I liked black mag3. Worked fine in my mk85 and was easy as could be to clean up. That and nosler 260's made for an accurate load and the buck I shot and dropped in his tracked was pretty disappointed that it worked so well too. My brother did'nt like black mag at all in his long range hunter so I swapped him my stash of blackhorn for his black mag.

Muley Hunter

We actually do have some "common ground". BH209 (sofar) is the least effected by mother nature. Cold yes but its very non hygroscopic because of a coating. It is very consistent under the most conditions in the right guns. I quit using T7 too for the same reason. My crud rings were HORRIBLE but some of that could have been my fault.

My only complaint with BH209 has been the cost and 10oz bottles since i don't shoot side locks. That is why i started going smokeless last year. Its cheaper for a pound and i only need half as much. Plus its just as easy to ignite with the right powder.

HEAD001

See if you have load data for Reloader 7. Its between Benchmark and Varget in many applications and its double based. Varget though is REALLY popular.

I hate the price of BH too. That's why i'm not a range rat with it. I get a load to work for hunting, and then just hunt with it. I've been working on the same bottle for a long time, and I have plenty left for the rest of the year . I consider it just a hunting powder.

BH 209 and Thors is not a range load. It's only purpose is death and a full freezer.


I shoot my other guns for 1/10th the price.

I just bought two 8#'s of BenchMark. So I will be shooting it for awhile??

The price of BH-209 is not what really turned me off. What turned me off was the fear of another moisture problem like I had with T-7. That is the main reason why I did not buy it.

But if it does as you and Muley say then I am going to give it a try.

I would shoot it in my Knight LRH. That is my long distance MZ. I do not shoot it as much as my fun rifles. And every practice shot from the LRH is for serious shooting, and further load testing, as well as just learning exactly what the rifle is doing. I rarely shoot it more than 5 or 6 times per range session. So cost wil not limit my purchassing it. Tom.

Think of BH as being closer to smokeless than BP.

All these substitutes are great. But there ain't nothing like the smell of good ol BP smoke and the way it fills the air.
Oh yeah, and don't forget the pleasant odor it has in ur truck on the way home.

Well maybe we will get lucky and the new BlackMZ will help get the costs down a little more. If it is even close to BH209, then Western will either have to lower their cost or sell it by the pound to compete as effectively. Most people wont mind swabbing around 10 shots if the price/performance is right IMO.

I want BlackMZ mostly for my Knight 45s shooting 180gr bullets in sabots and possibly conicals. The 180s are my "fun" loads and i can keep 6 shots in under 1.5" consistently. Bullets are cheap, the sabots are cheap but 80gr-90gr of BH209 isnt for a fun load.

I will stick with BH209 in my GMB54. It just shoots too well and nearly all my loads are for 300gr bullets or heavier. Its my main hunter and less of a range queen although its deadly accurate.

My NULAs fun load is a 225gr FTX ($28/100) in a 10 cent sabot and only 41-44gr of powder at over 2300fps. Recoil is mild and i can swap out to the Barnes 45-225gr for hunting since i know its a good SUB MOA shooter in this one. The huge reduction in powder weight reduces recoil more than you would imagine. I will post some shooting vids when i get around to editing the videos.

I hardly shoot the Savage but IT will easily kill any NA non dangerous game humanely out to 300 yards with a 36 cent bullet. Its a pig though and i don't care to hunt with it atm.

I only shoot MLs during all deer seasons so costs are more important to me and until this year i spent many hours at the range or shooting them just for fun.

wheres mike? i figured he be all over this powder.. after all he test drove the super powder for us all! come on Mike!

What you're smelling is the sulfur. Pyrodex has the same smell.

Grafs already has it listed at $22 ! That sounds pretty good!