I don' t shoot the 209s, but from what I' d read from others, I imagine what you are seeing is pretty normal. I' ve heard some people even say the 209s will actually blow their bolt back [
] . Changing to a different brand might help that some.
As far as your charge goes, you definitely have room to increase your powder. For instance, I use 80gr of 777 when shooting 300gr sabots and 90gr when shooting 350gr sabots or 385gr Great Plains conicals. So I would think that 85 or 90gr of 777 might tighten you up a bit. And for elk - the extra " Oomph" will probably come in handy.