School me on muzzle loaders

punkur67

punkur67

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2014
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I am looking at doing a muzzle loader deer hunt this year but I know nothing about muzzle loader rifles.
Whats the best setup to run?
-What rifles
-What caliber
-What powder
-What bullets
-What Primers
 
I have a CVA Beartooth 50 cal. and it shoots 150 yards easily with a 3x9x40 scope. I use power belts and they work great. I personally use Triple 7 pellets that seem to work the best for my gun. I have taken a nice boar up in Santa Barbara area with it a few years back. You can spend big money on black powder but my gun was under $200 and shoots with the best of the expensive guns.
 
Last i checked scopes on muzzleloaders are prohibited in the very Blue state of CA...That being said...i run a 50 cal CVA with 3 ..50 grain pellets of whitehot..pushing a 295grain copper ballistic tipped sabot...ignighted by a cci 209 shotshell primer...leaves a big hole in large mammals...
 
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Possible...been down for a bit..
 
HATCHET1 said:
Last i checked scopes on muzzleloaders are prohibited in the very Blue state of CA...That being said...i run a 50 cal CVA with 3 ..50 grain pellets of whitehot..pushing a 295grain copper ballistic tipped sabot...ignighted by a cci 209 shotshell primer...leaves a big hole in large mammals...
Click to expand...
Planning the hunt in Virginia. I dont hunt much in California anymore....
 
Schooling: You have three choices with muzzleloaders: Flint, cap or inline. Flint involves black powder and striking a flint against the pan causing fire. Cap involves a nipple cap being struck igniting powder in the chamber. Inline is using a shotgun primer to ignite the powder packed in the barrel. I use inline and have taken deer at 156 yds. That was with iron sights. Practice makes perfect.

Like Matt pointed out scopes on blackpowder guns get you tickets, visiting with Mr. Greenjeans and a hot date with the guy in the black dress as well as fines and maybe even an all expenses paid vacation in a caged environment.
 
TonyS said:
Schooling: You have three choices with muzzleloaders: Flint, cap or inline. Flint involves black powder and striking a flint against the pan causing fire. Cap involves a nipple cap being struck igniting powder in the chamber. Inline is using a shotgun primer to ignite the powder packed in the barrel. I use inline and have taken deer at 156 yds. That was with iron sights. Practice makes perfect.

Like Matt pointed out scopes on blackpowder guns get you tickets, visiting with Mr. Greenjeans and a hot date with the guy in the black dress as well as fines and maybe even an all expenses paid vacation in a caged environment.
Click to expand...
From the research I have done i want to do an inline.
 
You first have to look at the laws WHERE you want to hunt and WHAT you want to hunt. If you are talking deer, you will be safe with a 50 cal. For elk, you might have to go to a .54. Some states prohibit in-lines, or sabots, or scopes. If you're talking Kalifornication, in-lines and sabots are good, but no scopes during muzzleloader season. During the general season, scopes are fine. Do some research on the brands. Some have bad reps and some of those have fixed their problems. I have three m/l's, a .45 Hawken, a 50 in-line and a .54 percussion. All three are Thompson Center's that have a top-notch reputation and a lifetime warranty. As far as powder, for a percussion, my powder of choice is Pyrodex Select, probably the "cleanest" of them all. For an in-line, Blackhorn 209 without a doubt. Do NOT use Blackhorn 209 in a standard percussion. It won't fire. It takes a 209 primer to set it off. For bullets, for my 50 cal in-line, I use the Barnes 50 caliber (.451) 245 grain Spitfire MZ BT that comes with a yellow HPH-24 sabot. I get three-rounds-touching groups with that combo at 100 yards (using a scope). There are also full-bore bullets you can use, like Thor bullets that are based on the Barnes X-bullet and legal in California. Thor will send you a free trial pack of, as I remember, four bullets of different diameter. You start with the smallest diameter (.500 I think) and go up to the largest, looking for the diameter that fits best in your bore. Then you just order that particular diameter. They are a conical base PSP bullet and are deadly! Primers...for my Hawken, CCI #11 magnums. For my in-line, CCI 209M's. For my .54, I use musket caps. My "perfect" muzzleloader would be a 50 caliber Thompson Center Hawken, but good luck on finding one!
 
