Ganders Muzzle Loading Blog

Thompson Center Renegade Re-Finish

2012-01-26T17:04:00.010-07:00

I recently received this TC Renegade Stock from an online buddy who had stored it and the bore ended up rusting up badly. This was a kit Renegade back from the late 1980's and so rather than bother with a new barrel, he sent it to me as long as i paid for the shipping.. No problem!

I found a barrel for a great deal of $65 shipped and so i was all set for this Restoration!

The stock wasn't that bad to begin with, but there were issues like improper wood to metal fit. To much wood over lapping the Buttplate, Lock, as well as some slight over hang around the trigger guard.

I took my time stripping it and once finished I went to a new technique I use. Steam! Steaming a stock is just as it says... You take an Iron, heat it up and then use a damp wash cloth, place it over the area that needs the grain raised and put the hot iron on and work the area. I did a lot of steaming on this stock get make dent & scratch removal very easy.

After the steaming was finished i hit the stock with some 220 grit sand paper, clean the stock off with a damp rag, let it dry and then used 0000 to buff the grain down for a smooth finish.

This Renegade has some beautiful wood grain and is fairly dark in color. I decided then to NOT use any kind of stain PERIOD! I wanted natural wood beauty to show.

i ended up using 15 hand rubbed coats of Truoil, 10 coats of spray on Truoil and then i finished it off Three days later "cure time" with Oiled 0000 steel wool for a nice satin finish that looks great on the rifle.

The rifle was originally a beautiful dark blue, but this is just to common and gets boring to look at. A little to modern in my eye. I decided to use Birchwood Casey Plum Brown solution and brown all the metal, trigger guard, buttplate,wedge pin, Everything!

I heated up the parts and soaked a rag with the solution and did Two coats of this for a nice Plum Brown finish. I again used Oiled 0000 steel wool and lightly buffed to parts to a slightly higher sheen. Came out perfect, the way I thought I might like it. The Plum Brown on the steel just really sets the rifles looks off.

Getting the Renegade together last night I loaded up a few Powder Tubes with 80gr Pyrodex RS, 250gr Powerbelt Aerolites, CCI #11 Magnum Caps and headed out to the 60 yard range where i pulled off an excellent group for the first time out with this rifle! I didn't even have to touch the sights, it was dead on and ready for use!

Hard at work: Final Step Cover Scents

2012-01-21T22:35:00.008-07:00

By John Valdez

On January 3 of this year I got up around 4 am and I stared at the ceiling and debated whether I wanted to go coyote calling. After some thought I decided to get up and get my gear together and head out the door. It was a cold morning and a few days earlier we were hit with a really bad snow storm but I knew that could be the right mix to get some dogs coming to my calls. Well I made the 35 minute drive over to Capulin where there was still a good deal of snow on the ground.

I lined up all my gear and did a once over of Final Step Cedar cover scent. I sprayed my shooting sticks, shooting bag and all my clothing. I hiked about a 1/4 mile off the road and set up on a flat with some trees for cover. I had a slight breeze coming out of the north but it was definitely under 10 mph. I set up facing north as I figured that's where any potential dogs would come from due to the wind.

I hit the call for about 8 minutes and I glanced behind me to the south. Movement caught my eye and I slowly slid over for a better look. It was a coyote was looking at me at about 90 yards. I was a little surprised as the wind was blowing right towards him. I leveled my rifle and centered him in the scope.

I took the shot as I figured if I tried to go prone for a steadier shot I would surely spook him. The rifle went off and down he went, gone before he hit the ground.

As I made my way over to him I kept thinking about the wind blowing directly to him and the fact that he was a mature male coyote made me a believer in Final Step Cover Scent. Its easy to burn a young coyote as I have in the past but the adults are really tough to fool. From here on out I will be looking down wind when I use this product as it does exactly what it says.

BloodLine Bullets

2012-01-19T22:14:00.020-07:00

A while back I was sent some new bullets to try out. These bullets are made by Lehigh Defense but sold strictly through Knight Rifles.

