Federal .50 Cal Bor Lock bullets HEADS UP

Freedivr2

Member
Messages
29
Hey guys.........I had to use some solid copper bullets in my .50 cal T/C Omega muzz for a special hunt last month here in Colorado (cull hunt in Boulder). Long story short, I had two different types of Barnes copper bullets, and both of them were next to impossible to load. I think the Omegas have a super tight bore or something. A warden suggested I use a Federal Bor Lock, said they were accurate and load easy. Both those things were true, they did. And I was using Blackhorn 209 powder which is a fantastic clean propellent. Anyway, I had a hangfire at the range when sighting in using these bullets and couldn't figure out why as it only happened once. Loaded the gun for the hunt, and on the 2nd day, had an elk at 87 yards broadside, no clue I was there. Took my time, squeezed and pop went the primer!!!! Off went the elk. Waited a couple minutes, and my only option without a breech wrench (dumb!), was to try again. Again, only the primer popped. Waited 5 minutes, pressed down on the bullet real hard (and kept safe as I could in doing this), loaded another primer and off it went. Loaded another load, used the same pressure as a powerbelt, and again, a hangfire. I concluded that these bullets needed about double the pressure on the ramrod than the Powerbelts did. No idea why, maybe the fiberglass thing on the bottom of the bullet that "scrapes the barrel clean" (per the advertisement) is the problem. Anyway, I would avoid using these bullets again unless I absolutely had to. Worked fine at the range except for one hangfire, but with only one shot chance in the field, and the firearm jostling around a bit hiking in, maybe the bullet works loose since it loads so easy, I have no idea. Sticking with good ol powerbelts and lead from here on out unless the law says diff.
 
I had the same problem Friday but with powerbelts...twice. I concluded it was the primers. Going out tomorrow and try it again. I shot Federals in my TC Friday and both shots were touching at 50 yds. 1 1/2 "high. Long story I had gotten a new CVA and when I got to the range the hammer would not ****. I took it back and exchanged it for a Tradions Strikerfire...pretty neat rifle...so far.
 
We've Fired a couple of Remington Ultimate's around 300+ Rounds Each Using BH209 & POWERBELT PLATINUMS & ELR'S!

Never a HANG/MISFIRE!

We Just Toasted Both Breech Plugs Though!

Always Something!
 
Curious as to why the “bullet” would cause the hang fire?
Hey guys.........I had to use some solid copper bullets in my .50 cal T/C Omega muzz for a special hunt last month here in Colorado (cull hunt in Boulder). Long story short, I had two different types of Barnes copper bullets, and both of them were next to impossible to load. I think the Omegas have a super tight bore or something. A warden suggested I use a Federal Bor Lock, said they were accurate and load easy. Both those things were true, they did. And I was using Blackhorn 209 powder which is a fantastic clean propellent. Anyway, I had a hangfire at the range when sighting in using these bullets and couldn't figure out why as it only happened once. Loaded the gun for the hunt, and on the 2nd day, had an elk at 87 yards broadside, no clue I was there. Took my time, squeezed and pop went the primer!!!! Off went the elk. Waited a couple minutes, and my only option without a breech wrench (dumb!), was to try again. Again, only the primer popped. Waited 5 minutes, pressed down on the bullet real hard (and kept safe as I could in doing this), loaded another primer and off it went. Loaded another load, used the same pressure as a powerbelt, and again, a hangfire. I concluded that these bullets needed about double the pressure on the ramrod than the Powerbelts did. No idea why, maybe the fiberglass thing on the bottom of the bullet that "scrapes the barrel clean" (per the advertisement) is the problem. Anyway, I would avoid using these bullets again unless I absolutely had to. Worked fine at the range except for one hangfire, but with only one shot chance in the field, and the firearm jostling around a bit hiking in, maybe the bullet works loose since it loads so easy, I have no idea. Sticking with good ol powerbelts and lead from here on out unless the law says diff.
 
They worked excellent for me!
62AE3503-1EDF-4731-831B-62AE019E41B6.jpeg
7556B951-3AC7-439B-92FA-1D4018BA085D.jpeg
B80F96CB-8BD0-4AEB-8708-0FB1B8ED682A.jpeg
 
Disclaimer: the closest I have come to using these is having a couple of packages in a drawer somewhere in the reloading cave. Never shot one.

