Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Blackhorn 209 and 45 caliber muzzleloader

I’m thinking about getting a 45 Cal muzzleloader but when I checked the load data for black horn 209 they only have 50 caliber load data listed. Can I use the 50 cal data in the 45 cal?

Yes you can use the same data in terms of max allowed loads. What 45cal are you planning on getting? I would highly suggest at least a 1-22 twist or better yet a 1-20 twist if you want to make use of some of the newer bullets.

I’m looking at getting a bergara 45 cal muzzy barrel for my encore ph but not sure if I will get one just yet as I can’t find any BH 209 breech plugs for the encore setup

They have not made that barrel in a long time but the plug for that barrel should work with Blackhorn. Its a 1-28 twist too. Not great but good enough for bullets like the 200grain SST and some others.

The Hornady 200 gr SST kills them dead. I would be concerned on bullet weight.

I was told by the BH folks that BH and 777 develop similar pressures, if that is any help. Hodgdon has a chart on their website with data for 777 and Pyrodex in various calibers. Unless there's a particular reason you need a .45, .50 caliber offers a LOT more options in projectiles and sabots. Entirely your choice, of course.

And, don't forget genuine black powder. It's been getting it done for centuries. Break-action guns greatly simplify cleaning; just push it out the muzzle.

I have a cousin who called them for info on .45 loads and they said his load (100 grains by volume) would do fine. Don't know about anything heavier, but suspect up to 120 grains would be fine.

200gr bullet in a sabot makes a whopping 22kpsi with 120gr of Blackhorn and a 209 primer in a 45. Thats a hell of a long way away from being dangerous in any modern rifle. You cant burn enough Blackhorn with that load to be dangerous. The idiot level to do it would be off the charts.

Load below is by weight which is very close to 120 by volume.

I have the same barrel on my encore, so does a good friend of mine. I highly recommend it if you can get one. I am shooting the 200gr sst over 110 gr of bh209. Getting about 2300 fps with 1.25” groups at 100 yards. He is shooting the 195 gr Barnes at 2400fps with slightly better accuracy. We both use the harvester light blue smooth sabots and knurl the bullets. Both of these are basically point and shoot to 200 yards in light winds.

To "knurl the bullets" that makes them grip the sabot better or it increases the size of the bullet?