...Like 54cal or 52cal and you want your conicals to be around 1.5-2 thousandths over land size. A tight fiber wad on the powder with a 50cal wool on top will work also. You might get lucky just using a tight veggie fiber wad. Buy both to see what yours prefers/needs.

Using big lead i would stay under 90gr by volume of BH209.
 
Gm54-120 is right . I forgot to tell you about the oversize wool wads . Sorry...... i use them Always with a conical too . Polywads will work too to seal it so bh209 will go Boom .
 
Upgraded breech plug for what reason? Where can I get an upgraded breech plug?

Thanks for the info on bullets, sabots and wading. Been thinking about wading as well. Wanted to establish a baseline then start experimenting and find tuning.
 
Shot my gun yesterday. Ways working on sighting it in. I started with 65 grains of Triple Se7en before trying out the Blackhorn 209. Fired 5 rounds with TS and 2 rounds with BH209 (forgot my primers at home and 7 shod was all I could scavenge up at camp). I was shooting 320 grain lead conicles, no patch.

Triple Se7en seems to be all over the place. Shots 1 & 2 were at 50 yards, shots 3, 4, 5 were at 100 yards. Only scope adjustments I made were between shots 3 & 4.

RkHKy22fAXMcJTaU6


Fired 2 rounds with 65 grains of BH209 to see how it acted. Although there was a delay they were much more consistent. I think I will be ordering a Metrics Unlimited breech plug tomorrow.

kqN1JUHHQymoArud7


Speaking of beech instead of a 209 shotgun primer. Has anyone ever tried using a magnum rifle primer. From what I am gathering, BH209 needs a hotter flame to ignite, so would a rifle primer be more helpful?
 
Shot my gun yesterday. Ways working on sighting it in. I started with 65 grains of Triple Se7en before trying out the Blackhorn 209. Fired 5 rounds with TS and 2 rounds with BH209 (forgot my primers at home and 7 shod was all I could scavenge up at camp). I was shooting 320 grain lead conicles, no patch.

Triple Se7en seems to be all over the place. Shots 1 & 2 were at 50 yards, shots 3, 4, 5 were at 100 yards. Only scope adjustments I made were between shots 3 & 4.

RkHKy22fAXMcJTaU6


Fired 2 rounds with 65 grains of BH209 to see how it acted. Although there was a delay they were much more consistent. I think I will be ordering a Metrics Unlimited breech plug tomorrow.
 
Back
Top