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Old 05-27-2017, 03:18 PM
  #22  
cayugad
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
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To be more specific and I am sure some of you can remember the headaches I had... I got the Optima because I wanted to try blackhorn 209 in something other then my Knight Disc. Well the first range time I had so many misfires. I was using the original came with it breech plug, Winchester W209 primers, and of course the Black Horn.

Reported the terrible range experience and immediately I was told ... wrong breech plug. You need a special breech plug. So OK ... invested in the new breech plug. All happy to hit the range. Again, nothing but Misfires. Reported my results.

OK I was told ... the Winchester W209 primers were not hot enough. That was my problem. New primers I thought? Wow it needs a special plug and new primers? OK ... went and got some Remington STS and some CCI (as suggested).

New range day... gun went off fine ... for about six shots. Then more misfires? Reported my findings. Again the experts said, well you have to scrape the breech plug out with a drill bit every five or six shots. OK ... new plug, new primers, now a drill bit to scrap every lets say 10 shots.

New range day ... gun fired fine as long as I scraped the breech plug. But posted pictures of the blow back in the breech plug. I thought this was a clean powder? Again the experts told me how to fix it. You need O rings because the primers are too short or some such foolishness. So OK ... lets see, new plug, new primers, drill bit for scraping the breech plug, and now O rings. Got all that. Rifle shoots great with Black Horn 209.

One day for the heck of it I loaded Triple Seven powder in the Optima. It shot great. But I had to (like always) swab between shots. Rifle shot great groups, and the powder was cheaper and easier to find (actually in the stores here) where I lived. No ordering on line. So I swabbed the bore, while the barrel cooled (it was summer) and while I checked the target the barrel dried. Came back loaded and repeat. Had a blast.

Velocity information indicated that the difference in velocity between loose Triple Seven 2f and BlackHorn 209 was next to nothing. So why was I getting excited about a powder that needed a special breech plug, hotter primers, a drill bit to scrape the breech plug, and O rings to stop the blow back? Oh ya! Because I was told its the greatest powder of all times. As I said before, when it runs out ... vaya con dois.

But not to dampen the parade. If BlackHorn works for you, and swabbing is that important to you... then enjoy this great powder. My favorite powder is real black powder which cleans with water. Did I mention I can clean Triple Seven out of my rifle barrel with dish water. Black Horn you use cleaning products like you would for a modern centerfire as I was told it does not like water based cleaners. Again this is only my opinion and it pertains to me only. I am sure your experiences are much better.
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