hunters_life

Well, I'm 100% positive the old man is rolling around in his grave beating hell out of the coffin trying to get out and wrap his hands around my throat. I went and bought a CVA! I don't know which company he despised more, CVA or Mathews. He called them both thieves. But I have to look at facts other than his out dated opinion. I wanted a break action in line muzzleloader capable of magnum charges and longer ranges. I looked at several different brands and both break and bolt actions. I decided on break for ease of primer access.
What decided me on CVA was pretty much I don't trust TC's quality anymore and CVA, especially the accura line, has been getting top notch reviews. Sorry Traditions but you were never in the running.

So anyway, got the rifle in a few weeks ago. installed an old Nikon Omega 1.65-5 that dad had on one of his lever rifles. Right out of the box I have to give this rifle props. Everything was tight and all fitment and coatings were spot on. Next up was slugging the barrel to get bore size. Been in the muzzleloader game for most of my life and I well know that it seems every rifle seems to have a different bore size! Seems White was about the only barrel maker I've seen with super consistent bore diameters. Even Green mountain has consistency issues. So anyway, this barrel slugged out to .501. So I went and ordered a few bullets for testing. Ordered some Thor hammers 300gr, some Fury Uni fit 320gr, and also had a few No Excuses 420gr that just happened to be .501 although I do have a smooth adjustable sizing die for the half box of NE .502 460gr I have for the Renegade. Alex also gave me 20 or so Hornady FTX with some harvester crush rib and I had a few bloodlines with crush rib as well.

So scope installed and bore sighted it was outside to the range I went. Only to turn around and go back in because it was raining/sleeting! So 2 days later I pack everything back up, grab the 2 jugs of blackhorn and outside I go again to make some smoke. First things first, I do NOT like the chincy bungy cord breakdown ramrod one tiny little bit. Used my range rod for this entire day. Only loaded 2 times with that thing and I swear I felt like I was going to break the damn thing both times and I wasn't putting more than 25 or so pounds on it for seating pressure! Now, for the past few years I have moved to weighing my loads rather than by volume for consistency. I have 10 loaders that I load up to take with me on hunts. Never know if you are going to run into a pack of coyotes and I am a firm believer in "see one shoot one"!

Started off with the Fury 320gr at 75gr load. Got to hand it to that laser bore sighter my brother got me for xmas a couple years back. Windage was dead center and I was only 1 inch low. Recoil was moderate, felt recoil was slightly less than moderate. Stock fits well enough though all "stock" sized stocks are pretty short for me. Anyway, it's something I've learned to deal with and learned to adjust my holds so the recoil is less punishing. So, raised the weight to 80gr, same bullet, and was rewarded with 1 inch high (these shots were at 50 yards for sighting in purposes) and still dead center windage. Swabbed the barrel with windex and set out to 100 yards. Still 1 inch high. 2 more of these Furies with 3 shot group at .8" group. This is just short of maximum load and with these moderately heavy bullets I was thinking I would stay with this charge. Switched to the Thors and damn was I rewarded. 5 shots with no swabbing in between and .5" group at 1.5" high. So on to the NE 420gr. I bravely kept the charge the same knowing these 420 bullets were going to have a pretty healthy kick. I wasn't wrong. They weren't the most accurate but wasn't TO awful bad. 1.5" to 2" which may have tightened up if I lowered the charge a few grains. Heavier bullets sometimes like lighter charges. Maybe an over powder wad would aid in the seal as well. Quite pleased with both Fury and Thor flight performance. I've seen nothing but good things about them both for terminal ballistics. And I know all to well the NE performance on both Elk and Moose. I didn't shoot either of the saboted bullets yet. Was getting pretty ugly outside.

So all in all the rifle has, so far, performed as well as advertised. Has a nice feel to it. It's got a bit of heft to it with that longer barrel but I actually like a heavier rifle as long as it is balanced well. This one is. It comes to bear and steadies well off hand. It cleaned up very easily. Granted I was using BH209 but still, that coating seems to make cleanup a breeze. I may order a brake for it. Seems a lot of people have one and they really swear by them. Some even say the break directs the smoke sideways leaving sight picture clear so you can see your shot.

Oldtimr

Did you look at the Traditions firestorm rifles. Break open loads the bullet from the front and takes a firestick for the powder charge in the chamber, when you load the firestick you insert a federal 209 primmer in it.. The firestick contains the new triple 8 powder. I bought 200 grain firesticks for it and Hornady Shockwave 250 grn saboted bullets. The targets in the picture are from my .270 not the Tradidions.

hunters_life

No interest in a muzzleloader that is only tunable in 50 grain increments. Having been shooting flints and percussion sidelocks for many years, I have come to learn just how important fine tuning powder loads can be to getting the best performance possible out of your rifle. That goes with cartridge guns as well. Dad taught us how to reload as one of our first teachings in firearms. Know what you are shooting from beginning to end was one of his common sayings. He liked smoke poles but didn't really get into them as I did. Been shooting Swiss for the greater part of that time. Never really got into the BP subs. Dad turned me on to BH209 with his TC inline which went to Michael. At the time I just didn't really think I would get into these modern inlines. But after I put that smokeless firebreather he had made together and got to shooting it I was hooked.

Oldtimr

I haven't shot the gun yet but I am not too concerned about the selection of firesticks loads, I am sure they will eventually expand the choices. Where I hunt I will not be shooting much more than 100 yards . I will start with the 200 grain if I have a problem I will drop back to 150 grn. I am waiting for ther weather to break here so I can go to the range and sight the gun in. When I was shooting my flintlock I shot 85 or 90 grains of 3f bloack powder, both shot pretty much the same. I dropped back to 85 grains when I had teen kids shooting at conservastion camp. time will tell but I have shot factory loads in my center fire rifles all my life and had no pronblems. I did reload shotgun shells, both high base and low base for years because it was cheaper than buying factory and my income left a lot to be desired. I do not anticcipate having a problem with the firesticks, if they group windage and elevation can be handled by scope ajustment.

Bocajnala

No problems with my CVAs.

got my first two for $75.

- Jake

bronko22000

Great report Hunter'sLife. Your dad and I chatted quite a bit when he was still around. A pretty knowledgeable guy and missed.
But as for your Accura, I'm not surprised in the least. It seems that every projectile I put down the bore will shoot great once I find what particular charge it likes. Right now I'm super comfortable shooting 90 gr of Alliant Black MZ under a 290 gr Barnes TE-Z and a Harvester black CR sabot. Can't say that all the deer and hog I shot really like them. Of course they never had a chance to complain!