Blackhorn 209 ?

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pyscodog

Active member
I guess this is as good a place to post this question as any?? For years, I used pyrodex powder, then the pellets, as of now, I used 777 loose powder. After about 5-6 rounds in my Encore, using a wet patch, then a dry patch in between shots, loading gets really tough. A buddy switched to Buckhorn 209 and said the same problem I am having went away. Anyone shoot Buckhorn that can verify this? 777 has always gave me the accuracy I wanted so I didn't switch. Any Buckhorn shooters out there?
 
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I think what your refering to is Blackhorn 209. And yes I have used it with great success in some muzzleloaders, it is powerful, accurate, doesn't foul, and causes minimum corrosion. It requires a 209 primer to ignite it. It seems to work fine in breakopen styles and some of the bolt style. It is not recommended in plunger style guns, such as some of the Knights. It should work in your Encore, and eliminate the need to patch between rounds. It is pretty pricey however
 
I just started using Blackhorn 209 when I bought my new Thompson Encore Endeavor....it's an awesome powder. I'm using 90 grains with a 250 gr .50 cal TC Shock Wave.....I only clean after I'm done shooting...10 plus shots is nothing to shoot.

I used to use Pyrodex, then 777 pellets and they were both dirty, when I bought the Endeavor I didn't want to let either one of them contaminate my new barrel..the crud ring from 777 is heck to get out.


If you go with Blackhorn 209 you need to use a standard shotgun 209 primer not the reduced power ones they sell for use with 777 to reduce the crud ring. It is expensive at about $30 per 10 ozs but 10 ozs is quite a few shots. After 10 shots last week I ran 1 patch through my barrel, brushed the barrel, and one more patch....it was clean as a whistle. With Blackhorn you also use regular gun cleaner like Hoppes 9...don't douse it with water or use black powder cleaner it will get gummy
 
I know exactly what you mean about the T-7. I swore off that stuff a few years back. I went back to 3F BP in all my MZ's. But that T-7 is bad about follow up shots. And it is even worse with its hygroscopic properties.

I had a few friends talk me into buying 2 cannisters of the BH-209. I was going to shoot it this afternoon for the first time, but the kids wanted to go squirrel hunting. So we went to the woods.

I hope the BlackHorn works out. It costs enough, it sure should work!! Tom.
 
Originally Posted By: TURBO6046I've read that it works very well with the conversion but I haven't tried it myself.

I may have to pick some up and give it a try.
 
I gave away my full can of 777 when I went to B209. You just have to use a strong primer & it should work fine in your Encore.
 
I have done extensive testing with my Encore 209 x 50 over the past 5 years. I started my muzzle loading with a Knight BK-92 with black powder in the fall of 1992. When I went to the Encore and T-7 with the 209 primers my accuracy was horrible. The Knight ran circles around this barrel powder combo. It did not matter what bullet, sabot or caliber I used there was no accuracy. I read and researched everything I could find, I even went as far has have the QLA cut off the end of the barrel and had it recrowned to see if this was miss aligned. It ended up making no difference.

I purchased a new 50-caliber barrel two years ago, with T-7 my accuracy was like before, horrible. When I say horrible I’m talking 6-inch group at 100 yards with just about any bullet / sabot combination.

When Buckhorn 209 came out I ordered it and put it through a variety of trials. I ordered in new sabots from MMP + their magnum sub base in .430, .452, and .458. I used Hornady, Sierra, Barnes and Hawk bullets.

I shot up two canisters of BH-209 over the course of a weekend. The easy answer is BH-209 is the ONLY powder I will ever use in my Encore. I will never deal with Triple 7 again, BH-209 gives excellent accuracy no fouling easy to load shot after shot.

Some bullet / sabot combo did better then others. The .430 & .452 caliber were the best while the .458’s were wide groups.

My pet load is 120 grains of BH-209 with a MMP high-pressure sabot (HPH-12) with a 275 grain .452 Barnes that is designed for the 460 Smith & Wesson and CCI-209 magnum primers for 2068fps. I contacted the makers of BH-209 (Accurate arms powder company) they recommend using 209 magnums for solid ignition. I also found no need to use the MMP Magnum sub base as it did not seem to make any difference.

Now with that said, my cousin has a CVA Optima and we tried BH-209 as I did with my Encore. We had hang fires and poor accuracy. We concluded the CVA was not designed for BH-209.

Hope this helps.

B..
 
Thanks for the review and other comments. My encore has decent accuracy, but reloading and cleaning is a PITA. Gonna try the BH 209 and if it as good as all of you say, I buy some more. Lucky for me, I bought half a can for $3.00 at a club swap meet. Plenty to try and see how it works.
 
BH209 is the powder in my Encore. I shoot the 300gr Scorpion PT Gold with the Crush Rib Sabot. GREAT accuracy and plenty much power.


I weigh my BH209 on my reloading scales, 73.5grs has been the charge in 10-12 different Encores with the 300gr bullet here. If you were going by volume I think it's 112-115grs.

Be sure you use hot primers, Fed 209A or CCI 209M
 
Bearcat, my load is almost identical to yours. Including weighing 73.5 grains. The only difference is that I shoot 300 grain Hornady XTP bullets. That load shoots well in my Omega and in my NEF Sidekick that I use as a kid gun.
 
Yeah, I think as long as it is 300grs with a good sabot it's accurate with 73.5grs. It's mixed up here between the Scorpions, 300gr Shockwave, 300gr Bonded Shockwave and 300gr XTP.

I also shot 3 of my old Barnes Xpanders that are 300grs just the other day. Whatta know, same great accuracy with 73.5grs BH209.
 
I took 5 deer & a coyote last Fall with 120 grains of B209 & a 250 grn SST. All one shot & fell within sight. I was using my Knight.
 
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