209 Primers & Modern Muzzleloading

As small as the 209 shotgun shell primer is, it has probably made a bigger bang than any other item in modern in-line muzzleloading.  People just don't realize it.

First, from it's very inception (and as suspected by our industry inventors) it has proven to be a very reliable source of ignition for our modern rifles when properly selected. With today's rifles and powders, the little 209 primer provides more than sufficient fire to ignite our modern rifles. And as I will discuss further in this post, they can and will provide extreme accuracy.

The second big bang these little items have caused are that of the legal kind! There is really no telling how much time and money manufacturers of modern muzzleloading equipment have spent getting the states to except this ignition source.  Although most hunters have excepted it, there are still a few states that are holding out, and still requiring a hunter to use the older types of ignition (like #11 caps, etc).


In the beginning, only the standard 209 shotgun shell primer was available because that's all there was. As time went by, the industry capitalized on the muzzleloading sport by marketing to us "209 Muzzleloading Primers". Many companies have jumped on the bandwagon; some for the money (same dern primer, but they charge us more) and some have truly made a better product for the modern muzzleloader.


By looking at the package we can tell which ones are meant to be used with muzzleloaders, but which ones really work? And which ones are best? And believe me, you better know, cause this one little thing can make or break a good load...or a good hunt.


The main question is: how "powerful" is the primer?


There are three factors that come into play to determine the answer to that question:


     1. How much explosive the primer contains.
     2. The diameter of the flash hole.
     3. The type of breech plug - more specifically, how long is the breech plug and
          how is the face (powder end) built?


To answer #1, a 209 primer has a lot of fire. In most cases, more than enough. As far as how much explosive any primer has, we may never know. But with the testing we've done at MAX, I would say that contrary to popular belief, the primers designed specifically "for muzzleloading" have a reduced amount of explosive. The best way that I've found to test primers to see how powerful they are, is to measure how much deflection they cause.


Keeping in mind that in order to conduct a test, you have to have a standard, here's ours:

First, the ingredients:

     Clean barrel

     Ramrod

     Flat-faced jag and T-handle

     Tape (or something to mark the ramrod with)
Primers (a variety)

Second, the recipe for testing:

     1.  Start with an un-loaded rifle with a clean, dry barrel.  Unloaded, unloaded, unloaded!

(can everybody say: UNLOADED?)

     2.  Then screw a T-handle and a flat-faced jag onto the ramrod. 

     3.  Take 6 to 8 patches and wet them with something like Butch's Bore Shine and then wring them out, as much as you can.  They should just be damp-ish.

     4.  Center a patch over your barrel end, then push it into the barrel using the flat-faced jag.

     5.  When the patched-jag reaches the face of your breech plug, wrap a piece of tape around the ramrod right at the end of the muzzle.  (I use painters tape cause it peels right back off without any mess).

     6.  Insert a primer.

     7.  Cock the hammer.

     8.  Pull the trigger.

     9.  Now, measure the amount of deflection the primer caused. 

      10.  Repeat  (NOTE!  Before you repeat with another patch and primer, be sure to clean the barrel so that you recreate the same barrel conditions for each test.  That's just good science!).

There are a couple of things that will affect the deflection you get in your testing.

1.  The type of breech plug .  The longer the plug, the less fire you get at the powder.  And, of course, a shorter plug = more fire. 

2.  The diameter of your flash hole.  A smaller diameter flash holes will provide less fire at the powder, larger hole = more fire.

3.  The shape of your breech plug face.  A flat faced breech plug will cause more deflection.  I prefer the style of breech plug that has the dished out or cupped face over the flat.  Dished out face = more fire.

Why are we going to all this trouble?  Only two little reasons:

          1.  To find the primer that will deliver the best accuracy and
          2.  To find the primer that will make the rifle go BOOM every time!


The way I use all this info is to cut to the chase as to what primer goes with which powder. 

For instance, when using Triple 7, I want a low impact primer.  For this reason I favor the Winchester 209 Triple-7 Primers and I also really like the Fiocchi 209...a lot! 

On the other hand, a higher impact primer will produce tighter groups in most cases when shooting Blackhorn 209.  Then I opt for primers that cause more deflection such as the CCI 209 M, Federal 209 A or the Winchester "Blue Box" 209.  These are 209's made for shotgun shells, full strength (and are recommended by Blackhorn).  Blackhorn 209 has a higher flash point than Triple-7 and needs the extra fire.



In either case, test 3 or 4 of each primer to insure that they are consistent and cause the same amount of deflection each time.  This is what will lead to accuracy, consistently.

I cannot tell you the times when I was hand-loading for center fire that the only thing standing between a 1-1/4 inch group and a 1/2 inch group was that itty, bitty little primer.  And the same is true here.

If there is a funny part to this, it's the cost.  I've seen muzzle loaders (and I'm going to have to include myself here) change everything including their socks trying to get better accuracy before they change the primer.  Ha!  Bullets, powder, sabots....but that cheap little, low cost primer can and will make all the difference in the world.  Bottom line, test your primers so you know what they do and when you're having problems getting good groups, change your primer FIRST!

Take the primer challenge.  Go spend a few dollars, buy some primers and see for yourself.  For the money, it could give you the biggest bang for your buck$.