We've been selling and installing our great 209 conversions for years now.   And I've noticed my questions and sales following trends influenced by the various hunting seasons and their associated rules.   This time of year many folks are getting ready for Colorado's muzzle loader season, typically focusing on harvesting an elk.   So annually, I edit and re-post this one.   The commentary here was also added the to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

The FAQ entry:

The Remington 700 ML/MLS & Ruger 77/50 muzzle loaders have been out of production for years now.  These rifles now vary in condition.   Some have hardly been used.   Others used, but well cared for.   Some have been neglected.   So their condition truly runs the full gambit.  
This is further complicated due to the original design and other 209 modifications sending fouling corrosive gasses throughout the bolt and the receiver.   New owners can be further confused by the various kits that may have been fitted over the years.  Our kits fix blow back issues, don't rely on most of the parts people tinker with, and base line the rifle to a solid known good state.

Many folks find their way to this blog from a simple internet search.  Frequently because they are having trouble like misfires, failure-to-fire, are tired of blow back, etc.   Some just want to use Blackhorn 209 powder (which will misfire or blooper if not sealed up).   

Other's have a friend that fixed his woes with our system, or saw a modified rifle at the range using our awesome 209 conversion for Remington 700 ML's and Ruger 77/50 rifles.  Some just know that there has to be a better way, and there is: you found it in our kits.    However you got here, and whatever shape your rifle is in, welcome to the best, last conversion you'll ever want on your rifle, and a great source for other hard to find Remington 700 ML parts.

Seeing the guns are so old, most folks first question is:

       Does this guy really still sell kits & fix these old rifles?   

                                           YES WE DO!
                                                (Click here to purchase one)

You may wonder how it works.   You can think of having three basic options: 

Option 1:  Buy a Remington kit and Do It Yourself (DIY).  

​The is your least expensive option.   To decide if you want to pay us to convert the bolt, have your gunsmith do it, or try it yourself, I recommend you study the online installation instructions and see the tools and skills needed.   

The most common thing people mess up up during the conversion process and need to replace is the firing pin, and a new one costs more than our install service.   So I always recommend you purchase our install service and send me the bolt (I'm getting ahead of myself as that is option two below). Note, there is not an "Option 1" for a Ruger (the Ruger's conversion is too complicated).

Option 2:  Send us the bolt and pay us to convert it​

​You can purchase the kit for a Remington and add installation, or purchase an installed kit for the Ruger.  Then ship us the bolt.   Let's call this option 2.   It's in the middle of cost, but very simple as you just have to ship us the bolt, we convert it and send it back.   While the costs differ, this option is basically the same between the Remington 700 ML and the Ruger 77/50.   When it comes to option 2:  you send us the bolt,  it's converted, then shipped back with the new breech plug/vent liner and other small tools.  Again, with the Ruger 77/50, there is no option one.​

However, the logic runs a bit circular when looked at retroactively... guns were designed to use 209s in order to leverage their hotter ignition and hence become more reliable (and of course they were marketed as such and the industry made money). Then more black powder substitutes that were easily ignited, but had organic chemistry were introduced (777 etc, they were marketed as better than Black Powder and the market made money).  But the guns became harder to reload/clean because of the crud ring... so the manufactures created "Inline Muzzle loader 209" primer's that aren't as hot but works well enough to ignite most powders and reduce the crud ring (and are marketed as cleaner, but not as less powerful... and the industry makes money). This frequently confuses folks new to the sport... intuition says use the primers labeled 'muzzle loader' in your muzzle loader.   Also a general desire to always have the most powerful stuff would mean folks wouldn't buy the "muzzle loader" primer if they knew it was less powerful:  So who would label their primers as less powerful?  Folk would want to get the more powerful standard or magnum primer and use that wouldn't they?​

So thats starts some confusion and varying advice on what to use in your muzzle loader.  We hope to make it clear what to use and why... so keep reading to find out the rest of the story!

