Weigh BH 209??

[txhunter58]

Please tell me why I should weigh BH 209 for hunting with open sights in Colorado this September with max range at 150 yards. Todays session:

75 yards
Knight LRH
95 gr BH 209. ***BY VOLUME***
Lot # 30
Williams peep, front fiberoptic, 6 O’Clock hold
350 gr lead Federal BOR lock bullet

Last 3 shots were all in the bullseye. That is a 2” bullseye. Need to shoot farther and tweak sights, but that is for another day. Was already almost 90 degrees when I quit, and getting windy.

This was the first session with my new Lehigh breech plug and went from 90 to 95 gr of BH. So had to do some adjustment of sights. I fill my powder measure, tap 3 times, cut off, and pour in gun. I think I will stick with volume for hunting!

As long as you realize you need to adjust your sights a bit when you get a new powder lot # I see no reason to go to the trouble of weighing powder.

 

[txhunter58]

Here is something that always blows my mind: Fired the first few shots at 90 gr (different target) and they weren’t grouping that well, but were at the top of the bull. The first 2 shots with 95 gr were the 2 below the bull. So changing from 90 to 95 gr increased the accuracy, but dropped the impact point about 4”. Have seen this many times but it always surprises me.

 

[ENCORE50A]

Here is something that always blows my mind: Fired the first few shots at 90 gr (different target) and they weren’t grouping that well, but were at the top of the bull. The first 2 shots with 95 gr were the 2 below the bull. So changing from 90 to 95 gr increased the accuracy, but dropped the impact point about 4”. Have seen this many times but it always surprises me.

Increasing the charge flattens the trajectory.

 

[Ron Huff]

I use pre filled charge tubes at range and while hunting so I weigh to keep things equal every time but in most situations volume loading is good. Looking for competition style accuracy I would definitely weigh each charge.

 

[ENCORE50A]

https://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/threads/bh209-lot-to-lot-velocity-test.41843/

 

[txhunter58]

You guys that have commented already know this, but in case there are some newbies reading this, this morning is a good example of tweaking a load in YOUR rifle.

The last bullets I hunted with in this rifle were 350 gr Hornady FPBs (discontinued). So went with the Federal BOR lock 350 gr. With the FPBs, my rifle liked 90 gr of BH 209. With this new bullet, it was giving me 3” groups at 50 yards at 90 gr. Changed to 95 gr and got the groups above at 75 yards.

If neither of these powder amts had worked, I would have tried 85 and 100 gr. But knew the gun usually likes 90-95, so started there. And with the 350 gr bullet, I’m would have been fine hunting elk this fall, even with 85 gr.

 

[ElDiablo]

Good shooting!

 

[ElDiablo]

Here is something that always blows my mind: Fired the first few shots at 90 gr (different target) and they weren’t grouping that well, but were at the top of the bull. The first 2 shots with 95 gr were the 2 below the bull. So changing from 90 to 95 gr increased the accuracy, but dropped the impact point about 4”. Have seen this many times but it always surprises me.

That is surprising. Four inch shift in POI at 75 yards with a five grain charge difference? You’re probably talking 35-50 fps difference? I wonder if there is something else that may explain it.

 

[billyboy*]

Please tell me why I should weigh BH 209 for hunting with open sights in Colorado this September with max range at 150 yards.

It is Obviously a Choice.

Reasons to Weigh:
Convenience for Dispensing into Charge Tubes / Speedloaders (I use an RCBS Chargemaster 1500)
No Spillage of Powder compared to the Volume Measure
More Consistent Amounts of Powder

 

[Ninering62]

That is surprising. Four inch shift in POI at 75 yards with a five grain charge difference? You’re probably talking 35-50 fps difference? I wonder if there is something else that may explain it.

I was wondering the exact same thing. That doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[billyboy*]

The first 2 shots with 95 gr were the 2 below the bull. So changing from 90 to 95 gr increased the accuracy, but dropped the impact point about 4”. Have seen this many times but it always surprises me.

http://meritcorporation.com/
Installing a Merit Adjustable Aperture Disc to your Williams Rear Peep Sight Will Help.
(Really Helps you Fine Tune your Focus)
Changing Light affects POI
Some Barrels need Fouling Shots to Settle in.
For Iron Sight Sight-In I like to use a Round Black Circle on Brown / Tan Paper & a 6 o'clock hold
When Hunting Iron Sights with Aging Eyes we Need all the Advantages we can get.

 

[txhunter58]

Gonna check out the adjustable aperture! Thx

 

[billyboy*]

Gonna check out the adjustable aperture! Thx

Merit Adjustable Apertures are still available however you may have to deal directly with Edward
Grant (518) 763-3011 - [email protected]

EA Brown was Selling them Last Year but don't see them Listed Now.

 

[txhunter58]

Are you saying if I adjust it down enough I won’t need glasses? I have tried a pretty small aperture and I still see 2 front posts

 

[billyboy*]

Are you saying if I adjust it down enough I won’t need glasses? I have tried a pretty small aperture and I still see 2 front posts

I couldn’t say for Sure, it Depends
Do you Need Correction for Distance Vision? (Not Just Good Enough to Pass the Driver’s Test)
How Long is your Sight Radius?
How Close is the Williams Peep Sight to your Eye?
Either Way, being able to Open & Close the Size of the Aperture Will Greatly Improve the Clarity of your Sight Picture 👁

 

[ElDiablo]

This is actually pretty cool. I may need to try one myself. From the Merit website:

To check out this phenomena for yourself, try this rough, but inexpensive, experiment:

Make a fist, put it up to your shooting eye, and look through the tunnel formed by your fingers. By manipulating your fingers, you can adjust the size of the hole. Hold a pencil out at arm's length; the point represents your front sight. Pick out a distant object to be the target. Sight through your fist, adjust the hole to the right size, and you will be able to focus on both objects near and far.

 

[LHR]

I am more interested in the fact that in Encore’s post he shows a much better ES with volume measured loads vs. weighed loads! I would have thought the opposite to be true.

https://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/threads/bh209-lot-to-lot-velocity-test.41843/

 

[LHR]

Ok boys and girls.............
Ol'Encore figured I better finish up this testing before an over abundance of doctor visits and surgery prevents it.

As requested............. I used 120grs VOLUME and measured out 10 of each lot number, weighed them and then took the average weight of each.
All earlier procedures were followed, so no need to repeat them here.
I will though point out that the 275gr Fury ST2 were used again.

Here's the data. NOTE: DON'T USE THE DATA I LISTED BELOW IT IN RED. MY RIFLE IS CUSTOM AND CAPABLE OF HEAVY CHARGES OF BH209. IT WAS ALSO A 300GR XLD


View attachment 22166

REMEMBER.... THE DATA BELOW WAS 84GRS WEIGHT


View attachment 22167

That is if I’m reading this correctly?

 

[txhunter58]

It is Obviously a Choice.

Reasons to Weigh:
Convenience for Dispensing into Charge Tubes / Speedloaders (I use an RCBS Chargemaster 1500)
No Spillage of Powder compared to the Volume Measure
More Consistent Amounts of Powder

“No Spillage of Powder compared to the Volume Measure”

Now there is a valid reason. At the current price for sure

 

[txhunter58]

That is surprising. Four inch shift in POI at 75 yards with a five grain charge difference? You’re probably talking 35-50 fps difference? I wonder if there is something else that may explain it.

It’s a long way for sure but I have seen it more than once. I assume it also has to do with the “harmonics” of the barrel with that particular load too.