black powder rifle

[beagle man]

been thinking about trying to get me one. Any of you know anything about them, pro,cons, new versons vers old style, been trying to read up on them but getting confussed,,,, any thoughts on which one in your opinion is good..... input appreciated,,,,

[ripnlips]

I hunt mostly with a muzzleloader have had for years still love my Hawkin but you just can not beat the new inlines for ease of use and accuracy. My advice would be to find one that fits you well, and work out a good load in the 90-120 grain range. Any of the break open 209 primer guns should suit you the really light ones slap your face pretty good with a moderate to heavy load. Get the easy to load sabots some of the others take a mallet to beat them down the barrel. And unless you really work at it do not believe the 200 yd plus shooting. I have a few and would be more than willing to burn some powder with you.

[MePreach]

I have three 50 cal. cva optimas and have had great success with them. I have killed a few deer between 130 and 140yds with 100 grains of powder shooting 295 grain powerbelt bullets. There are some very good inlines out there on the market these days....just depends on what you want to spend and how far you need to shoot?

[beagle man]

thanks, been thinking for a bit, most of my shots will be 50 yards or so, pretty wooded here

[Pole Bender]

Beagle,

I have 2 50 cal CVA's and like them a lot. Get the break over model as it is far easier to clean. The Thompson is a fine gun gun but you just can't beat the price of the CVA'S. Mine is deadly accurate at 100 yard.

[beagle man]

thanks Bender

[nvrgvup444]

Thompson Center Omega and it is deadly accurate. My buddy has a CVA magnum with the long fluted barrel and he about threw it in the trash after not being consistent on his shot grouping. I am telling you it was terrible and he is a good shot and we were using a shooting bench with a 'lead-sled' shooting rest. He was shooting Jim Shockey 150 gr and it would not group and he would not listen to me that just because your gun is a "magnum" you don't have to always shoot the shoulder busting load of 150 gr. He then saw what the t/c would do with 100 grain of 777 and it is a tack driver, but I learned this by shooting 150 gr first and my gun also was terrible. He dropped to 100 gr of Jim Shockey and his gun is now awesome. It took a while for me to figure the whole blackpowder thing out, but it is now my second favorite season and my second favorite gun. My Thompson likes the 240 gr t/c cheap bullet and sabot with 100 gr 777 pellets, whereas his likes the cheap t/c 300 gr bulllet with 100 gr of Jim Shockey sticks. The Jim Shockey was less dirty than the 777 when cleaning between shots.

I will have to say that the t/c is hard to load the primer and I wish it had the breech plug that could be removed without a wrench, but it was not that expensive and I love it . He (now) loves his CVA and I would buy one of those also. You will just have to find the right powder, sabot, bullet, primer which is a pain in the rear and very expensive. It was easier since my buddy and I split the cost on all the materials and then just took the stuff that our gun liked better. He has a bunch of 300 gr bullets, some of the Barnes Spitfires bullets and the Jim Shockey; and I have what's in the picture. I will say that both of our guns liked the 777 primers the best. I wish you were closer and I could let you use a few of these things that I don't need... Best of luck and remember that the most expensive bullets and powder are not always the best for you gun.

Oz

[Jigging15]

I agree with some of the others the CVA Optima pro is a great gun. I had one in a .45 and it was very very accurate. Much easier to clean then the old style. They are a lot more work than a normal centerfire rifle but that is what makes it interesting to have. I think CVA now offers a combo of a centerfire rifle barrel and a .45 or .50 cal barrel.

[beagle man]

thanks for the information, sounds like a lot more that I want to get into. just a pipe dream I guess, will just pick up road kill since i did not get a deer this year, ahhpoot

[ripnlips]

Just buy a break open, put 2 pellets and a bullet in it. Remember to put a primer in and have fun. Biggest thing after that is cleaning it and finding someone to drag your deer for you.