Some folks stuck with the more powerful standard primers,,, and occasionally found that if they were shooting easy loading projectiles (aka obturating projectiles that don't seal well or lodge tightly in the barrel until deformed by powder combustion: power belts, bore lock MZ, minie balls, etc), that they lost accuracy with the magnum or standard 209 primers, but when they tried the muzzleloader primers the same loose bullets and powders grouped well.   They reasoned they were un-compacting the powder charge before it got fully burning with the more powerful primers.  There's so many factors, who knows what the cause is, but the remedy seemed to be using the low powered primer when that rare case arose where full powered primers would not shoot accurately.  This also reduced the crud ring.

Still, I always suggest folks try standard or magnum primers first. If they can't get a good group, --and they are not using BlackHorn209--, then try the primer with the name of the powder they are using or another muzzleloader specific primer (ie try full powered primers first; if you are shooting 777 and it won't group, try the Winchester 777 primer... or any other low powered muzzleloader 209 primer). ​  Getting a difficult to clean/load situation from a crud ring?   Switch to reduced powered primers.

Why do I suggest that you try magnum or standard 209's before "muzzleloader" 209s?   First, the muzzle loader specific 209's have always been about double the price of standard 209's.   I assume that is because they just don't make as many.   Second, if you can get it to work with more heat, then that seems better to me as more heat will compensate for other issues when you are in less than ideal situations... like its raining or snowing on a hunt and a big buck appears in front of you.

After reduced power "Muzzle loader 209's" came out  Western Powders introduced BlackHorn209 (which is nitrocellulose based) and needs at least a standard 209.  Nitrocellulose is inorganic and cleans up with solvents that also dissolve priming compound residue... so no more soap and water/Windex, no more crud ring, no more fouling in the barrel that builds up with each shot (though you can still get priming compound built up and blocking a breach plug's flash channel... you may need to pull and clean the priming compound residue from your breech plug every 10 or 20 shots or so).

So now-a-days we have "muzzle loader" primers that are not hot enough to set off nitrocellulose powders (like typical shotgun shells use).  And now we have a great powder called BlackHorn209 that has a good bit of nitro cellulose in it and needs standard or magnum 209's to go "bang".  However the intuition of some folks is to use the stuff labeled the same as the purpose...  got a muzzleloader, so you use "muzzleloader" 209's... right?  Definitely wrong when using BlackHorn209.

Why bother with BlackHorn 209?  Its just a better solution!  First, it makes a lot less smoke... you shoot an animal, you have a ton less smoke to look through and watch it run off/fall over dead.  Also, because it doesn't build sticky fouling: It doesn't require cleaning until the end of a day, and it cleans with standard gun cleaning stuff like Hoppies etc.   Standard gun cleaning stuff was made to clean up priming compound residue and nitrocellulose fouling, copper fouling, lead fouling, plastic fouling etc, but these modern cleaners do not work as well with Black Powder fouling (along with most of its substitutes). 

BlackHorn209 performs better.   It tends to be more temperature stable than BP and its substitutes... ie it doesn't swing as high or low as they do with large temperature swings... (not saying it isn't affected by temperature... just saying it doesn't swing as much). And is generally regarded safer as its harder to detonate than black powder. Just look at its MSDS if you want the specifics.    If you were to chrony 300gr projectiles with equal volumes of BlackHorn209 against any other Black Powder or substitute, you'll find BlackHorn209 has an edge in velocity.   All of this is why I use and recommend BlackHorn209 with sabots.  But you have to use standard or magnum primers with BlackHorn209.

This further gets hard for the novice as most stores typically stock muzzleloader only things in the muzzleloader section, but if they have a reloading section that is where they put the standard or magnum 209 primers. Then guys who just want to shoot, hear that BH209 is better, or see a new thing on the shelf, and buy some along with the 'Muzzleloader" primers in the same muzzleloader section. Then try to shoot it in a leaky breech or with a projectile that isn't sealed setup... (remember nitrocellulose needs to be sealed/fully contained to burn properly, the simple answer is sabots... and yes there are other more experimental ways to seal a projectile that I won't address).

