Well I got my hands on a jug of Blackhorn 209 and to say I was not excited about shooting it, would be a lie. I read too many things about how great this powder is. And being the kind of person I am, I had to prove it to myself.
The rifle I decided to use is a very accurate rifle with most any powder. It also has some favorite bullets. So I decided to be fair to the powder I would use the most accurate loads the rifle liked when I tested the powder.
All shooting was done at 75 yards off a Caldwell rest. The primer used was a Winchester W209 in a orange Knight primer jacket. To prepare the rifle, I swabbed the oil from the bore with alcohol. I then dried the bore and popped two primers through the rifle. I was now ready to load.
My first load was a 250 grain Shockwave using the included sabot. I loaded 100 grains of Blackhorn 209 powder. I then loaded the shockwave on the clean unfowled barrel. I decided to shoot a five shot group to make sure it was the rifle and powder and not just a lucky day on my part.
I was more then pleased with that group. For the next group I decided to shoot five Speer GDHP 250 grain in a Nosler Sabot with 100 grains of BH209. I shot these five as fast as I could load and shoot. It was my intent to heat the barrel and see how the powder behaved. I shot at the same center bull which I think was a mistake as it made the group confusing a little. I know for a fact on the fifth shot with the Speer GDHP I flinched a little. But it was all still good.
I then shot a few more bullets one being the Speer .458 HP in a orange Knight Sabot. I used 100 grain of powder and again, at no time have I swabbed the barrel.
I had torn a little piece of the red duct tape off and placed it in the lower area of the cardboard but the five shots removed it and I could not find it. Although the holes tell the story. I was starting to get some fliers I felt and was not sure if it was me, the gun, or the powder.
So at the top of the main hole I put another small piece of duct tape and took four shots with the 250 grain Shockwaves. Again, the tape disappeared, but the holes tell the story, as you could almost cover those four hits with a quarter.
So far I was VERY IMPRESSED with the powder and the way it acted. Ignition with the Knight Disc was instant. Recoil with that rifle is never a problem. I never swabbed the bore. Loading the first was as easy as the last. There is no crud ring and no need for swabbing. This powder seems to have plenty of power to it. Although I did not have a chronograph.
I did note there was a black grease type substance coming into the breech near the plug. I am wondering if that was not the breech plug grease as it was a liquid and not a carbon type solid. Nothing really that concerned me, but I did note it. Also the orange primer jackets has small traces of that same black smudge. Again, nothing to be concerned about.
Now the fun part... cleaning the rifle. I had read that you should not use water to clean the rifle. So I used Butch's Bore Shine solvent. I took the rifle apart. As they claim, the breech plug turned out like the rifle had never been shot. I was amazed.
The first thing I noticed was a black smudge type substance on the steel bolt. Also the internal part of the bolt had this same black smudge on it. I think it picked this up in the breech area that I had noted before. A patch and some Butch's took it right off. Some Q-tips dipped in the solvent cleaned the nose of the bolt.
I pulled the breech plug and again, a solvent patch cleaned the outside of the breech plug. I did have to take a wire brush to the top where the primer mates to the plug as this area did not want to come as clean as I demand. I was finally able to get a hard almost carbon like substance off the breech. Cleaning the inside was done with Q-tips and patches with solvent. It took some work but came clean easy enough.
The breech threads in the rifle itself, were another story. There was a black liquid substance which I suspect was the Slick 50 one grease turned to a semi sold form. I cleaned and cleaned. I was able to clean the barrel easy with a few solvent patches. But I finally, being not satisfied with the breech thread, took it to the sink and did a washing and scrubbing with Dawn dish soap and a bore brush. It then came clean nice and fast.
I returned and ran a few more solvent patches through the rifle, but it was not really necessary as all was clean. I then dry patched the rifle and finally ran some Birchwood Casey Barricade oil through the bore to protect the rifle.
So overall.. this stuff is the REAL DEAL!! It shoots like a dream. According to their site the loads I were shooting were running at 1920 velocity. This is a strong load. No smell at all compared to the other powders. As for the cleaning of the rifle, perhaps I have done something wrong, but the rifle cleaned up fine and needless to say it looks as good as when I took it out.
I am excited to try this powder in some of the other inline rifles I have. I am really impressed with the powder so far...
original Knight Disc with BH209