The BloodLine is a Solid Brass bullet with 2 to 3% Lead that adds a bit of weight to it. California Hunters will sadly have to rule this bullet out if you are hunting in the Condor region of the state.
Due to them being brass, they of course are very long. The length of the 300 grain version measured 1.140" which is pretty long but due to the light weight of the brass, this is pretty typical. With the overall length of the bullets, you may find that you have to push them with 110 to 120 grains of Powder to get them to stabilize in your rifle. However, Never jump to such a high charge right off the bat. You will see below that I achieved excellent accuracy with just 100 grains of Blackhorn209.

The sabots provided are made by MMP Sabots. The CVA bores love the MMP sabots and Accuracy is excellent. Knight shooters may find that Harvester Sabots offer better consistency and accuracy. Try both sabots in your Knight with an assortment of powder charges and document them down on a note pad just in case you have to go back to a charge you shot earlier that seemed to do the best.

Using my CVA Optima .50cal, 26" stainless barrel with a 1:28 twist, I started off at 100 yards with the 250gr BloodLine "Pictured Left" and 110 grains Blackhorn209. I had a very good group and well under 1 1/2" for 3 shots.

While that was a good group for the first time out with the bullet and certainly would kill anything it was aiming at, I do have a standard with my muzzleloaders and always like to try adjusting my loads up or down 10 grains and take another Three shots to see how the group reacts.

In this case, I went from 110 grains Blackhorn209, to 100 grains Blackhorn209 and my group shrunk a great deal. The first shot on a cold barrel is normally off a bit and you'll see it in the target picture on the Right.

That was a great improvement by decreasing my charge by just 10 grains! I was very happy with BloodLine and 100gr Blackhorn209. A good solid accurate combo built for any animal in North America.

The pedals on the BloodLines are intended to sheer off and allow the Pedals themselves to act as projectiles and penetrate multiple organs and not hold the bullet back. This is mainly intended in my opinion to get rid of the mushroom which acts like a parachute "Barnes bullet mushroom for example" and allow the bullet to punch through the opposite side of the animal, allowing for a better blood trail.

As I said before, Barnes bullets, Nosler Bullets, Powerbelt bullets, these bullets Either Mushroom a great deal leaving a nice looking flower as I call it when i shoot the Barnes bullet. When a bullet expands this well going through an animal, it acts sort of like a Parachute and holds the bullet back and may not exit. Example Pictured Left.

The BloodLine pedals do in fact bend back somewhat like a Barnes, it allows some shock to build deep in the body cavity before breaking off and sending the fragmented pedals into the organs and allowing the main bullet to exit, offering a good blood trail, should you need it.

This is a very new bullet to me and I have limited experience with it. It appears to stand up to its hype and is Accurate and Deadly. A very interesting bullet that I hope to try out more and do a lot more Testing with.

***Check out the BloodLine Bullets here to place your order!***

I hope to shoot more of these and do some Tests on Video as well later down the road.

Open Sight Muzzle Loaders

2012-01-19T18:53:00.010-07:00

Getting back into the Open Sight muzzle loader challenge, I grabbed my CVA Optima .50cal out of the closet and decided to take it to the range for some fun. I haven't shot this Optima in quite a while due to having other rifles with scopes that are easier on my eyes and so I just felt the need to get out to the 100 yard range, even though my shooting table and chair was sinking into the mud!

This CVA Optima sports the Truglow Ghost Ring Rear Sight and the Truglow Globe Front Sight. This is an Amazing sight set up that offers a huge field of view when aiming at your target and does not block out the target you are aiming at. Its pretty amazing when you take a look through them and get everything lined up on target and the 3" bulls eye is clear as day. Precision at its best to say the least!

The gun loves 100gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum primers and the New Powerbelt Aerolite in 250 grains. A fantastic shooting load and a great game crippling load in the field as i found out last September.

In order for me to shoot open sights clearly and accurately I use a sight aid called Clear2Target, which sadly was ordered to shut down their business or be sued by a company that makes something close to what they make, only $20 for ONE item VS Clear2Targets 10 pack for $9 and some change shipped. Big name companies tend to run the smaller guys out of town when their stuff isn't selling. A real shame and I am still kicking myself for not ordering more of them while they were still in business.

The sight aid "Clear2Target" is basically a simple static sticker while a small hole " almost like a Peep Sight" that blocks out everything when you're aiming down the sights and focuses on just the Front/Rear sight and clears up any fuzziness in the sights and target. A great product as I said, but now out of business.