Because the gun is leaky... and/or they didn't clean the flash channel and burnt primer compound is clogging the breech plug, and/or the breech plug wasn't made to shoot blackhorn209, and/or the weaker muzzle loader primer is used... and/or the projectile isn't sealed (like Bore lock MZ's or powerbelts in some rifles)... Blackhorn209 bloopers, misfires, or hang fires, and folks get upset and blame the powder... when they should be blaming themselves for not reading/following the instructions on the bottle of BH209, and/or walking over to the reloading section and grabbing full powered primers. Or googling it and finding a thread here where I explain how to get it to work in an old muzzle loader built before BlackHorn209 was on the scene (like having us retrofit a vent liner into your old breech plug)... or...

Then you get to today: where some of us make a living helping folks through the mess and getting them to simple effective sealed breech solutions. As most of the mistakes have been made, and most of the answers are in the product's instructions, or posted/explained/sold here. 

If you have a Remington 700 ML/MLS or Ruger 77/50 and you want to seal the breech, or shoot BlackHorn209 we have your solution.

As for Western Powders (now owned by Hodgon Powder Company) recommending magnum primers for use with BlackHorn209... all I can do is wager a guess.  (I don't work there nor can I speak for them).   I --think-- its a combination of:  that is what they tested, and tested, and tested.   Factored against: if you want it to reliably go off for the best customer experience, have them get the primer with the most priming compound that may correct for a user error (like not fully sealing the breech or projectile, not fully removing oils and contaminates, not cleaning well, etc).  Also if hunting in extreme cold, I do recommend magnums myself.  Though I must admit, I've never myself seen an issue setting off Blackhorn209 with standard primers that were sealed into our kits when using sabots, but I don't get a lot of negative temperatures to test in.

I hope this has helped you.   We specialize in sealing up the Remington 700ML (produced from 1995-2005) and the Ruger 77/50.   We also sell many items for the Savage 10 ML muzzle loaders, and modify breech plugs from other guns to get them working more reliably with BlackHorn209.   Feel free to call and ask questions; we are here to help.

Perhaps on another installment we'll discuss how all the 209 primers vary in dimension depending on the company producing them!  (important for sealing up 209's into the breech!)

Also don't forget that all breech designs are not equal.   Leaky breeches not only cover the shooter, the gun's internals, and any optics in that same nasty fouling, but are hard to maintain and not as reliable as sealed breech systems.  Keep reading through the Badger's Den for answers and explanations on leaky breeches, why and how we seal them up.

The number one question I get concerning meddling and trying to do 'more' is converting to 209's with our kit and shooting smokeless powder in the factory barrel:  DON'T DO IT!   It says it right on your rifle's barrel.  No kit will change the fact that the barrel is not safe for smokeless.    I don't care what you read on some forum, or what some guy on the range told you.  DON'T DO IT!  There are not any magical fairy smokeless powders for your rifle, and there  isn't any need to take that risk!

The problem here is that muzzle loader safe propellants (like Black Powder, Pyrodex, Triple Se7en, and BlackHorn209) have different burning properties than the wide spectrum that makes up modern smokeless powder.   And that difference is what saves folks from blowing up guns (so long as they follow the manufacture's rules, don't double charge, double load, etc).   I cannot emphasize enough how using only a muzzle loader safe propellant (and using a witness mark on the ram rod to know the rifle is loaded and avoid a double charge) is the key to enjoying this sport safely.

