cayugad

I was all set to shoot yesterday. The target was up, the bench was all set, even the rifle was loaded. And then company pulled into the drive way and wasted the entire afternoon. So first thing this morning.. I headed to the range.

The rifle was loaded over night. My 50 caliber Remington Genesis. I had loaded it with 90 grains of BlackHorn 209, a 260 grain Harvester Scorpion PT in a MMP HPH-12 sabot. The sabot made loading very tight. Not impossible mind you. Just very tight.

Yesterday I had moved the bench (finally no snow) back to 102 yards. I knew the rifle was sighted in at 85 yards approximately. So I was curious where it would hit with the 15 plus additional yards tacked on.

Some of my concerns shooting today were; the winds were very strong. Right to left and to give you an idea of strength, it kept blowing my plastic bag with sabots, off the table and out into the yard. So I finally had to tell myself..put the bag in the shooting bag when your done. And patches... they were gone. Although shooting blackhorn I never did swab the barrel. And never had a single ignition problem with the CCI primers and the Remington STS primers.

I am not going to say I was upset with the first five hits. After all, it was sighted in closer then the current distance. But I did not think it should have been that low, if you know what I mean.

I decided to up the charge of BlackHorn 209 because it was shooting better before with stronger charges. And I remembered something Lee told me. The sabot should be tight, but not too tight. So I got out some HPH-24 sabots. and increased the powder charge 10 grains.

Now holding the exact POA.. why those next five climbed that much higher... I really had no idea. Could have it been the different sabot? Could the rifle just been warming up? Was it the extra powder? Again, I can not say why. Maybe you've seen this happen before. But I had a great four shot group going, and then the last one came along. I'd like to blame the wind. But I won't.

Something else I noticed... when loading the sabots.. about 12 inches down the barrel, they came to a I will describe it as a sticky area for about six inches. Then all was smooth again. The barrel has no flaws, and the sabots loaded well. But like I said.. I noticed that suddenly you had to exert more pressure on the ramrod to make it through that part. Maybe it was just the way I was positioned over the ramrod that made if feel that way. Have any of you ever experienced that?

But for a windy day, and the sun was still low on the horizon in front of me making a sun haze in the scope at times.. I was pleased with the group. And the fact that I can now move around the yard again. And it was fun to shoot.

bronko22000

Dave I believe your POI difference was probably due to both the sabot and powder charge change.
As for the sticky spot - I've noticed that sometimes too. Even with new barrels. I have a theory that it could possibly be the build up of sabot material being cut by the rifling and then, after the rifling is cut into the sabot, it clears the top of the sabot and the newly cut grooves follow the rifling down the bore. My theory anyway.

MountainDevil54

haha! you like that blackhorn now huh

pluckit

Very nice shooting.

cayugad

I hate to say this as it might be taken the wrong way.. I have one more pound of it to shoot off. After that I will be a black powder baby for the rest of my life. It will take a lot to get me to purchase any more BlackHorn 209. I have two rifles that can shoot it.. and many many many many others that can shoot black powder. Easy choice.

sabotloader

I think you already know that I have also somewhat made the same decision. BH is a really good powder for what it is intended to do, but I still fight the price and since I can get near the same results from T7 for less money per shot/ounce, or pound, how ever you want to apply the forumla.

Muley Hunter

I never understood the price of BH 209, except greed. Any reason it should cost more than a similar smokeless powder?

Semisane

Even out of the short barrel of my X7 I can get 1600 fps and good hunting accuracy with GOEX and 300 grain Deep Curls. That's all I need for my typical 75 to 125 yard shots. And it's flat shooting enough for my absolute maximum of 175 yards, which is the longest possible clear shot in my hunting area.

I still have about 1/4 of my first canister of Blackhorn, which is now over three years old. With two in-lines and eight sidelocks I think I'll just continue to buy myself a case of GOEX every now and then

Muley Hunter

One good thing about the BH is that 1/4 bottle will probably last forever.

Then again. So will the Goex.

cayugad

In all fairness to BlackHorn 209.. its a good powder. And powerful. And if you have the right rifle, breech plug, and such it shoots really good. Also the price has come down in some places but still high in others. Yet as you mentioned and others... other powders can and do produce excellent results at less cost. And the clean up is not all that important of an item. In fact its kind of a pain in the you know where.