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White Smoke said:
You first have to look at the laws WHERE you want to hunt and WHAT you want to hunt. If you are talking deer, you will be safe with a 50 cal. For elk, you might have to go to a .54. Some states prohibit in-lines, or sabots, or scopes. If you're talking Kalifornication, in-lines and sabots are good, but no scopes during muzzleloader season. During the general season, scopes are fine. Do some research on the brands. Some have bad reps and some of those have fixed their problems. I have three m/l's, a .45 Hawken, a 50 in-line and a .54 percussion. All three are Thompson Center's that have a top-notch reputation and a lifetime warranty. As far as powder, for a percussion, my powder of choice is Pyrodex Select, probably the "cleanest" of them all. For an in-line, Blackhorn 209 without a doubt. Do NOT use Blackhorn 209 in a standard percussion. It won't fire. It takes a 209 primer to set it off. For bullets, for my 50 cal in-line, I use the Barnes 50 caliber (.451) 245 grain Spitfire MZ BT that comes with a yellow HPH-24 sabot. I get three-rounds-touching groups with that combo at 100 yards (using a scope). There are also full-bore bullets you can use, like Thor bullets that are based on the Barnes X-bullet and legal in California. Thor will send you a free trial pack of, as I remember, four bullets of different diameter. You start with the smallest diameter (.500 I think) and go up to the largest, looking for the diameter that fits best in your bore. Then you just order that particular diameter. They are a conical base PSP bullet and are deadly! Primers...for my Hawken, CCI #11 magnums. For my in-line, CCI 209M's. For my .54, I use musket caps. My "perfect" muzzleloader would be a 50 caliber Thompson Center Hawken, but good luck on finding one!
Click to expand...
I was wondering if you'd chime in on this. Everything I know about black powder rifles, I learned from this guy ^^
 
White Smoke said:
You first have to look at the laws WHERE you want to hunt and WHAT you want to hunt. If you are talking deer, you will be safe with a 50 cal. For elk, you might have to go to a .54. Some states prohibit in-lines, or sabots, or scopes. If you're talking Kalifornication, in-lines and sabots are good, but no scopes during muzzleloader season. During the general season, scopes are fine. Do some research on the brands. Some have bad reps and some of those have fixed their problems. I have three m/l's, a .45 Hawken, a 50 in-line and a .54 percussion. All three are Thompson Center's that have a top-notch reputation and a lifetime warranty. As far as powder, for a percussion, my powder of choice is Pyrodex Select, probably the "cleanest" of them all. For an in-line, Blackhorn 209 without a doubt. Do NOT use Blackhorn 209 in a standard percussion. It won't fire. It takes a 209 primer to set it off. For bullets, for my 50 cal in-line, I use the Barnes 50 caliber (.451) 245 grain Spitfire MZ BT that comes with a yellow HPH-24 sabot. I get three-rounds-touching groups with that combo at 100 yards (using a scope). There are also full-bore bullets you can use, like Thor bullets that are based on the Barnes X-bullet and legal in California. Thor will send you a free trial pack of, as I remember, four bullets of different diameter. You start with the smallest diameter (.500 I think) and go up to the largest, looking for the diameter that fits best in your bore. Then you just order that particular diameter. They are a conical base PSP bullet and are deadly! Primers...for my Hawken, CCI #11 magnums. For my in-line, CCI 209M's. For my .54, I use musket caps. My "perfect" muzzleloader would be a 50 caliber Thompson Center Hawken, but good luck on finding one!
Click to expand...
My friend Jeff owns Thor Bullets. I will be using them this season for deer. They have some really cool stuff coming out soon.
 
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I want to get the CVA Paramount Pro in .50 with the cva muzzle brake next year. Right now I need to focus on getting in shape and drilling elk at 500 yards with my 300 WM.
 
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Cva wolf, 50cal with after market “Williams Western precision sights”.

250grn sabot @ 200 yards all day baby!
 
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