That said, some rifles, with special barrels are made to use certain types of smokeless powder.   However, your Remington nor Ruger is not one of them.   Yes, some folks swap barrels to make a smokeless gun.   They of course are 100% on their own, and liable for their own technical problems and safety issues.    If it is possible to do a barrel swap, and may be legal in some states to hunt on some hunts with a smokeless muzzle loader...  why do it?  What really are you going to get and at what cost?  Typically those pursuing smokeless want faster, flatter shooting, harder hitting rifles, and think that they need to go smokeless to get better performance.   But how much increase in range or velocity will you get versus the $$$$$ spent?   How much heavier or more awkward of a rifle will you make?   Will it group any better than what you started with? 

Doesn't the original leaky rifle, with black powder, already have what it takes to kill anything in North America?!?!  Our kits seals up those breach leaks and makes it reliable.   Many modern muzzle loading propellants already out perform black powder.  These rifles with their factory barrels have a reputation of being very accurate.  Do you really need more than that? ​

I believe the factory rifle (with our 209 kit) is good enough: my rifles shoot reliably, accurately, and harvest deer (the largest game I can kill around here is Black Bear, but Black Bear isn't my thing... but I'm sure my rifles could easily handle Black Bear).   I'm confident my rifles, with our kit and factory barrels, will kill any North American game to 200 yds.  I'm convinced that anyone with a Remington 700 ML/MLS or Ruger 77/50 in good shape and wants to have a top performing muzzle loader, only needs to use our kit, standard 209 primers, Blackhorn209, sabots, and jacketed hand gun bullets or muzzle loader specific bullets.

But to continue the comparison: rifles re-barreled for smokeless almost always have much longer, heavier barrels.   It must be emphasized that the longer barrel itself gives an increase in velocity... all things being the same: longer barrels increase velocity.  Or in other-words, shooting the same powder charge and projectile combination in a longer barrel will generate more velocity.  This is because the projectile is in the barrel longer, getting pushed by expanding gasses for longer, so more energy (AKA velocity) is transferred to the projectile. 

But with BlackHorn209, and your factory barrel, you don't have to go smokeless to get more velocity.   At heavier bullet weights, (like 275gr and up) I think you will find BlackHorn209 out performs all other muzzle loader safe propellants.   And if you were to chronograph a safe smokeless load in a barrel made for smokeless, and of the same length as the factory barrel, against a BlackHorn 209 charge (both using the same 300gr projectile), the BlackHorn209 load wouldn't be too far behind the smokeless.   By too far behind, I'm talking a couple/three hundred feet per second.   And lets be honest, 200 to 300 FPS is not much of an increase in range or killing power.

In general barrel swaps cost around $1200.00...  Frequently more, occasionally less if you do a lot of the work yourself.  To consider what our kit does to a standard rifle vs doing a barrel swap, you have to consider the cost against the potential performance increases.   And I don't think that $1200 is worth it.   Especially because BlackHorn209 is readily available, and safe!   You must realize that if you get something wrong with the smokeless gun, you are more probable to have a KABOOM!

​Remember, a longer barrel is essentially what the newer Remington 700 Ultimate Muzzle Loader (UML) has over the older Remington 700 ML/MLS.  The Ultimate is a longer, heavier rifle.  It is not as handy, and costs so much more than a good used MLS.   Plus I understand Remington no longer will warranty the rifle if its been shot with Blackhorn, so in that case, you are restricted in the powders you can use.  I've had plenty of customers tell me they sold their Ultimate and got a used 700 MLS rifle and our kit because it does the job, is more handy, easier to carry, and actually saved them $ because its cheaper over all.

I have a Savage 10ML2, new in the box.  I've never shot it!  Why?  Because its super long and super heavy: my Remington 700 ML's and Ruger 77/50's (with their original barrels) get the job done and are so much lighter and handier.   And I don't go deer hunting from a bench...  I'm walking out to the fields and woods, climbing trees, up ladder stands, etc.   My Remington and Ruger rifles with their factory barrels win hands down overall when it comes to hunting.

