New to bh209

[redruff]

Probably been beaten to death here but...
fairly new to ML. Was shooting 245gr powerbelts with 80 grs 777 pellets.
I wanna step it up a notch and try a more accurate better load.
Probably bh209.
I've got a CVA Optima.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[big6x6]

Yeah I have a suggestion!

Why don't you try a 250gr SST or 250gr Parker Ballistic Extreme over 90-100gr Blackhorn 209? I think that would be a winner! 8)

 

[frontier gander]

well your current load sounds very good, even better if you went to bh209 but theres some questioning on if bh209 will work with the powerbelts. Ive seen a few posts with it being normal and one guy having hangfires with bh209 and the powerbelt.

I'd switch to loose powder and ditch the pellets.

CVA Optima - 100 yards, 3 shot groups. That one hole is Three shots with a 348hp Powerbelt and 90gr pyrodex P. The larger group was rapid fire with the same load. I allowed the barrel to cool a few minutes between shots. That resulted in the tiny hole.

Another rapid fire group,

Sabot load, 240gr XTP in a short black mmp-12 sabot - 110gr pyrodex P. Third shot always dropped down for some reason.

I would over look those SST's.

 

[Grouse]

Short black mmp sabot for .452 bullets, and a federal 209A primer is about a must to ignite BH209.

 

[SWThomas]

Are you going to hunt with that rifle? If so, I would move away from Powerbelts. They have a bad reputation.

 

[g.g.]

Yeah I have a suggestion!

Why don't you try a 250gr SST or 250gr Parker Ballistic Extreme over 90-100gr Blackhorn 209? I think that would be a winner! 8)

yep

 

[SteveB]

What big6x6 wrote.
Noslers are an excellent choice as well.
No reason to stick with a bullet with limitations.

Steve

 

[younghunter_86]

If you want to get in a little practice pretty cheap I'd go with the MMP short black sabot with the 250 grain Hornady .452 XTP's. This is the first combo that I fire out of every new gun. The XTP will also be very effective on deer.

 

[Lee 9]

frontier gander
The BH209 works quite well with power belts 245 with 120 gr for some things it has not hang fired or miss fired in my Triumph, we have a lot of coyote around here and I like to really blast them and have also used it for coon they are a problem getting into my feeders all the time. I would not use that load on deer or hogs as its to volatile. Lee

 

[frontier gander]

thats what i figured. This guy was using an optima elite and it kept hang firing. Maybe the TC has a tighter bore than the OE.

 

[Lee 9]

need to use Federal 209 or CCI mag with that breach plug and clean out the carbon every 10 shots. Lee

 

[funman]

I have shot powerbelts with BH209, and even though i dont recommend them i had them and they shot well. I had a cva that liked the hornady xtp 240gr bullets with 110gr of pyro. They were cheap to shoot and killed things when i shot them. If money isnt much concern and you shoot alot i have heard all good things with all the other selection of bullets mentioned (minus the powerbelt) i personally have not shot an animal with the powerbelt but have shot them in various materials and was not impressed. Thier are people that say they work for them and i beleive that, i just think they are not worth the fortune they ask for them.

 

[mrlnfshr1]

Switched from loose 777 to BH209 in my Optima this fall. Excellent accuracy and reliability with 100gr BH209, Hornaday .430 300gr XTP, and green Harvester .430 sabots. First time I shot with the BH I had some hangfires after about 30 or so shots and the breech plug was a bit** to remove when I got home. Didn't realize the importance of cleaning the plug when using BH209 at the time. Now I quickly clean the plug after 15 or so shots and its no big deal. Less than 5min if I take the time to remove the plug entirely, but usually just use a pipe cleaner soaked in Hoppes followed by a piece of copper wire as a pick. While it is not necessary to swab between shots as with 777, I choose to when sighting in so that my first shot groups with subsequent shots so I dont have to hunt with a fouled barrel, as many others on here do with great success.

 

[SWThomas]

Short black mmp sabot for .452 bullets, and a federal 209A primer is about a must to ignite BH209.

Do you mean specifically for that rifle or in general? Because there are plenty of other bullet/sabot combo's and plenty of other primers that work perfectly with BH209.

 

[redruff]

I should have been a little more specific, yes I plan to hunt deer with it and I'm open to ANY load bullet combo. I only mention the powerbelt because that is of course what must rookies grab off the shelf or get handed by the salesman...and thats what I started with. Not saying they are bad, but I thnk I can do better.

 

[SWThomas]

I should have been a little more specific, yes I plan to hunt deer with it and I'm open to ANY load bullet combo. I only mention the powerbelt because that is of course what must rookies grab off the shelf or get handed by the salesman...and thats what I started with. Not saying they are bad, but I thnk I can do better.

I'd go with 100 volumetric grains of BH209 and a Barnes Bullet/Sabot of your choosing. I like the Spit-Fire MZ's. 100 grains should be plenty to let the air out of a deer easily out to 200 yards. But if you want to shoot a hotter load, you can just increase the load in 10 grain increments until accuracy begins to suffer. But IMO, 100 grains is plenty.

 

[old/new]

I'd switch to loose powder and ditch the pellets.

CVA Optima - 100 yards, 3 shot groups. That one hole is Three shots with a 348hp Powerbelt and 90gr pyrodex P. The larger group was rapid fire with the same load. I allowed the barrel to cool a few minutes between shots. That resulted in the tiny hole.

Another rapid fire group,

Sabot load, 240gr XTP in a short black mmp-12 sabot - 110gr pyrodex P. Third shot always dropped down for some reason.

I would over look those SST's.

FG,
Nice shooting but rapid fire :?: Your muzzy an auto loader :?: :?

I wouldn't want you huntin' me :wink:

 

[frontier gander]

rapid fire took about 20 seconds to reload. If i had been using the straight inline speedloaders it would have cut time down. I used the TC loaders where u have to flip it over and then push the bullet down into the muzzle.