Don't post much, read 2-3 times a day.
Wanted to share my month long experiment with B209 here in Massachusetts. Got a doe and a 6 pt during archery so I wanted to put B209 through a test during the shotgun and muzzleloader season.

Weapon- T/C Omega Black/Blue- Browning 2-7x32 scope
Load- 90gr B209 under .430 240gr xtp in a regular Harvester
green sabot
Primer- Remington 209 STS
W209

This load is very accurate in my Omega. The gun shoots both the C/R and the regular sabots very well. The regular sabots do load a bit harder but not unbearible, so this is what I went with for my experiment. I chose the tighter fitting sabot because of the responses from this board. I do believe though that I would have obtained the same results from the Crush Ribbed sabots.

My goal was to see how dependable B209 is in a season long hunting situation. The gun was left in the truck (loaded) for the entire season (4-5 weeks.) I would periodically fire the gun at the end of the evening to check for ignition and accuracy. During that time, it would get an occasional light cleaning if it was subjected to a long period of rain or snow.

Temperature ranged from 9 degrees to 62 degrees. We did have a couple of weeks where temps dipped down into the high single digits to low teens at night. This is the part of the experiment that I was very interested in seeing the results.

Conclusion:
B209 is expensive. I feel it is also a very good hunting load in the field because of the lack of attention that is required as far as swabbing between shots or immediate cleaning after being fired.
It does however require a little bit of attention to certain details.
In my opinion, the breech plug is the most important element that needs special attention.
As I stated, I would periodically fire my gun after it sat for a week or so in the vehicle in sub freezing temps, and also in snow and rain. Acurracy was alway excellent, ignition was always spontanious. What I did notice though, after 4-5 shots, the breech plug would carbon up. I would clean the primer hole with a 1/8 drill bit as recommended from this board. This did prevent any hangfires or misfires, but I do believe that if I were to go away on a hunt and I did not have the capabilities of being able to clean the breech plug, this could present a problem in the field. I do have several breech plugs for my Omega. I always have a clean one ready to go if needed. I believe though that cleaning with a drill bit is all that is needed to assure spontanious ignition. I am not sure if this is a primer issue or a powder issue. Maybe someone can offer some insight into that.

I have learned a great deal from this board. The only weapons that I now use are my bow and my muzzleloader. And I love shooting my muzzleloader.

Thanks Guys, and Happy New Year to all.

In Christ,
Steve