So for me, I wouldn't entertain a barrel swap unless the barrel was not serviceable.  And even then its probably cheaper (and definitely easier) to just buy another rifle with a factory barrel!... or find a take off barrel on Ebay from someone's smokeless build.   I get nearly the same performance from my factory barreled rifles, and without all the cost, weight, awkward handling,  and added trouble of doing the work to swap a barrel.  Dollars & work in vs performance out: I'm tickled pink with our kit and my factory barrels.  

If you are tired of the clean up of Black Powder substitutes, and wanting to get away from them for that reason, BlackHorn209 comes out ahead there too.   Blackhorn209 cleans up great with standard gun cleaning solvents, just like a smokeless gun.    You can read more about that by clicking here.

All that said: any muzzle loader safe propellant works great in the Remington and Ruger original barrels (with our kits installed on the bolt and sabot/projectile).  It so much easier just to convert to our system and get great performance, I don't think I'll ever re-barrel a rifle and go smokeless.

But if you are absolutely set on swapping barrels, we offer "half kits."  Smokeless conversions usually use a custom breech plug that sits deeper into the breech.  So, folks putting a new barrel on a Remington will probably want a longer nose.   Our long nose protrudes farther forward and will not work with our standard breech plug, nor the original barrel. The cost is the same for a half kit with a long nose or a standard nose (just tell us in the "note to seller" portion of check out what nose you want).

ONE LAST COMMENT ON BARREL SWAPS:   IF YOU SWAP THE BARREL YOU OWE IT TO WHO EVER USES THE RIFLE AFTER YOU SELL IT (OR PASS IT ON TO) TO INSCRIBE ON IT SPECIFICATIONS: 

#1:  its caliber,  ie  ".45 CAL"

#2:  what powder is safe in it:   "Use ONLY BLACK POWDER/BLACK POWDER SUBSTITUTES" &/or "USE ONLY APPROVED SMOKELESS POWDERS AT APPROVED QUANTITIES"  etc.  

So there you have it.   I got on my soap box, and told folks that I'll sell them what they want, but I won't necessarily agree with them that they 'need' it.

So if you contact me asking about smokeless mods, I'll try and figure out what your priorities are, see if they could be met with a cheaper option: our kit, the rifle's original barrel, BlackHorn209, and Sabots.  Those are deadly combinations.   

That's my advice, because that is what I use and resolved to myself.



Alas, the customer is always right!

If an internet search brought you here looking for a solution to your woes with a Remington 700 ML or Ruger 77/50 muzzle loader: Don't worry, you are in the right spot and we have the fix you are looking for.    Just keep scrolling down or click here for our wonderful 209 sealed breech fixes for those rifles.     We are a dynamic business and constantly adding to this blog.

In this installment, I figured it was time to discuss breech plugs: what works, why it is probably different than most think, and why I think it works.   I'll also showcase our service of retrofitting vent liners into breech plugs (to help them work more reliably, accurately, and better with Blackhorn209 powder).   Yes: we can help with more muzzle loaders than the Ruger 77/50 and Remington 700 ML.

One of the first things most folks realize when they examine our kits, is that the Badger Ridge breech plug, is unique and different from the rifle's original.   Our kits won't work with the original breech plug!  Our system just plain works.  Because our design works, folks frustrated with igniting BH209 in other rifles send us their breech plug for modification.

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT:  A good breech plug is a compromise of many different features.  Our design works with any muzzle loader safe powder (we can make other rifles' breech plugs work with any  muzzle loader safe powder... like Blackhorn209).

I'll try not to delve too deeply into chemistry, physics, and thermodynamics both because most won't care about the details, but also I'd probably rapidly reveal the limits of my understanding.  But some basic understanding is required.  First, heat flows from hot to cold.   There is truly no such thing as cold...  cold is a relative lack of heat.   Heat can be thought of as a form of energy...  thus a hot piece of metal just has more energy than a cold piece of the same metal.  So heat from discharging a primer will flow into the metal around it, and into the powder charge we want to start burning.

