Blackhorn powder

[Farflung]

I  have been considering switching to  Blackhorn powder. I'm primarily using a Knight Disc Rifle in .50 caliber with two triple seven pellets and 250 grain shockwave pellets in a sabot.  Shoots quite well. Only problem is my gun is a pain in the butt to clean. Whether one shot or 20, it takes about a hour to get it totally clean. And while it is stainless, it still will get some surface rust w/o cleaning. I've read that Blackhorn is very non-corrosive. like you can shoot it one day and not have to clean it for several days. Truth or fiction? I would like to just be able to just swab out the bore and reload the  gun.

[BowmanMike]

1 minute ago, Farflung said:

I  have been considering switching to  Blackhorn powder. I'm primarily using a Knight Disc Rifle in .50 caliber with two triple seven pellets and 250 grain shockwave pellets in a sabot.  Shoots quite well. Only problem is my gun is a pain in the butt to clean. Whether one shot or 20, it takes about a hour to get it totally clean. And while it is stainless, it still will get some surface rust w/o cleaning. I've read that Blackhorn is very non-corrosive. like you can shoot it one day and not have to clean it for several days. Truth or fiction? I would like to just be able to just swab out the bore and reload the  gun.

I switched to blackhorn after starting with triple seven and then going to white hots. Blackhorn is by far the cleanest.

[sbuff]

Bh209 is a progressive burning powder ,much cleaner then black powder subs . But that comes at price , a pretty pricey price . 

I clean all my muzzleloaders after shooting regardless of powder  

[hueyjazz]

Well, it is very clean burning powder.  It's a form of smokeless powder.  But you will need the breech plug for it.  Be able to find BH and the be able to find 209M primers for purchase.  It shoots very accurate.

[Bcoopss]

I use BH 209 in my Encore and Omega with the breech plug conversion kit that uses large rifle primers. Both guns are super accurate, I use the Encore with a scope and the Omega with a peep sight. 

[Farflung]

hueyjazz- Does it require  a different breech plug? the  Knight disc uses 209 primers in a retainer. And I am using CCI  sporting clay primers, which are pretty hot.

[BowmanMike]

13 minutes ago, Farflung said:

hueyjazz- Does it require  a different breech plug? the  Knight disc uses 209 primers in a retainer. And I am using CCI  sporting clay primers, which are pretty hot.

some breech plugs work with it ,some dont. I drilled mine out a little to make the smoke channel bigger and it works well.

[hueyjazz]

Bowman is right.  Many manufacturers make special plug for BH.  Not sure about Knight.  BH recommends a 209-magnum primer.   I haven't had any luck finding them.  Most of the time a regular primer will work, until you're on the big buck.

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Farflung said:

I  have been considering switching to  Blackhorn powder. I'm primarily using a Knight Disc Rifle in .50 caliber with two triple seven pellets and 250 grain shockwave pellets in a sabot.  Shoots quite well. Only problem is my gun is a pain in the butt to clean. Whether one shot or 20, it takes about a hour to get it totally clean. And while it is stainless, it still will get some surface rust w/o cleaning. I've read that Blackhorn is very non-corrosive. like you can shoot it one day and not have to clean it for several days. Truth or fiction? I would like to just be able to just swab out the bore and reload the  gun.

What are you using for cleaning solvent ?  It takes me about 15 minutes to clean my stainless T/C Omega using  Traditions foaming bore cleaner and a bore snake.  I also use (2)T7 pellets.  At the range, and before the first hunt,  I coat the nylon bullet sleeves with T/C bore butter, and can shoot 3 or 4 , before cleaning is required.  
 

It took me a lot longer, when I used T/C liquid bore solvent on patches and pushed them thru the bore.  I also struggled with buildup and corrosion in the breech plug.  No more.
 

Now, it’s just squirt some foaming bore cleaner thru the little plastic tube into the breech plug.  Wait 10 minutes. Pull the breech plug and drop and pull the bore snake though the bore.  Coat the breech plug with gorilla grease and reinstall.  Done in 15 minutes with no rust or powder residue left on anything.  For extended storage, I push a patch of bore butter through, prior to reinstallation of the breech plug.  