I decided to start out with 90gr Blackhorn 209, CCI 209 Magnum primers, 250gr Powerbelt Aerolite at just see where I was hitting and make some adjustments.

I ended up with a great 1 1/2" group at 100 yards with 90gr Blackhorn209 but i knew that this just was not the "Sweet Load" that the Optima likes.

After making some adjustments to the left, I took a total of 5 shots, making sure to check the target after each shot and I left the range with a sore throat from yelling like a mad man.

A good Quality muzzle loader such as the CVA Optima, a great trigger, a good solid rest and Patience make the day a lot easier on me!

The final Five shot group @ 100 yards with my Open Sight CVA Optima!

CVA Wolf - 200 yard range testing

2011-12-30T22:47:00.010-07:00

After sitting out a Two day snow storm, I was finally able to make it out to the NRA Whittington Center with the CVA Wolf .50cal and dial in the new Konus,Konushot 3-12x40 scope i had mounted on it.

This Wolf originally had a Bushnell 3-9x40 scope on it but after 300 rounds the rear lens popped loose. I replaced it with another Bushnell scope and this time the Parallax went south to the point where i would look through the scope and the targets bulls eye was in the lower left hand corner of the scope! I normally have great success with Bushnell scopes, so I have no clue what is up with these scopes they are putting out.

I dialed the new scope in at 25-50 and got out to 100 yards where I sighted the scope in 3" high and center with 110gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum primers and the 250gr Powerbelt Aerolites. This gave me 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" @ 100 yards.

This rifle normally shoots 100gr Blackhorn209 "Target pictured on the left" but since I was going to be playing at 200 yards, I decided to give up some accuracy for a little more ponies behind the bullet and less drop at 200 yards. Ten grains may not seem like a bunch, but in the muzzle loading world, it can make a huge difference in group size.

Now I love paper shooting but seriously, You have to change things up to keep the sport fun!So after I sighted in rifle in at 100 yards, i packed up and drove to the Long Range Pistol Silhouette Range!

These are a TON of fun to shoot! I first started shooting these a couple weeks prior to taking the Wolf out there and after that, i was hooked.

Pictured are the 100 yard Hog silhouettes and the 200 yard Ram silhouettes that i will be shooting at later on in the Video.

The NRA Whittington Center offers a huge variety of shooting ranges with PLENTY of elbow room as you can see from the picture. A total of 20 shooting benches set up with great room between them so you do not feel crowded. A ton of Wildlife to view as well while you are driving to your favorite range or even AT the range! While I shooting i had a small herd of 8 mule deer 50 - 60 yards off to the side of my, just grazing in the grass and watching me shoot. Its amazing at how these deer get used to the sounds of rifles being fired over and over.

One item that i often bring with me is a good solid chair. I am 6'3" and the chairs that the Whittington Center provides are often to tall for me or they wobble. Keep this in mind if you ever head out there for some fun! A lot of people that try my muzzle loaders out, even comment on how nice the chair was.

Enjoy the video guys! Next time out i will be more thorough in my Equipment and share some tips on what i am using & how to improve on what I am using. And maybe I will set up some 200 yard Paper targets and dial the Wolf dead on and show you what a $180 CVA Wolf can do!

Don't ever judge something by its price!

Final Step Cover Scents

2011-11-14T22:17:00.008-07:00

By John Valdez
I would like to tell you about a product I used over several hunts this fall. Its called FINAL STEP (juniper). Its a cover scent for your clothing and your gear. I used this product for a Mule Deer hunt and two coyote calling sessions. The coyotes never winded me from 300 and 100 yard kill shots.

Final Step Natural Cover Scents

I sprayed my clothing, shooting sticks and my call bag. The bottom of my shoes were also sprayed to conceal my path to my calling stands. My mule deer hunt went well as I had a total of 5 bucks come within 120 yrds. I plan to use this cover scent the remainder of the winter on a mule deer hunt and many predator calling stands. This fine product is made by K&R enterprises, LLC out of Virden NM.

Powerbelt Aerolite - Field Test

2011-10-10T15:36:00.019-06:00

When i first heard of the new Powerbelt Aerolite series back in early January 2011, I knew right away that I'd be spending the entire summer working with these bullets.