So at first it seems to get reliable ignition, you just need to get the primer close to the powder, and minimize the metal in between.   And many of the first generation of inline muzzle loaders followed that design idea.  But if you have seen any of the more modern breech plugs, especially those that use 209 primers, and are reliable with Blackhorn209: there is a large expansion chamber in front of the primer, creating a big air gap, and has a small hole at the end that abuts the powder charge.  

Just thinking about heat flow, all the metal that makes up the wall of that expansion chamber, and that super cold winter hunt you might take your muzzle loader on, it seems stupid to lose some primer heat to it.  So why does a good breech plug have that chamber?   And why would it have a metal constriction on the end of it (ie a vent liner or small flash hole)?

Before I answer that, let's consider another reason the flash chamber doesn't make sense at first glance...  as the primer's burning gasses expand they would cool just through the act of expanding into the flash channel.

Fact: pressure, volume, and energy are all connected.     For a steady state, ideal reaction I learned in High-School Chemistry:

PV = nRT 
 (or Pressure * Volume = number of molecules * their constant value * Temperature)

Or in simpler terms if you don't change the temperature but you increase the volume the pressure will decrease to keep it all in balance.   But in real life you get both: as the hot gas expands into the chamber it loses heat just from the expansion, even before we take into account the heat that flows into the cold walls of the breech plug!

"OMG" you exclaim, "I knew that primer should be right up against that powder to be 100% reliable!"   But, I'd say practice has proven that to be wrong, our breech plugs have expansion chambers for good reason:  to keep the powder charge from blowing up the primer and venting gas all over the shooter and dropping accuracy!

Remember, after we get that powder ignited and burning, it produces a whole lot more pressure and heat than that tiny, thin walled primer could ever contain.   We want all that heat and energy to push that projectile down the barrel, but because there is that small flash hole right next to it, the gas shoots backwards into the expansion chamber that is being sealed by the primer.    The trick here is that the flash hole is so small it greatly restricts the rearward flow, and what flow makes it through, finds itself rapidly expanding, dropping pressure, and cooling as it flows into the primer's flash chamber.  And that is why the flash hole and flash channel (chamber) are there.   They work together to keep the pressure from burning powder from blowing up the sealed primer.

Keeping that primer sealed and intact keeps the mess in the breech plug, and tends to increase accuracy as the pressure seen at the back of the projectile is consistent shot to shot.

Remember that back and forth flow of hot burning gasses (primer residue and combustion gasses) erodes the flash hole with each shot.   

​When breech plugs that don't have vent liners open up, they loose accuracy.   Most folks don't realize this, and just know that  their rifle doesn't shoot like it used to.  They typically look for loose scope mounts, bad scopes,  loose action screws, etc.  I get calls from them and they are frustrated as they can't seem to figure out why the rifle isn't shooting well now.  For some, the light bulb comes on when I start asking about the size of their breech plug's flash hole.  And do they have a gage pin to measure it?

I'm confident, that manufacturers know that flash holes have a limited life.   Some just go with a cheaper breech plug, or even solder in vent liners!    Seems they just want to sell entire new breech plugs.   But we usually can offer a different solution: modifying the breech plug to take a vent liner.   Most of the time we can convert those breech plugs to take inexpensive vent liners and also put an expansion chamber between them and the 209 primer to keep the primer from seeing excessive pressure. ​

So there you have it,  a good 209 breech plug is a compromise between directing the energy of the primer into the powder, and keeping the pressure from the burning powder from blowing up the primer.  To use Blackhorn209 powder, it must be sealed up.  To use 209 primers the breech plug needs an expansion chamber that is sized to allow expansion but not rob too much heat, and it needs a small orifice in the end that abuts the powder charge.   

At Badger Ridge, we go a step further by using inexpensive replaceable vent liners.  Our  breech plugs are designed for longevity: we use vent liners to cheaply replace the flash hole instead of forcing shooters to buy new breech plugs.  And we sell pin gauges so that you know when to replace the vent liner:  if it goes through its time to replace.