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Blackhorn 209

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Well, back to pellets.

I had an "oh shit" moment yesterday when I pulled that data sheet off Blackhorn's website, which I had not done previously. The one on the bottle is slightly different and like more than one dipshit before me I'm sure, weighed a volumetric measure and was shooting 26 grains too much as a result. Thankfully, my Optima Elite will take 150 grains of pellets, which means I was roughly 5 grains too hot for the guns max rating. That was the first issue. The second was the breech plug I ordered does not fit my model of CVA and after reading the fine print, I see why. Shame on me for not reading the fine print before I ordered.

So... I weighed out new loads and now I'm having ignition problems. After 3 duds and 3 hangfires with a little troubleshooting in between, I was very uncomfortable heading to the woods this weekend with the Blackhorn. Thankfully, I have a half box of pellets left and they work.

Shots 1 and 2 doing as Adam would say "aim small, miss small" @ 55 yards. Made 2 clicks right and called it good.

View attachment 70793

Will that plug fit a CVA Accura V2?
 

Buckmaster

Senior Member
14,362
191
Portage
Today my Dad became a CVA Optima owner...thus I'm taking notes for him. I know he talked with CVA and has the BHpowder, 209 BH breech, and 300 grain bullets on order. As usual he's probably following CVA's R&D schedules and has been talking with Bulletsmith's. I'll report back in with the recipe when I'm properly informed.

He sold his smokeless setup today so I know he's serious about his MZ future. He's retired, has nothing to do, belongs to 2 gun clubs, and is Lundy 2.0 :eek: Those 2 guys could be Besties. :love:
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Perfect review for my situation.

Capture.PNG
 

Fletch

Senior Member
Supporting Member
6,078
118
Did some research on a muzzleloader site and found this post by a member which I thought interesting and may shed a little light on the subject... Again it seems bullet must be tight fitting and seated well for a good ignition... This post along with above blackhorn guidelines seems to make sense....

In order for Blackhorn, and all smokeless powders (Nitro based) to ignite, they must be "pressurized" to a far HIGHER degree than any other powders.

Black Powder does not have to be pressurized to ignite and be "excited" into rapid burn.

Nitro based powders NEED high pressure to be ignited and to stay excited into a complete burn.

Almost all "fizzles" come from one thing. . .Not enough containment when the powder is ignited.

Whether the sabot (which is for most all cases) doesn't "seat" down tight enough and long enough for the primer to ignite the powder and keep the pressure built up enough to continue combustion.

This is why Black powder is the most reliable powder there is. . .It is easily ignitable, takes very little pressure to keep it going, and ignites very quickly.

Nitro based powders take a LOT of pressure. (There is a reason why those center fire bullets you buy at the store are tightly attached to that brass casing! If you do not have a tight enough sabot, you will NOT get full ignition, and the primer will just blow your sabot out your barrel a few feet. (if it gets out of the barrel).

Probably for 95 percent of all fizzles, your sabot is too loose in your barrel. Not enough resistance in the barrel, and no buildup of pressure when your primer goes off. . .or at least not enough buildup of pressure!

It may seem like your sabot is tight, but it may not be as tight as it should be.

this all depends on if your vent liner is actually clear of obstructions, and the fire is getting to your powder.

You can verify this by placing a teaspoon of black powder on the sidewalk, along with a teaspoon of Nitro based powder. Then try lighting both of them. . .

The Black Powder will instantly ignite and go up in a fast poof! (Remember Black powder doesn't need high pressures to ignite fast and keep it going fast)

The Nitro based stuff will definitely burn EXTREMELY slow compared to the BP. Why? because Nitro needs a huge amount of pressure to burn its best.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Today my Dad became a CVA Optima owner...thus I'm taking notes for him. I know he talked with CVA and has the BHpowder, 209 BH breech, and 300 grain bullets on order. As usual he's probably following CVA's R&D schedules and has been talking with Bulletsmith's. I'll report back in with the recipe when I'm properly informed.

He sold his smokeless setup today so I know he's serious about his MZ future. He's retired, has nothing to do, belongs to 2 gun clubs, and is Lundy 2.0 :eek: Those 2 guys could be Besties. :love:

Do I already know your dad? He must be a tough guy wanting to shoot 300 gr bullets, that will increase felt recoil substantially and depending on the bullet design add little to downrange performance, but I'm betting he already knows all of that and has a reason for his choice..

Compression on the powder column is important to reliable ignition for smokeless powder and to a slightly lesser degree BH209 as it is as close to a smokeless powder without being called a smokeless powder as you can get as compared to the other BP substitutes. The benefits of using BH209 are pretty easy to identify. Clean and more energy per grain which translate into better performance.

Bullets that load easily are not a good choice for smokeless or BH 209. Easy loading bullets, Powerbelts or any other combination that loads super easy is not your friend for accuracy with any powder you are shooting. Powerbelts have one positive attribute, they load super easy, that's it, nothing else good about them in my opinion.

One last note, if you are using a easy loading bullet combo and a powder that ignites easily without compression PLEASE do yourself a favor and multiple time per day while hunting take your ramrod with you witness mark and make sure you bullet hasn't moved off off of the load. If it does it will be a barrel obstruction and you could have a very bad day. Please don't think that can't happen, it only takes a few seconds to be safe.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
I've eaten a lot of baked beans in my life so for me to say that about yours they must be special. I think you need to make me some more so I can put a face with the beans:D

Meeting you on Erie could be any one of hundreds of guys, but on Ontario the list gets pretty short. I'll figure it out.
 
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OO2

Well-Known Member
2,566
111
In the Uplands
Any kind of long term solution I can put on barrel and inside to prevent any rust or anything. I have cva optima V2 SS