# Who shoots blackhorn 209?



## coachT (Dec 1, 2015)

CVA optima is on the way. Leaning towards the loose powder rather than pellets. Is this a good idea?


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## leoparddog (Dec 1, 2015)

I like the BH209 and I prefer the loose powder.  I've never had good luck with the pellets as far as accuracy goes.


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## TCOmega (Dec 1, 2015)

I shoot bh209. Love it, so easy to clean my gun, and very accurate.


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## shdw633 (Dec 2, 2015)

TCOmega said:


> I shoot bh209. Love it, so easy to clean my gun, and very accurate.



^^^^^Same here!!^^^^^^


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## FOURNOTCHHUNTER (Dec 2, 2015)

It is clean and accurate - can't beat it in my opinion!


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## steveus (Dec 2, 2015)

My advice, shoot BH 209 and quit even wondering about anything else.


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## AliBubba (Dec 2, 2015)

BH209 is the way to go.


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 10, 2015)

Very very fine powder sub.  Absolutely love it


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## goshenmountainman (Dec 11, 2015)

Blackhorn powder is the best, period. I shoot it in my accura v2, sub 1-inch groups at 100 yds. with 90 grains and Hornady 240 grain XTP. Deadly combination!!


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 13, 2015)

You get very little smoke on the shot. Nothing like the others


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## 1gr8bldr (Dec 13, 2015)

coachT said:


> CVA optima is on the way. Leaning towards the loose powder rather than pellets. Is this a good idea?


I don't know if it is the BH209 or the Optima, but dang that gun kicks. Anybody know


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## coachT (Dec 14, 2015)

Still waiting on CVA to send the bh209 breech plug. Shot the triple 7 pellets (100 gr) yesterday and the recoil was minimal. Lots of smoke and barrel needed cleaning every shot. Can't wait to run the bh209 through it.


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## coachT (Dec 14, 2015)

1gr8bldr said:


> I don't know if it is the BH209 or the Optima, but dang that gun kicks. Anybody know



How much bh209 are you shooting and what bullet?


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 14, 2015)

1gr8bldr said:


> I don't know if it is the BH209 or the Optima, but dang that gun kicks. Anybody know



make sure youre shooting by volume and not by weight.  Meaning don't throw 150 grains by weight of BH209 down that tube cause itll rip the shoulder off


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## Steve08 (Dec 16, 2015)

TCOmega said:


> I shoot bh209. Love it, so easy to clean my gun, and very accurate.<object classid="clsid: D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="1" height="1"><param value="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1" height="1"></embed></object>


Same here, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to clean my gun.


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## ourway77 (Dec 23, 2015)

With the BH-209 and the ease of cleaning buy Rem 700 ultimate and forget that smokeless muzzle loader. Remington has hit a home run with the new Remington 700. Although still I like my Smokeless Muzzle Loader too


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## willie1971 (Dec 23, 2015)

A friend of mine swears by it.  He used a drill press with a #32 bit on the breech plug.  Uses 120 grains without issues.


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## coachT (Dec 24, 2015)

After waiting for weeks, still no breech plug in the mail so I drove to Duluth and picked it up yesterday. Now I need the rain to stop. I'll put it on the bench as soon as weather permits.


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 24, 2015)

coachT said:


> After waiting for weeks, still no breech plug in the mail so I drove to Duluth and picked it up yesterday. Now I need the rain to stop. I'll put it on the bench as soon as weather permits.



sweet.  Also dont forget that you need to use regular primers, not those made for 777.


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## coachT (Dec 25, 2015)

Jim Thompson said:


> sweet.  Also dont forget that you need to use regular primers, not those made for 777.



I have regular shotgun 209 primers. CCI and Fiocchi to be exact. I'm about to start working a load up for it


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## Chase4556 (Dec 25, 2015)

I guess I will be the odd ball out. 

Shooting 2 50gr 777 pellets behind a hornady xtp and my CVA wolf will cloverleaf them at 100yds. I can shoot twice before accuracy falls off. 

Tried the BH209. Same accuracy, less cleaning required, but a little more work to load. 

I like that I can just drop in two pellets, and go. Less stuff to carry, and fiddle with. You won't go wrong with either in my opinion.


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## coachT (Dec 25, 2015)

Ran a few three shot groups down range today. 

Shot 250 grain hornady spire point (Traditions Smackdown SST I think), 290 grain Barnes TMZ and 300 grain hornady SST flextip. 

