777 is garbage
 

Had a misfire in my TC Pro hunter last night. It went off but was very delayed and just didn't sound or feel right. Missed a crippled button buck I was going to put down. Went to reload for a second shot and I cant even seat a second shot. Not even close to getting it down to the powder. I'm done with 777, I'll probably go back to pyredex since I like pellets but that Blackhorn 209 is looking good.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I used to shoot the T7 pellets and then loose out of my Pro Hunter. I had to swab between evry shot for just the reason of getting another load into the barrel. It did not make shooting very fun. I am now shooting BH209 and having fun. I can shoot 20-30 times w.out swabbing and am very pleased w/ performance not to mention the clean up ease! Some on here have had good luck w/ T7, but I will not go back ever since i have been shooting BH209. I do not care what it costs!

RE: 777 is garbage
 

This is the main reason I'll be shooting BH209.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I shoot 777 loose powder and have always liked it with my Encore. I swab between shots when at the range but when in the field deer hunting I dont and have not had any trouble getting a 2nd or even a 3rd shot to seat. One time at the range I had a couple of none fires and/or delayed shots... then I figured out it was ME that was to blame and not the powder. The patches I was swabbing with were way too wet and the dry patch couldnt get it dry enough. I dont think anyone makes a powder that would have worked for me that day. I unscrewed the breech plug and pushed the load out and I could see the powder was soaked... wow... MY BAD. Lesson learned for me that day.

Not sure how many pounds of 777 I have used but its been enough to log very close to 900 shots through my Encore now. I use the .25acp instead of the 209 shot shell primer and for me its been a world of difference in keeping the gun and breech clean. Seems like the only time myself or people I shoot with have trouble is when the gun isnt clean. Breech plugs especially when shooting the 209 shot primers need to be extra clean. Also I feel like its a MUST to fire off a couple of primers prior to loading for a hunt just to make sure everything is DRY. When you clean and lube your barrel, a lot of that will get trapped in behind the load and in the breech plug. Thats another mistake learned long ago. My standard is to fire off 3 primers just to insure its dry then load the gun as normal. I have had 100% NOW fires since doing that.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Yes,bh 209 will take care of that problem.if it had a crunch feeling on the second load she was dirty allready.sounds like old powder going on too.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

What you experienced likely had more to due with operator error than the powder. Many of us shoot 777 all the time and have no issues at all with misfires or hangfires. Old powder, too much oil in the gun when you loaded it, left it loaded too long, there are numerous possibilities. I had a lot of hangfires with pyrodex when I started MLing and it made me furious but in retrospect most of them were my fault.

Personally I run a spit patch between loadings with 777 anyways, not that I couldn't load 2-3 shots without doing do. A few times I've loaded a follow-up with no cleaning in the field and done fine, you must have a real tight load to begin with if you can't get a second load seated.

Beware BH209 is not a cure-all. It is dependent upon a good solid seal to ignite reliably. Lots of posts of people having ignition problems with it. Not that it's bad either, just that it is different and it's good to know that going in. Every powder is different, knowing each's eccentricities is part of the game!

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Sorry for your bad experience- that really does suck. However, I've never had any issues with 777 other than the "dreaded crud ring". I swab between shots- this takes care of the crud ring, however, I have shot up to 5 or 6 times without swabbing and it still worked okay. Only misfires I've had were when I didn't bother clearing the breech plug hole by popping a primer or two- I noticed it gets clogged up easily, so you need to make sure it's clear every time before you load.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Woodrow88
Well at least I am not alone in disliking that stuff. I to have gone to Blackhorn for the inlines and Pyrodex for the traditional and pistols. Lee

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Never had any problems with 777 going bang when it was supposed to. 777 is a very good and consistent powder. However, i got tired of the crud ring, got tired of having to very thoroughly swab the barrelbetween shots and got tired of putting the barrel in a vise in order to remove the breech plug.My 777 went away and i do not miss it.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I shot it the other day so I cleaned it thoroughly. It may have been some stuff in breech plug who knows?? I ran a dry patch down it before I loaded it and went hunting the day before this happened. I left gun in my truck loaded and went hunting yesterday when this happened. It could have had some condensationdevelop?? Never happened to me before but to not be able to seat another sabot for a follow up shot is not good. I use TC shockwave superglides.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

What kind of gun is this? I see you are in Kentucky so it is sufficiently cold that condensation SHOULD not have been an issue. The single occurence of a failure to fire I have ever had with 777 in an inline was this year, when my 3rd load of the day failed to fire off when I returned home...I'd been hunting in the pouring rain.

