Yesterday, my son was hell bent to go muzzleloader hunting in the rain. What a combination. Last Christmas my son was given a TC Contender with a Bergara 209/50 cal barrel. We started off shooting Triple 7 pellets. We were neither pleased with all the gummy residue requiring barrrel swabbing between shots and the breech plug cleaning. We also were not impressed with the accuarcy. No better than black powder. I was told about Blackhorn 209 Powder by Bob Parker of Parker Productions and bought two 10 oz bottles $32.00 each. I would call it "black gold". I started out shooting 120 grains of Blackhorn 209 and it was a beast in the recoil department. I reduced the load to 100 grains and it became more manageable. Be advised you need to know Black Powder Substitute is measured in Volumetric units 80, 100, 120, and if you measure these units on a modern powder scale they are 56 grains, 70 grains, and 84 grains respectfully. We fired approximately 25 shots with no swabbing of the barrel. We did however clean the breech plug 4 times with a needle. Another note Blackhorn 209 likes real 209 shotgun primers and not the 209 primers designed for muzzleloaders. When my son returned from his afternoon in the rain hunting he discharged the last load. We cleaned up the rifle with Hoppes #7 Solvent as per instructions and the bore and breech plug cleaned right up. We then cleaned up with a couple of dry patches and followed with some light oil on patches. Clean up was a breeze and accuracy was better than expected. I can highly reccomend Blackhorn 209 Black Powder Substitute.
Nat Lambeth
Nat Lambeth
