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If you want a good percentage of DRT on broadside shots try the 200 gr. shockwave.

Please show me a link to the 250gr XTP MAG. Never seen one and its not listed on Hornady's website.

Seriously, there is a reason even Savage owners usually avoid this bullet. You would be better off with the regular 300gr XTP if you want to shoot a cheaper bullet and get two holes.

Wideners still has some Nosler Partitions cheap if you want a Grade A bullet for a economy price. Thats half of suggested MSRP.

www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=529

By golly you're right - there is no 250 gr. XTP MAG. Guess I'll either move to the 240 or more likely move up to the 300 gr. XTP standard or MAG bullet.

No such bullet exists as a 250gr Mag XTP.

195 gr barnes mz expanders in my .45
got a box of 200 gr sst also to play with
and have access to some to some knight 175gr barnes also

im jumping off the bh209 bandwagon
don't like unpredictable hang fires
my gun don't like the stuff
my Kodiak pro mag in .45 is gonna get a run with 7772f and pryodex select rifle grade later on this summer/early fall and see how it does
shot 7772f in my omega with the same breech plug design as the Kodiak with win 209 primers and cleaned with butches black powder bore shine
(crud ring issues easy taken care of)
never had an issue with that combo going boom ever
and that is what I want again
no issues..........................

Concerning Blackhorn, you must keep the breechplug flash channel clear and also the flash hole, both located on your breechplug. I clear my channel after every four shots, using a hand drill bit, turning it easily in the channel, while the gun is upright. The fouling generally just falls out and I'm ready for another load.

What's good for the flash hole (which only needs to be checked every 10 shots or-so) is a closed safety pin. Open the safety pin, straighten out the pointed end as best as you can. It's long enough to fit thru my Knight and T/C ML breechplugs.

Some breechplugs never need inspecting / cleaning..... Some do. I am also considering abandoning Blackhorn 209. Thinking about trying Pyrodex Select next. Have not used Pyrodex since the early-mid 1990s. I will never return to Crud Ring City/ frozen breechplug 777 again, nor moisture-grabbing American Pioneer.

Real Black has always been in my gun cabinet and I may someday return to using it in my inlines.

After shooting numerous bottles of Blackhorn, ive never seen the flash hole clog. It actually grows slightly with every shot.

Flash channel, yes....Flash hole...no

The Omega plug and Kodiak plug are more different than they appear. The Omega plug with the heavily concaved powder side is excellent with BLackhorn. As far as i know, they will not interchange.

Ron on Huntingnet and Modern Muzzleloader forums can modify the old style CVA breach plug for excellent reliability. He even installs a vent liner so your plug will basically never wear out. Just replace the vent liner when the flash hole has grown too much.

In my TC Omega .50 cal, I shoot 250 gr. Thor bullets, ahead of 83 gr. (by weight) of Blackhorn 209 powder, driven with Federal 209A primers. Penetration is never an issue, and accuracy is superb.

I've been running 250 grain XTP's (.452) in my MLII. They haven't made many tracks, but they do tend to turn inside out and lose the core inside of 50 yards. I suspect that it will cost me an animal someday if I keep using them. I picked up a couple of boxes of 300 grain .458's that are designed for the 45-70. I need to remember to order some sabots cause no one carries them.

Bullets designed for revolver velocities can't be expected to hold together when pushed a lot faster. These days it's probably wiser to use bullets designed specifically for MLs or rifle bullets like the ones you bought. I've got some .458 sabots I acquired by buying Nosler BT ML bullets and removing the bullets for use in my .45/70. I'm going to try the sabots with Laser cast 350gr bullets in my Knight.

BTW, SPS has the Noslers on sale for $8.45 per 15. They're overruns, not blems. I bought a bunch.

If you can't get the orange .458 sabots, the Harvester Crush Ribs may work okay.

Wideners has Nosler 300gr Partitions for around half the normal price. It may be pistol bullet but it will hold together better than the majority of 300gr HP 45/70 bullets.

They never shot great for me in my Savage though unless i used Blackhorn. Then they shot fine.

$24/50
https://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=529

Good site. Thanks for the tip.

butches black powder bore shine works great on the 777 crud ring
patch a bore brush with it
push it thru from the breech
reverse the patch repeat
then repeat process with another fresh wet patch pass
then dry patch the bore x2
cleans the breech plug
dissolves the residue quick
drill bit out the channel crud
pick out the flash hole with a paper clip
pipe cleaner and q tip it dry

I was extremely anal when I used bh 209
cleaning breech plug
drilled it out to .033-.035
stuff just would not go boom at times
was even considering sending away breech plug to get a recessed savage vent liner installed in it per advice from on here

im going back to 7772f and also try pryodex select rifle grade
gotta have confidence again that the rifle will go boom
not chik-boom
not chik-kaboom
I actually think a lot of the hangfires was due to cold weather in the teens and 20,s
but I also experienced misfires in warm weather

the breech plug on the Kodiak and optima (I said omega yesterday big difference, my bag)are pellet plugs with a flat face and more than likely having a recessed savage vent liner installed in a Kodiak /optima breech plug would solve the hangfire problem but I just don't want to fugg with it anymore
I lost confidence in it
and confidence is very important
I was weighing charges of bh209
cleaning meticously
jumped on the 209 band wagon from day1 with the Kodiak
was shooting fed209m primers with it also to try and cure the hangfire issue
still got hang fires even a few when just the primer went went pop and not ignite the bh209 at all

it is the breech plug design mostly and I think cold weather has a effect on it also

bh209 is good powder for guns it works in
but it just aint for me anymore

just boom is what I need to get back too

fords and chevys
blondes and brunettes

One of the best bullets I've used is the Speer Deep Curl. They fly great and perform very well. Unfortunately they seem to be very hard to find these days, though Speer is still making them. They come and go on websites, but you gotta get em quick if/when they do.

Based on the bullet testing I've done, my goto is the .429/240gr. Lots of folks like the 300gr also, if you prefer a heavier bullet.

DeepCurl is a great bullet if you can find them. Im not a huge fan of the .452 250gr unless you keep the loads on the low side. The 300gr DeepCurl and the old soft point are both plenty tough for ML speeds.

Occasionally the Speer #4485 soft point shows up when all the others are sold out. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/55...-300-grain-jacketed-soft-point-box-of-50

I agree with you on the .452/250. They failed miserably in my testing. My personal belief is it must be the design - that one has a super deep hollow point and they completely exploded upon impact in my bullet trap. The 240's on the other hand, turned damn near inside out and retained almost all their weight. Hopefully they will become more available again at some point. The 300gr has the same hollow point design as the 240, but I have not tested them.

Another speer that is good... the 260gr jacketed hollow point. They did well in testing, and I've shot alot of deer with them with great performance. These are the bullets Knight sells packaged up with a sabot. Speer #4481

Cabelas.com has the all-copper Barnes XPB's on sale for 13.99 for 20. I went to the store and they were priced 16.99. But at the cashier, they rang-up at 13.99. I bought a box of 45-cal 250 grain and a box of 44-cal 225 grain.

(Link) Cabelas Barnes XPB's

Yeah, I'm aware that I probably shouldn't be running the XTP's much over 1600; I'm actually surprised that they hold up as well as they do. MMP sells the orange sabots online, I just need to get them ordered.

Did you ever find a link to these mythical all-copper Bloodlines?

they are a mix of brass and lead T7. Lehigh i believe now uses all brass in their bullets.