Well, I'm probably going to hear how wrong I am from some people for posting this, but here it goes:

It seems like a good number of recent posts have been on how to get BH209 to ignite reliably. All sorts of fixes - from custom breech plugs, to drilling out breech plugs, etc, etc. So I got to thinking about the advantages vs. disadvantages of BH.

From my point of view, there aren't many advantages, and several disadvantages to BH 209. Before I go into them, keep in mind that I never use more than 110 grains of powder, and tend to shoot lighter bullets.

I normally shoot Triple Seven FFFG, so I am going to compare BH 209 to it.

Advantages of BH:
-No swabbing between shots
-Non-corrosive

Disadvantages of BH:
-Much more expensive - $30 for 10oz compared to $22-25 for 16 oz T7

-Problems igniting- need tight fitting sabot

-Problems igniting- need proper breech plug. From what I understand, there aren't that many ML's that will shoot BH reliably right out of the box with no modifications. I understand that there are a few models that do, but some of those require you to carry around a drill bit to clean out the breech plug every few shots. Sounds like a pain to me. Almost as much of a pain as swabbing between shots

-Hard to find in some areas


Sabotloader has done a fair amount of chrono work with T7 and BH209, and from what I gather, T7 3f is equal to, or even FASTER than BH209 with loads up to 110 grains. I understand that some of you use 120 - 140 grains of BH209 to achieve some near-smokeless velocities, but the vast majority of people do not use that much powder.

So I guess maybe I don't get it. I can see how the non-corrosive nature of BH is attractive, but T7 isn't all that corrosive either. I've left a rifle dirty after shooting T7 for up to 48 hours before cleaning, and have never had a speck of rust. So unless you are the kind of person that only likes to clean your guns once a year..... again, don't see much of an advantage.

I'm not bashing anyone's choice, I'm just sort of interested in why BH209 has become such a craze it seems. Maybe someone can enlighten me?