I am surprised that you have such an effort loading a second shot when you are already using superglides!! I am assuming the 250gr bullet? I can't even get those down my barrel (Omega) with the standard sabot, the superglides are snug but not so bad.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

TC ProHunter, I have a friend that has a endevoir and he had same problem with not being able to load a second shot in field. Man, I really like the pellets hate to go to loose powder. maybe BH209 will come out with some pellets. Yes I use 250 grainsuperglides with 100 grains of 777 pellets

RE: 777 is garbage
 

How old were the pellets? Now I don't use pellets, but I bought a box of pyrodex pellets years back just to try. The box they came in was just a plastic snap box, no real moisture seal. Are the 777 pellets like that too? I could see them gathering some moisture if they were too old. I use loose 777 and seal my jugs up nice and tight, only once did I have an old one seem to lose some power. I always open a new jug in Sept/Oct to sight in for the season and hunt with, I never use the leftover jug from the previous year (by then I shoot it up fun shooting anyways).

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I just don't get the aversion to loose powder a lot of guys have. I shoot loose only, and use preloaded powder tubes. I've often shot side-by-side on the range with someone shooting pellets and find loading loose powder from a tube is at least as fast and easy as pellets, perhaps faster and easier. Get yourself a supply of LaneNebrasks's powder tubes and give it a try.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

You can count me in as another ML guy that will never use T7 again. However I think I am also going to skip the BH209 also. There is no reason(other than rape) for a powder to cost that much. I am going back to what has never let me down. 3F Black Powder. Tom.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

you have more of a chance with bh209 misfiring/hangfiring than T7.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Sounds like with all this dislike of T7 the demand will really drop. Maybe next time I buy it will be much cheaper! :)

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Again not dislike of T7. It is good powder as covered here. I just feel the BH209 is shooting better in my Pro Hunter. In addition I like the no swab between shots it allows me.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

The only time I have ever had any problems with any powder, has been when I didn't do what need to be done to ensure it went bang. This includes proper cleaning and drying of my ML'er, proper pre-loading procedures that are repeatable and proper storage of my powders.[&:]

RE: 777 is garbage
 

2 yrs ago i had problems with 777 pellet misfiring ,i called and talked to a tech about it . they told me that 777 was 10 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DRAW MOISTURE THEN PYRODEX. thats when i stopped useing it. i have shot SHOCKEY'S GOLD STICKS for the past 2 seasons until 2 weeks ago when i bought a can of BH209 . this stuff is so clean ,i love it so far in my triumph.

if you save any powder from season to season try vacuum sealing it to make sure it stays dry til next yr.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

Amen to that HuntAway. I have found when ever I have had trouble it was from MY lack of care taken. I have learned over many years that if you want to short cut shooting a Muzzleloader then you will have troubles soon after. I have a STRICT routine I follow now. I know what I need to do at the range and I know what I need to do in the field when hunting to make things work.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

There is no doubt, what you say is true. However if I am going to spend the prices they charge for this stuff then I want it to work the way I want it to, not the way they want it to. And if I can not use the powder in my ways then I will use something else. I have had problems with 2 different canisters of T7, and I thought I was using and storing it the right way. In othere words there is nothing mentioned yet that I did not do. And I still had problems with it. And as a hunter I wanta product that helps me, not a product I have to constantly worry about.

As MZ shooters we are all probably trying to get them to do more than what they were actually designed to do. IMO that is a big part of the problem. I know I am guilty of this. Tom.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I never did like the 777 pellets myself nothing but problems with them.
I do like the 777 loose powder had nothing but good luck using it.

RE: 777 is garbage
 

i have never used pellets. always have used loose powder 777 hasnt caused me too much problems other than the crud ring that is why i am going to look into getting some bh 209

RE: 777 is garbage
 

I have used 777 for a few years in my Omega's and really don't care for it. I don't like the gray crust, the crud ring or the cost.I currently use RS and have had no crud ring even though it is more of a clean up.The cost and is WAY lower and either way you still have to clean the bore. I have NEVER had a slow or delayed ignition from 777 but I have had trouble w/ Remington BP primers in my Omega. They would come apart @ ignition. I have not measured them compared to Winchesters for sizing but I quit using them. I have taken a few shots w/ BH209 but this stuff is just too expensive for my taste.RS is just so cheap, hold great groups and I only shoot 110 grains so the extra cost just isn't where I need to go.
Steve