Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Alliant Black MZ surprised me today

I wanted to try some big nasty recoil conicals today and so I started off first with Triple 7 3fg and my home cast 370gr Maxi balls at 50 yards.

Shots 1 and 2 went awesome.. Every damn shot after that was a hang fire. I have Tresco nipple on my sidelock and it just does not handle Triple 7 well at all. Its weird.. I consistently only get 2 shots before it starts hang firing. You can push a wire through the nipple hole and it will still hang fire.

Switched over 90gr Black MZ, Zero hang fires and what surprised me most, was the accuracy. I'm not looking for sniper accuracy, 75 yards in my area would be a long shot on elk in the thick timber, so this group really surprised me as I did not expect the MZ to shoot this well with these conicals.

Excuse the messy target, I hate wasting them. The Black MZ also shot center. I'd imagine with the large conical and this load I would be around 7 to 9 inches low at 100 yards. Maybe tomorrow I can test at 75 yards and see how things go.

Shots 2-5 are easily within 1 1/2" or less. And yes, my damn neck/shoulder are sore after them loads.

I couldn't hit my a ss using that friggin target!!

why not? its a 3" orange bulls eye. Pretty easy to see for me. I've used that same target out to 200 yards with open sights.

I use the Alliant a lot . Mostly cause it is 28 bucks and I can find it almost anywhere. I never had problem with it but I think BH 209 gives me better groups, although , that aint saying much. I'm still on the hunt for a muzzleloader that I can shoot without spending more money to find a good load than what I payed for the gun. Still looking at the Davide Pedersoli and the Traditions .

I love the stuff i just cant find anymore. I read it was discontinued. Id much rather shoot it than pyrodex

Untitled by .com/photos/61286670N08/]Sharps Man, on [bleep]

I can see a gnat's ass from 200 yards but the overall target is too friggin big! The volume of 'black' is such that it would have a tendency to make it difficult for a shooter to use a 6 o/clock hold if that's what was accustomed to being utilized!

Not at all! That's why I love these targets. Actually, thats a 12" target, I normally use the 17.25" target that is a spitting image. The huge black area high lights the orange and allows your eye to settle in and focus on the orange. Even with my bulkier round front sight on a hawken, it does the job perfectly. With the german silver blade sights, its like a lollipop.

How much of that T7 you loading under the Maxi-Ball?

sorry, i completely forgot to put that. 80gr 3fg T7

My first experience with a ML was a TC Renegade kit build. Friend of mine had a Hawken and said he used 90 gr of 2f with the Maxi. Was my start and finish for load testing with that one. Patched RB used 50 gr. Both would group 1 to 1-1/2" for 5 at 50 yds without wiping. I NEVER had a hangfire with that gun. The rifle didn't fit well and was rather rude to my cheek. A laced butt pad fixed that and I enjoyed the gun a lot.

Later on with a different gun I tried a few of the BP substitutes and decided their best use was a mystery to me. Tossed it and never looked back.

Fella wants a load that thumps a bit put 150 gr of black under 800 grains of lead.

Ive been wanting to try that powder but can’t find it anywhere. Tired of paying BH209 prices.

keep [aying bh209 prices. Black MZ doesnt come close to comparing to BH209.

You and me both. I just spend 42 bucks on BH209 and it has a noticeable split second delayed fire in it. It is a click boom but none the less a click boom and I dont like it. It comes to 67.20 a lb for the Blackhorn 209. I got just as good of accuracy with Alliance stuff for 29 buds a lb. I wish someone would give Blackhorn 209 some competition. .

Sportsman's Warehouse shows at least 50 in stock. $9.99/lb. plus $20 hazard fee plus free shipping over $49.
Can't beat that deal.

Hmm...that’s where I saw it first, more than a year ago. Every time I’ve been back they haven’t had any. Just might have to order some or ship to store.

I used Allaince today for 4 shots and was 2.5" @ 50 yds off a bench with open sights. I clean the bore every shot however. My load is 80 gr. 240 gr Remington pistol bullet ( .429) and a green sabot. This has been my best load but dont care for a pistol bullet in a muzzleloader however. It may be the green Hornady sabot too, I am not sure.

I'm with you on pyrodex. I poured 2-lbs in a pile and burned it. Stuff is very corrosive.

Its only corrosive if not cleaned. I've used pyrodex for years and years with no rotten gun barrels. Half as sed cleaning only gets one so far.

I found a bunch of Blue MZ pellets on clearance sale at Wally World back in late Jan. for 5 dollars per 24 pack. I bought all they had, which was 15 packs I believe. While I'm not crazy about pellets I couldn't pass the deal. They shoot really well. The only caveat with them and the "hot" 209's is, the bore fouls to the point of not being able to load after 3 shots. Of course, swabbing the bore get's it back to loading. I would think that some of the "cooler" burning 209's that were designed for muzzle loaders would help mitigate the bore fouling somewhat.

I also found 4 bottles of BH209 for 15 dollars per.. Bought all 4..All I can say about this "stuff"....AWESOME!! This BH209 loads as easy on the 20th shot as it does the first and 90 grs, (volume) and a .45 cal Harvester Short Black sabot and a 300gr XTP, non-mag, is a tack driver.

the b lue mz pellets are nothing more than dyed IMR Whitehots. But for 5 bucks a pack, well worth it.