Butt, I believe I read somewhere on the WWW that these slugs can work their way down the barrel if you are carrying the gun in the field (or the truck). Apparently the gas check slides enough that the bullet comes unseated ever so slightly.

The solution was to re-seat the bullet before you fire. Convenient.

Of course I could have imagined this.
 
Disclaimer: the closest I have come to using these is having a couple of packages in a drawer somewhere in the reloading cave. Never shot one.

Butt, I believe I read somewhere on the WWW that these slugs can work their way down the barrel if you are carrying the gun in the field (or the truck). Apparently the gas check slides enough that the bullet comes unseated ever so slightly.

The solution was to re-seat the bullet before you fire. Convenient.

Of course I could have imagined this.
I have been using these for about 2 years not had an issue with this, but I did use a ramrod with a missing end and the tip stick and I pulled the slug up.
 
The good and bad thing about BH209 is that it doesn’t go off unless the bullet is seated tightly against the powder.

So at the range, when you just seated the bullet, that should not be a problem. Only in the field. If you have any bullet that could work up the barrel, you should check it before firing.

I will tell a story on me though. ONE TIME I started a bullet with a short starter and forgot to push it down the rest of the way. ☹️?? I KNOW, that is something that should NEVER happen. Very dangerous. However, because I was using BH209, all that happened was the primer went off, the powder didn’t, and the bullet popped out the end of the gun and landed about 10 ft from the end of the barrel.
 
It requires a “hot” primer and a fairly snug ( not compressed) bullet. But it is worth it
Disagree, imho 777 is accurate and very reliable. One of the big saling points for BH209 is how much cleaner it burns. I personally haven't see that.Maybe a 20% decrease in barrel fouling. To me 209 is not the superior product so any claim it to be..I'll stick with 777, I burned a lot of bh209 before reverting back to 777. Just my thoughts
 
I shoot both and I shoot BH209 whenever I can. Maybe it’s because I only use full bore conicals? Don’t shoot sabots, which I am sure fit tighter. With conicals I can shoot up to 30 times at the range without swabbing once! That saves a lot of of time and patches! And cleanup is easy.

But I like 777 too. Use it for my sidelocks and easy cleanup with water, but you better clean it the day you shoot! With BH, I have left it a few days after shooting before I clean with no problems.
 
Tx, just a follow-up as im not a muzzleloader guy by and large. I noticed my CVA shot much better with at least a one shot fouling . With your comment about cleaning immediately, am I , after leaving my gun loaded after the one shot fouling doing damage to my rifle if I leave it loaded after several uneventful days . I'm a bow guy trying to learn. Thanks
 
I generally do a fouling shot as well. With BH 209 I have left my gun loaded for multiple days, even a week, without a problem. With 777 I don’t shoot and clean it every day, but at least every other day
 
Curious as to why the “bullet” would cause the hang fire?
Right now I'm not so sure of that. BUT, next time you go to Cabela's, check out the unique design of these Federals, copper or lead. They are of a way different design, a sliding/expanding plastic sabot and a fiberglass piece on the botttom of the bullet that is supposed to be a better powder seal and keep the barrel cleaner) and the fix of the hang fire to me (when I wrote this I believed so) was that you really have to bear down on the ramrod hard to compress the loose powder (way more so than I ever had to with powerbelts). I will say that these Federal coppers load way easier than super tight fitting Barnes MX copper. After reading up more about BH209, a lot of guys suggest using a Magnum primer. I used Winchester 209 primers, that MAY have been the issue. The other thing I did was although the breech plug LOOKED good (flash hole and ignition hole both clear), I followed the instructions on the BH website about cleaning carbon build up from the breech plug. The flash hole on mine was I would guess 20% smaller than factory due to carbon build up. Sooooooo, I fixed that, will get some magnum primers and then shoot the heck out of it with less pressure on the powder and see how THAT works. I'm not suspicious of it being the fact that the flash hole was smaller AND they say to use magnum primers. That may have been the issue, will find out next visit to the range and check back in here.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom