Thunder53

Just got my new CVA Optima 3 weeks ago. Bought the packaged stainless, black thumbhole model with the Konus scope mounted and bore sighted w/case, $279.

So far I am very happy. Shoots pretty good and easier to deal with than I thought.

Love the quick release breech plug.

I am shooting 100 gr. of Shockey gold with Hornady 250 gr FTX bullets in a Harvester sabot and using Remington Cleanbore primers.

Any tips for better loads/accuracy?

I know each gun is different. I am shooting 2 inch group all the time at 100 yds., sometimes a little better. Only have about 30 shots down the barrel and have been told accuaracy will get better as the barrel seasons in. True or not??

Told not to use regular 209 primers, too hot. Yes/no??

What about pellets, I'm thinking about trying White hots.

What about bullets, are the power belts as good/better than sabots with polymer tips bullets?

From a rookie, thanks for your feedback and tips.

(I did shot my first deer with it last week, a doe at 80 yds. dropped her in her tracks.

THANKS!!!

Thunder53

falcon

Looks like you are doing great. Consistent 2" groups at 100 yards is very good shooting.

i use Winchester 209 shotgun primers exclusively. They work well for me.

If you want to try pellets get the Pyrodex 50 grain pellets. White hots are very expensive.


i don't think so. Someone will disagree with me soon.

Thunder53

Falcon,

Thanks for the feedback.

I was told the regular 209 rifle primers burned too hot and would cause burn rings in the barrel.

Yes, I am very happy with the accuracy! Stunned would be more like it. (On my second 5 shot group at 50 yds, benched, the first shot went a little high, from a clean barrel, and then I put the next 3 in one hole, pulled the 5th one an inch rt.)

I remember my uncle had a muzzleloader years ago and, when it went off, he usually wasn't even on the paper.

WHAT ABOUT Scopes?? I see a lot of "muzzleloader specific" scopes. The Konus Pro that came on mine is OK, but I plan on upgrading to a better scope and was going to use just a regular rifle scope.

VAhuntr

I have always used rifle scopes on my muzzleloaders. I'm currently using a Sightron S2 3-9x42 on my TC Omega.

falcon

Theres nothing wrong with the Konus scope you have. Consistent 2" groups at 100 yards is some good shooting. Rifle scopes work well on muzzleloaders. i'm an advocate of fixed power scopes. Today i mounted a new Leupold FXIII 4X33 scope on my new TC Black Diamond gun.

slowr1der

I will try to answer a couple of the questions for you. Not true. Many guys use W209 primers and they work just fine. You won't have a problem using regular 209 primers, but that being said, when I did shoot 209 primers, I used muzzle loading specific ones, but only because that brands what I preferred. I'd have no problems shooting regular 209 primers.
I've never shot the White Hots so I can't comment on those. However, I have shot T7 and Pyrodex pellets. I know a lot of guys here don't like pellets, and they are more expensive, but honestly I prefer them when hunting. I just think they are much easier to deal with out in the field than loose powder. That said, I like the price of loose powder much better so I often shoot it at the range. I use Pyrodex pellets as they shot much better in my muzzle loader.

The other thing to try is BH209. If I had a gun that could shoot it, I'd probably be trying to it. It's a loose powder, and I wish they made in pellet form, but I think it would be worth dealing with loose powder to use BH209. It's so much cleaner. You don't have to worry about swabbing between shots or any of the other issues due to the dirtiness of black powder.
Do a search on this and you will find tons of information. That said, I've never shot a deer with any of the polymer tipped muzzle loader bullets, but I have shot a few with Power Belts, and I can tell you to avoid them. They are seriously the worst performing most overpriced muzzle loading item I've ever bought. I think many of us have tried them when we first started hunting only to realize later they sucked. Out of the group of guys I hunt with all but a couple of them have switched to something else, and the couple that haven't switched have the same problems year after year that the rest of us do, they just are too hard headed to switch, because these are what the guy at the store said to buy.

They do kill deer, but if you don't see where the deer falls, don't expect to find it. They very rarely pass through which results in a severe lack of blood trail. I found most of the deer I shot with them, but no thanks to a blood trail. I only had a blood trail on one of them. I shot it fairly close and hit bone. It left an entrance wound the size of a baseball and it did bleed. I don't know what happened to the bullet with that one. I was starting to get annoyed with the lack of blood trail, but after shooting one and seeing it fall over and start kicking, and then get up and run off and not being able to find it due to the lack of blood trail I finally had enough.

This is exactly the same experience each of my friends has had with them, and even with perfect shots deer have been very difficult to find. Looking online, it's also the exact experience many on here have had.

I'd personally avoid these. I switched to the Deep Curls and I love them. After using these I realized just how bad the Power Belts actually were. Not to mention the Deep Curls with Harvester Crush Rib Sabots are $25 for 50 bullets, and the Power Belts were $20 for 20 bullets. So I not only got a bullet that performs 10x better, but I also am paying half of the price for these.

If you want a good bullet, the Deep Curl is a great choice, but like I said the ones you are shooting may be great too. I can't really comment on them.

MountainDevil54

In the Optima, the 250gr Aerolite And the 300gr Aerolite Powerbelts are tack drivers with 100-110gr Blackhorn209. If you want the best accuracy out of that gun, get some BH209 and cci 209 magnum primers.

I love the Konus scopes. I think they are a hidden value that hasn't seen a lot of action yet.

slowr1der

I personally use regular rifle scopes on every muzzle loader I've had, but they do make muzzle loader specific choices. The two main differences are that the parallax is usually set for 75 yards with shotgun/muzzle loader scopes, and if it's a BDC style reticle it's usually calibrated for a muzzle loader. Since most of my shots are 100+ yards, the 100 yard parallax of a rifle scope actually works better for me, and I don't really like the BDC style reticles and my muzzle loader scope doesn't have one in it, so that part doesn't matter to me either. Even if you do want that style reticle you can use the rifle scopes, you just will have to find out where each circle, or dot, or line depending on the scope hit's, and it may be at different ranges than the muzzle loader specific ones are set for.

HuntAway

Seem's to me that you have it pretty well dialed in. Anything you do now will be in comparison to what you already have. Have fun experimenting but remember your bread and butter load for future reference.

Congrats on the deer too!!!

HA

Breechplug

Im not all into all that Fancy New Powder, Im Old Fashioned, I use Pyrodox RS and Pyrodox Pellets out of all My CVA's. Most of My Primers are Win W209 and Win Triple 7. Never had anything near any Burn from the Primers, I Want My Powder to go off when I pull the Trigger, that's why I use 209 Primers.
I Own Nothing but CVA MLers and out of all of them I use the 240gr XTP Mag Bullets, I have Never lost a Deer with them and they give Me Exceptional Accuracy, if I dont get at least a 1 1/2" groups at 100yds with them Im having a Bad Day, Ive done better.
The SS Barrel will take a-lot of Abuse and will Clean up Easiley...Polymeyr Tips Bullets....NO......that's just My Opinion.
(BP)