All bullets were loaded with 90 grains (volume) of Blackhorn 209 and Fiocchi 209 primers. 

I was very pleased with the groups versus 100 grains of 777 pellets. 

First shot of each group was with a clean bore.  Ran a couple dry patches down the pipe between the first and second shot and between the second and third shot. The first two shots of each group were not touching but we're pretty close. Third shot of each group was starting to open up, but not terrible. 

The 250 grain hornady shot slightly better with that load. 
I plan to put more range time in tomorrow and play with the powder charge, try the CCI primers and hopefully stretch the yardage out and see what it's capable of.

I think we are off to a good start.


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## coachT (Dec 25, 2015)

Chase4556 said:


> I guess I will be the odd ball out.
> 
> Shooting 2 50gr 777 pellets behind a hornady xtp and my CVA wolf will cloverleaf them at 100yds. I can shoot twice before accuracy falls off.
> 
> ...



Already shot the 777 pellets. Accuracy was terrible in mine. What primer are you using?


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## coachT (Dec 26, 2015)

Shot out to 150 yards today. I haven't found a combination that will cloverleaf at 100 yards yet though. The sabots on the 290 grain Barnes TMZ bullets are much tighter pushing down the barrel and they don't group as well as the 250 grain hornady which are much easier to load. I'm brushing the barrel after every shot. My friend says I'm asking too much out of this gun, but if it will cloverleaf, that's what I want. It shoots good enough to kill a deer at 150 yards but I was hoping it would group at 200 yards like it is at 150. 
Any suggestions???


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 27, 2015)

coachT said:


> Shot out to 150 yards today. I haven't found a combination that will cloverleaf at 100 yards yet though. The sabots on the 290 grain Barnes TMZ bullets are much tighter pushing down the barrel and they don't group as well as the 250 grain hornady which are much easier to load. I'm brushing the barrel after every shot. My friend says I'm asking too much out of this gun, but if it will cloverleaf, that's what I want. It shoots good enough to kill a deer at 150 yards but I was hoping it would group at 200 yards like it is at 150.
> Any suggestions???



With bh209 there is absolutely no need to swab (wet or dry) between shots. Fact is my encore seems to shoot better the longer I go. I can't even remember the last time that I've swabbed the barrel unless cleaning at home.  I bet I've shot 30 or 40 times at range, just allowing the barrel to cool some between shots. 

My gun would not group 90 or 105 or 110. 100 by volume with Winchester 209 primers and tc Shockwaves and  harvester crushed rib sabots and  gave me great touching groups at 100, which is the longest range I practice.  I like it to be about inch and a half or 2 at 100 yards.

This is what I carry my loads in....


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## 01Foreman400 (Dec 27, 2015)

Jim Thompson said:


> With bh209 there is absolutely no need to swab (wet or dry) between shots. Fact is my encore seems to shoot better the longer I go. I can't even remember the last time that I've swabbed the barrel unless cleaning at home.  I bet I've shot 30 or 40 times at range, just allowing the barrel to cool some between shots.
> 
> My gun would not group 90 or 105 or 110. 100 by volume with Winchester 209 primers and tc Shockwaves and  harvester crushed rib sabots and  gave me great touching groups at 100, which is the longest range I practice.  I like it to be about inch and a half or 2 at 100 yards.
> 
> This is what I carry my loads in....



Where did you get those Jim?


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 27, 2015)

01Foreman400 said:


> Where did you get those Jim?



This is where I got them altho it's been 6 years or so since I bought them.  I believe this is the same ones. 
www.onlinesciencemall.com/plastic-polypropylene-test-tubes-16x125-mm-w-caps-pk-25.html

Also I go ahead and make them up as speed loaders with the bullet already in them when I take them in the woods.  That way I just pour and push the bullet in.  Can't take more than 1 or 2 secs over when I used pellets


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## 01Foreman400 (Dec 27, 2015)

Jim Thompson said:


> This is where I got them altho it's been 6 years or so since I bought them.  I believe this is the same ones.
> www.onlinesciencemall.com/plastic-polypropylene-test-tubes-16x125-mm-w-caps-pk-25.html
> 
> Also I go ahead and make them up as speed loaders with the bullet already in them when I take them in the woods.  That way I just pour and push the bullet in.  Can't take more than 1 or 2 secs over when I used pellets



Thanks!


