Chris W.

Finally have a day off and some free time to be able to take the new Optima pistol out to the range to get it dialed in and do a little load testing. Temperature today was a pleasant 81 degrees, partly cloudy with a slight breeze. Today's testing involved the CVA Optima V2 pistol with a Nikon 2x20 scope, shooting 240 gr XTP with T/C mag express sabots, BH209 and CCI 209 magnum primers. Started sighting in at 25 yards using 60 gr of BH209. Recoil was very mild and only took a handful of shots to get sighted dead on. I didn't get any chrono readings using 60 gr but the groups were stacking in nice and tight. Even my buddy was able to get groups under an inch at 25 yards with that load. With the pistol sighted in, we backed up to 50 yards, gave the pistol a quick field cleaning and setup the chronograph. First chronograph readings were taken using the 240 gr XTP with mag express sabots, 80 gr BH209 by volume and a CCI 209 Magnum primer. First three shots through the chrono came in at: 1465, 1485 and 1473 giving a three shot average of 1474.3 fps and a calculated 1158 ft/lbs of KE. Recoil was not bad and very manageable. This load produced groups on the average of 1.5 inches with me shooting. After a few groups with that load, I gave the pistol another quick field cleaning and then bumped the charge up to 90 gr of BH209. The bullet was still the 240 gr. XTP with mag express sabots and CCI 209 magnum primers. First three shots through the chrono came in at: 1549, 1541 and 1555, giving a three shot average of 1548.3 fps and a calculated 1277 ft/lbs of KE. The bump in velocity from 80 gr to 90 gr of BH209 was more than what I anticipated. Recoil was a bit more snappy than the 80 gr load but I found it still very manageable and not uncomfortable. Groups, again, ran in the 1.5 inch range at 50 yards. With a more practice, I feel I can probably shrink that group size just a bit. It's been a long time since I've shot a scoped handgun, so I'm still just getting that feel back. Overall, not a bad morning of shooting. I've got some 225 gr. Barnes XPB bullets arriving soon that I plan to put through the paces in the near future. It'll be interesting to see what they do, so stay tuned.

bronko22000

sounds like you had a fun day. good luck with your Optima and this coming season

toytruck

Where you using a rest or shooting sticks or off hand? I found I couldn't hold my Optima pistol still enough off hand, so I need a rest. Shooting off a bench with a rest is quite the fun with this gun! Sounds like you have a shooter too!

Chris W.

i was shooting off a table with a rest. Once I decide on a bullet/load combo, I'll start shoot off shooting sticks in prep for the season.