#1.
I HATE CRUD RINGS! I was really hoping that I wouldn't have this problem today but... I got a patch and cleaning jag caught in my barrel twice. I had to take my breech plug out and push it through the the back of the barrel. Does that happen to anyone else? I'm fine as long as I don't push the patch all of the way to the breech plug, but if I do it gets stuck.

#2
BLACKHORN IS OVERATED! I tried BH209 for the first time today. I ordered a NFPJ breech plug like three weeks ago and haven't got it yet so I tried it with the factory plug. I made it three shots before I started getting hangfires... I decided to run a patch through it before switching to 777, it came out almost as dirty as 777 would. My breech plug had a really hard carbon build up! I think that the carbon build up was my crud ring.

#3
YOUNG KIDS AT THE RANGE SCARE ME! An old guy and two young kids showed up and went to the lane next to me. The range officer had to yell at them several times to not touch their rifles when the range was cold. After the officer left one of kids went to grab his rifle off the line. I had to remind them to not touch it (surprised that the old man didn't say something to me). Later. when I was looking down my lane, I heard one of the kids ask "what do I do?" and the old man say, "just take the safety off and shoot." I looked over and down the barrel of a loaded .270... When I have kids they are going to know firearms and firearm safety backwards and forwards before they even get to touch one!

#4
MUZZLELOADERS CAN BE FRUSTRATING! After all of this crap, I still didn't my new scope sighting in well enough or shoot a decent group...

Blackhorn certainly is not over rated. Its THE best powder you can feed a muzzleloader. No crud ring, easy clean up, accurate as heck. But what you do need are HOT primers in order to get it to set off. Knight's BP has had its share of issues with hangfiring with the powder. All you got on your patch was the soot blackhorn leaves behind. Cleans up easily with Hoppes and Montana X-treme solvent.

I had a crud ring... I was using CCI shotgun primers. Not super hot like a 209A, but hot none the less. The soot that 777 leaves is easy to clean too. I thought that BH209 wasn't supposed to leave soot. I know that the breech plug wasn't ideal. I'm going to try it again with the NFPJ breech plug if I ever get it

Ive burned at least 5lbs of it and never had a crud ring from BH209. Didnt matter if i was using conicals or sabots. Never had to run a dry patch before 20 shots even with lubed conicals. Probably a good idea too though depending on lube.

My last time out i did not use a modified BP, i used a standard Knight FPJ. Occasionally in the past i would get a hangfire with most non mag primers except Win209s. CCI standards seemed the worst too or Rem STS IF its in a FPJ.

With FPJs, now i only use mag primers in OEM Knight Disc FPJ breach plugs. The hole is well over .032 so unless yours is clogged mags work just fine. The flash channel may get some build up though but only takes a few seconds to clean.

My LK must have an even larger hole since its even better with non mag primers. Its close to .036-7 as best i can measure it. According to Al at Knight they are different than DISC plugs.

I can usually go at least 20 shots before i notice any "lag". Some days ive never had any. Temps and humidity seem to effect this a little. On warm days i can sometimes use Win209s without an issue but on cooler days the mags go off fine every time if the flash channel is clean.

Try a good bore polish (JB or ME Copper Cream) and Montana Extreme Bore Conditioner. Using both has made cleaning any barrel much easier/faster for me.

Plus the bore conditioner does not seem as bad as an oil if you dont run any patches before shooting. If i left any RemOil in the bore and fired any of mine it was nasty. Brake cleaner or Windex with a good amount of rubbing alcohol added seem pretty good at making sure nothing is in the barrel before firing. A lightly damp patch is fine then a couple of dry ones.

BTW BH209 does leave soot in the barrel but bullets load easier for me with a little soot than a totally clean barrel. Usually more accurate too. The residue on the BP though can be a PITA cleaning at the end of the day.

And did you fire off just a couple of primers first?

Scott

Best powder you can feed an MZ??

BP works great, no crud ring, easy clean up, and BP is accurate as heck, and at about 1/3 the price. And you do not need any special nipples or plugs or special hotter caps or special ignition systems. And for about 1/3 or so the price?? So I am not sure how you can call it the "best powder".

I think all these powders coming down the line are marketed to catch the shooter in a marketing ploy, I doubt very seriously if BH will out shoot straight black. And I have tried all the expensive new powders. Heck I will not let T-7 within 100 yards of my rifles. Just an opinion. But then I like to shoot my MZ's. Not save up money to buy powder that does not even come in a 1# can. Tom.

In my area real black powder is over $20lb and BH209 is $28. Swiss is about the same price as BH209 so in my case it is the best and i can leave mine uncleaned for days without an issue.

Best is a relative term.

I don't know what I did wrong, but I had a bad enough crud ring to get my patch and rod stuck. I'd rather clean up soft soot than hard carbon any day, plus I know that 777 will go off when I need it to. I'm going to get some 209A's when I get my NFPJ plug and try BH again, but I'm not holding my breath..

Either I am wrong or you should check your bottles. The bottle of BH I had was not 1#. And I guess I am fortunate because we have a local guy who stocks BP and does not charge that much. So maybe for you the BH is twice as much. Instead of three times more. But that still does not address the other problems people have like the bad hygroscopic properties of the powder. And other things you need to worry about to get it to go off. BP will go off if you do the process properly. And it does not need any special nipples, or special primers, or special breech plugs, or whatever special stuff you need. Heck I have shot BP before when it was wet.

When they start shooting BH-209 in a Gibbs rifle at the 1,000 yard line then I might give it a second look. But then they use BP?? Oh my.

I guarantee you that MZ accuracy is due to the rifle and projectile more than what type of powder you use. They have marketed these whiz-bang powders to shooters. And the shooters fell for it. After all who would pay two or three times as much for powder that does not improve accuracy(over BP). And you still need to clean your rifle?? Now if you did not have to clean your rifle after you shot then that might be worth investigating. But then you would be shooting a Savage with smokeless powder.

I have been around the block with all the different powders available on the market. And with a good projectile and a good rifle you will not be able to out shoot BP in that rig. Tom.

have any of you guys ever gotten a cleaning jag and patch stuck in your barrel? It seems to happen to me every time I shoot

BH209 is worth every penny. I dont care who shoots what out of a gibbs or any other rifle. For my rifles, bh209 IS the best powder you can get on the market. Blackpowder fouling is very heavy in my rifles (sidelock, flintlock, inline) at time i have to use a small hammer to tap the bullet down. In an inline, i got a bad crud ring with goex, even while using 777 primers. But with BH209, i get zero crud ring, zero problems. No breech plug Mods either