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## coachT (Dec 27, 2015)

Jim, my barrel is nasty after one shot. Is that normal with BH209?  Everybody says it burns clean. Should I change primers?  Hope to have time to shoot more tomorrow and try different powder charges. Thanks!


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 27, 2015)

coachT said:


> Jim, my barrel is nasty after one shot. Is that normal with BH209?  Everybody says it burns clean. Should I change primers?  Hope to have time to shoot more tomorrow and try different powder charges. Thanks!



It will be fouled for sure, but the bullet will still be easy to seat, whereas if you were shooting 777 or black powder it would get more and more difficult. 

Try changing the primer along with the load charges etc to get a load worked up, but not sure if it'll make a difference in the barrel being cleaner


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## coachT (Dec 27, 2015)

I have CCI and Fiocchi primers. I will see if I can round up some other brands. I will report back with results. Thanks again.


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## coachT (Dec 28, 2015)

Picked up some Winchester primers today but didn't shoot because we had a 13mph crosswind. Try again tomorrow.


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## coachT (Dec 29, 2015)

300 gr SST, 100 gr BH209 with Fiocchi primer is the best so far. 3 out of 4 are a pretty nice group and 1 flyer isn't too bad. I'll pay more attention when I am seating the bullet, but most times it is twisting in the lands but sometimes it feels like the sabot may cross over (similar to cross threading a bolt) then fall back in the groove and be easier the rest of the way. I'm wondering if this could be the inconsistency causing the flyers. Any tips on preventing this when loading?


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## Jim Thompson (Dec 30, 2015)

coachT said:


> 300 gr SST, 100 gr BH209 with Fiocchi primer is the best so far. 3 out of 4 are a pretty nice group and 1 flyer isn't too bad. I'll pay more attention when I am seating the bullet, but most times it is twisting in the lands but sometimes it feels like the sabot may cross over (similar to cross threading a bolt) then fall back in the groove and be easier the rest of the way. I'm wondering if this could be the inconsistency causing the flyers. Any tips on preventing this when loading?



If you have pretty decent groups, the next change would possibly be the sabots themselves.  Harvester Crushed Rib are the best for my setup.


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## coachT (Dec 30, 2015)

Can't get those locally and won't have time to order them and shoot them in time for the trip, but I will work on that in the off season. As for now, I picked up some 240 gr XPT's to try out. Seems that lots of people are having good luck with them. If nothing else, the load for the SST is plenty good for 100 yards. Just like to stack the odds in my favor.


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## livetohunt (Jan 22, 2016)

coachT said:


> Still waiting on CVA to send the bh209 breech plug. Shot the triple 7 pellets (100 gr) yesterday and the recoil was minimal. Lots of smoke and barrel needed cleaning every shot. Can't wait to run the bh209 through it.



Did they send the breech plug to you for free? Also, have you tried the powerbelt aerolight 250gr?


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## coachT (Jan 22, 2016)

livetohunt said:


> Did they send the breech plug to you for free? Also, have you tried the powerbelt aerolight 250gr?



Yes CVA sent the breech plug for free. It took a while to get it and I actually went to their office and picked one up before the one arrived via snail mail. 

Didn't try any powerbelts because of bad reviews on terminal performance.


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## BarnesAddict (Jan 24, 2016)

Although some regular primers ignite BH209, it is much better if a CCI209M or Federal 209A primers are used.
Clean your flash channels of the carbon buildup.


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## tdc4dade4 (Jan 24, 2016)

I shoot the cheddite primers with 90grains of bh209 pushing a hornady 250grain sst with awesome groups at 100 an 150yards


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## bendback (Jun 21, 2016)

leoparddog said:


> I like the BH209 and I prefer the loose powder.  I've never had good luck with the pellets as far as accuracy goes.



Ditto


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## TJay (Jun 21, 2016)

coachT said:


> 300 gr SST, 100 gr BH209 with Fiocchi primer is the best so far. 3 out of 4 are a pretty nice group and 1 flyer isn't too bad. I'll pay more attention when I am seating the bullet, but most times it is twisting in the lands but sometimes it feels like the sabot may cross over (similar to cross threading a bolt) then fall back in the groove and be easier the rest of the way. I'm wondering if this could be the inconsistency causing the flyers. Any tips on preventing this when loading?



Take a look at SpinJag  http://www.spinjag.com/


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