I don’t shoot that much, just as many as it takes to verify zero pre-season.   I load it at the start of the season and leave it loaded until a shot is taken at a deer.   After hunts, the ML is locked up in an unheated enclosure.  If the deer is not DRT, I reload without the bore butter. If it is DRT, I don’t reload and clean the gun when I get home.  
 

Before I learned the trick of the foaming bore cleaner and bore snake, I thought about BH209. No way now, with all the misfire stories, supply issues, and high cost.  
 

I have never had a misfire with (2) T7 pellets and the cheapest 209 primers that money can buy.  I think I have a lifetime supply of each now,  thanks to a fellow member who now uses a smokeless ML.  

[Farflung]

Wolc123- the  problem is that there is blowback around the primer holder that lets burnt residue to get in the bolt and trigger mechanism of the gun. The bore is not much of a problem, nor is the  breech plug. I may try blackhorn to see if it  consistently fires and has minimal corrosin.

[sbuff]

2 hours ago, wolc123 said:

What are you using for cleaning solvent ?  It takes me about 15 minutes to clean my stainless T/C Omega using  Traditions foaming bore cleaner and a bore snake.  I also use (2)T7 pellets.  At the range, and before the first hunt,  I coat the nylon bullet sleeves with T/C bore butter, and can shoot 3 or 4 , before cleaning is required.  
 

It took me a lot longer, when I used T/C liquid bore solvent on patches and pushed them thru the bore.  I also struggled with buildup and corrosion in the breech plug.  No more.
 

Now, it’s just squirt some foaming bore cleaner thru the little plastic tube into the breech plug.  Wait 10 minutes. Pull the breech plug and drop and pull the bore snake though the bore.  Coat the breech plug with gorilla grease and reinstall.  Done in 15 minutes with no rust or powder residue left on anything.  For extended storage, I push a patch of bore butter through, prior to reinstallation of the breech plug.  

I don’t shoot that much, just as many as it takes to verify zero pre-season.   I load it at the start of the season and leave it loaded until a shot is taken at a deer.   After hunts, the ML is locked up in an unheated enclosure.  If the deer is not DRT, I reload without the bore butter. If it is DRT, I don’t reload and clean the gun when I get home.  
 

Before I learned the trick of the foaming bore cleaner and bore snake, I thought about BH209. No way now, with all the misfire stories, supply issues, and high cost.  
 

I have never had a misfire with (2) T7 pellets and the cheapest 209 primers that money can buy.  I think I have a lifetime supply of each now,  thanks to a fellow member who now uses a smokeless ML.  

The mis fire isn't from bh209 .

The only downside is cost .

[sbuff]

46 minutes ago, Farflung said:

Wolc123- the  problem is that there is blowback around the primer holder that lets burnt residue to get in the bolt and trigger mechanism of the gun. The bore is not much of a problem, nor is the  breech plug. I may try blackhorn to see if it  consistently fires and has minimal corrosin.

Try wrapping your breach plug in Teflon tape. That will help seal out blow back. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by sbuff

[sbuff]

Are you using a bare primer or the red plastic jacket 

[BowmanMike]

7 hours ago, sbuff said:

Try wrapping your breach plug in Teflon tape. That will help seal out blow back. 

Doesn't the blow back travel through the primer firing channel and not around the threads of the breech plug? I can't see much going through there...

[Jeremy K]

The biggest problem with people switching to BH is nobody wants to listen. They think cutting corners is acceptable and when it fails they blame the powder.

[sbuff]

26 minutes ago, BowmanMike said:

Doesn't the blow back travel through the primer firing channel and not around the threads of the breech plug? I can't see much going through there...

Both if you ask me ,but the tape also makes removing the plug much more easier . 

[Kmartinson]

14 hours ago, BowmanMike said:

I switched to blackhorn after starting with triple seven and then going to white hots. Blackhorn is by far the cleanest.

Blackhorn is cleaner then whitehots.

[Farflung]

Lots of good input here.

sbuff- the primer holder is a orange plastic device that is unique to the earlier Knight Disc Rifles.

I might try the teflon tape, but the butt plug grease doesn't seem to be blown out. The knight has a long thread on the  beech plug. I think, as bowman might said, that most of the  crap comes out of the primer firing channel.

[sbuff]

I forget what that plug looks like is it the same as disc extreme ? I think lehigh defense makes a bare primer plug for knight which would help . If not some other manufacturers do I believe