Black horn 209

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Do you leave your guns loaded with BH209? I typically leave my ml loaded for the entire season after shooting it in before the season.
From what I gather the dust will gather moisture but they don't recommend swabbing between shots so I'm a bit confused to whether I should leave it loaded for the season.

http://www.blackhorn209.com/faqs/

FAQ #9 How long can I leave a charge in my gun?

We always recommend that you start with a fresh powder charge every day. Although Blackhorn 209 is far less hygroscopic than any other black powder substitutes, barrel “sweating” can put moisture directly in contact with the powder and may affect powder performance. Why take the chance of missing the next mornings great shot?

From #6 of their Technical webpage:
http://www.blackhorn209.com/specs/advantages/

Blackhorn 209 is virtually non-hygroscopic. Changes in temperature or humidity do not affect performance. Blackhorn 209 will not setup or degrade like some other propellants. Shelf life is essentially unlimited.

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Personally, I keep my muzzleloader charged during the two week season. At one time, I recall that they claimed the powder was non-corrosive. You can find reviewers and retailers claiming that. I don't see it on the website now so they may have backed off on the claim.
 
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Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
http://www.blackhorn209.com/faqs/

FAQ #9 How long can I leave a charge in my gun?

We always recommend that you start with a fresh powder charge every day. Although Blackhorn 209 is far less hygroscopic than any other black powder substitutes, barrel “sweating” can put moisture directly in contact with the powder and may affect powder performance. Why take the chance of missing the next mornings great shot?

Personally, I keep my muzzleloader charged during the two week season.

I read that on their website but have found several posts on other sites that said they had spoken to the BH 209 folks and they had told them that it's fine to leave in the gun for weeks at a time.
I left mine loaded after shooting yesterday and plan to leave it loaded until I shoot at something during the season..or discharge it at the end of our season. I was hoping to get some feedback from actual users of this powder..so thank you for providing that.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I have left it in my muzzleloader for weeks at a time without it not firing when needed and not corroding my barrel.
 

firedawg60

Twelve Pointer
I read that on their website but have found several posts on other sites that said they had spoken to the BH 209 folks and they had told them that it's fine to leave in the gun for weeks at a time.
I left mine loaded after shooting yesterday and plan to leave it loaded until I shoot at something during the season..or discharge it at the end of our season. I was hoping to get some feedback from actual users of this powder..so thank you for providing that.

Have you checked POI between dirty and clean? My Accura shoots almost the same, so I snap a couple primers against a patch/ramrod to clean out all oils in the BP and load on a clean bore and leave loaded all season.

However it seems on other forums most guns shoot off a little too much to do that. If that was the case, I would fire several primers without a patch in place to partially foul the bore and check zero.

I would leave loaded all season on a fouled bore as a last resort and clean and reload if I hunted in wet conditions.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Have you checked POI between dirty and clean? My Accura shoots almost the same, so I snap a couple primers against a patch/ramrod to clean out all oils in the BP and load on a clean bore and leave loaded all season.

However it seems on other forums most guns shoot off a little too much to do that. If that was the case, I would fire several primers without a patch in place to partially foul the bore and check zero.

I would leave loaded all season on a fouled bore as a last resort and clean and reload if I hunted in wet conditions.

I shot the gun with a clean bore and then shot it with a single fouled shot..it shot about the same height but windage was significantly different so I kept it loaded with a fouled bore after making very minor scope adjustments.
Typically with BP substitutes I clean well between shots and load on a sparkling clean bore..no snapped caps before loading but I clean with scalding hot water and then blow dry it to make sure all moisture is gone. I've never had an issue with FTF or hangfire with that weapon using that technique.
BH209 is like learning the ropes all over again, but I think I'll really like it.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
Do you leave your guns loaded with BH209? I typically leave my ml loaded for the entire season after shooting it in before the season.
From what I gather the dust will gather moisture but they don't recommend swabbing between shots so I'm a bit confused to whether I should leave it loaded for the season.

I loaded mine on Sept 29th and shot a 5pt on Oct 28th with the same load. The ML saw a wide range of temps and rain with no issues when it came time to fire. I wouldn't have any problem leaving one loaded all season.

<>< Fish
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I loaded mine on Sept 29th and shot a 5pt on Oct 28th with the same load. The ML saw a wide range of temps and rain with no issues when it came time to fire. I wouldn't have any problem leaving one loaded all season.

<>< Fish

Did you leave it loaded with a clean barrel or a fouled barrel? Since the POI is a bit different with mine that would make a difference at longer yardages.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
Did you leave it loaded with a clean barrel or a fouled barrel? Since the POI is a bit different with mine that would make a difference at longer yardages.

Fouled barrel. My CVA Wolf shoots the same POI with a fouled barrel for 4-5 shots. After that it needs a dry patch ran through a few times to keep POI the same.

<>< Fish
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Fouled barrel. My CVA Wolf shoots the same POI with a fouled barrel for 4-5 shots. After that it needs a dry patch ran through a few times to keep POI the same.

<>< Fish
That's very good information, I didn't shoot mine but 4 times to get zero.
4th shot was as easy to load as the first, snug but slick...amazing.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
That's very good information, I didn't shoot mine but 4 times to get zero.
4th shot was as easy to load as the first, snug but slick...amazing.

You may already know this but here goes. Don't clean the barrel after shooting BH209 with the "normal" products used to clean up after black powder, pyrodex, 777 etc. Use products that you would normally use to clean a centerfire firearm minus the copper cleaning agents.

Last year I cleaned mine with the normal patches, jag and brush using just Ballistol soaked patches. After the patches stopped showing traces of fouling I ran dry patches until the bore was dry. I then ran a patch breech to muzzle with Breakfree CLP on it. When I got the ML out to shoot this season the bore was still in pristine shape.

<>< Fish
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
I shot my Wolf to clean it today. It was loaded on the morning of 10-28 when I killed a small 5pt on opening day of the central ML season. There was no hesitation in the ML, it simply went boom and hit the target about an inch off of where I was aiming. I'll keep shooting BH209 as long as I can. Good stuff.

Cleaning? I ran 3 patches soaked with Ballistol down the barrel followed by a plasitc tipped brush and 3 more patches soaked in Ballistol. Afterwards the barrel was shiny clean. I ran a CLP soaked patch down the barrel, cleaned the breech plug and put it away until next season. Couldn't be any easier.

<>< Fish
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yeah, I used it this year, in a T/C pro hunter and the combination of cleaning with that gun and BH209 is a cinch compared to cleaning pyrodex out of my old Knight.

I used several patches of Hoppes, a couple dry, then Barricade for storage. Took me a fraction of the time it used to take.
 

Buckshot1

Twelve Pointer
I didn't read the entire thread but I can bet someone has already recommend that you use a shotgun primer for blackhorn 209 substitute. You may not think it makes that big a difference but you will get much better ignition with the plain ole shotgun primers (some are better than others) than with the muzzleloader primers.
 
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