The new bullet design offers a longer overall bullet length "Long bearing surface makes for a more accurate bullet" an increased Hollow Point making for fast bullet expansion resulting in a larger entrance hole. This Hollow Point however does have its set back, and that set back being either, Bullet fragments on heavy bone, no exit hole, limited penetration.
When my first order of 10 packets of the new Aerolites arrived i was pretty excited and went straight to the reloading room and filled up my Powder Tubes with 100gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum primers and loaded the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled onto the back of the ATV and plowed through the snow drifts leading to my shooting range.

After sighted in my CVA Optima .50 equipped with the Konus Pro 3-10x44 scope and Durasight "High" Dead On Mount System, I had the muzzle loader shooting beautifully at 100 yards. How beautiful? Under 1" groups @ 100 yards with shots Two & Three Touching! When shooting, i always allow 10 minute cool down between shots so properly keep the barrel cold to the touch.

Once i saw how they shot i knew that i would have to put this bullet through an in the field - field test on actual game.

I sent in my New Mexico buck tag App. in March and around June, i got an email saying that i was successful in the Sept 24-30th Muzzle Loader season! This was my first time ever for applying for an out of state hunt and i was pumped big time.

The area i hunted was around Capulin New Mexico where it offers everything from Mule deer to Whitetail deer.

So skipping forward to my hunt, i got all my gear ready a week before, pre-measured my loads of 110gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum primers and the 250gr Powerbelt Aerolite and had them all secured away in my belt bag, ready for the hunt.

Now this tag wasn't cheap. I don't have money falling out of my rear end and the $300 out of state tag cost wasn't easy to pay for but it had to be done so i could get some in the field knowledge of how this bullet performed on game.

You can shoot into what ever you want to test a bullet, but it is nothing compared to actually shooting a big game animal out on public land where private property boarders you on all sides. This was a big test for me as i had no clue how this bullet was going to perform. Would i place the shot and end up tracking it 200-300 yards with no to very little blood to follow?

In the area i was hunting i knew there was a lot of big antlers deer, a big bonus if i could hold out long enough to work into range of one of the local monsters.

Day one, we had hiked across a lava rock filled meadow " Boot killers! The camera mans sole on his boot fell off on day 6 of the hunt!" and walked to the base of a Mesa where we then had to De-prime the CVA Optima and CLIMB rock to rock, straight up in order to get to the top of the Mesa. I am not a person who deals with heights easily and so this was one of those, Turns your guts ice cold, moments i had to swallow and do if i wanted to hunt the spot.

With knees shaking, the camera man handed up my rifle to me and i put it in a safe place while i went back down to find my brother in law perched on top of the first 8 foot rock arguing with the camera man " My brother".... " No, I can't do it Stan! No, im serious, im freakin out, i can't climb up this." I of course called him a couple names i won't type here, just to see if i could get him to change out of his skirt and put his man boots back on and make the final climb to the top so we could hunt the Mesa.

After the Camera man got to the top with me, we watched my brother in law jog off down towards the field, his pretty pink dress flowing through the early morning breeze. We started laughing at how he couldn't make the climb when i was the worse " or so i thought" one with height fright.

Getting back to the rifle i went and re-installed the CCI 209 Magnum primer, locked up the action firmly an checked the GPS to make sure i was heading South East towards an open meadow.

Hiking for about 10 minutes i came around a tree and " You'll see this in the field as it actually happened! No planned action, we show it as it actually unfolds" a great little set of 3x3 antlers a Muley shed earlier. I of course love finding stuff like that and so i put them into my bag and plan on using them later for either rattling or just plain ol decoration.

Finding our Meadow to hunt we broke through some trees and got a 1/4 of the way into the field when a buck jumps up and stood there for us. He was a decent 2x2 but come on guys, i spent $300 for this tag! No way i was going to pull the trigger. I must admit though, it was extremely hard for me not to pull the trigger as i previously got skunked in the Colorado muzzle loading season. So we got some footage of the buck along with a group of doe's he had with him on that Mesa.

We had seen plenty of big 4x4's and 5x5's however they didn't get big by being stupid. They were allowing us to look at them at 300+ yards for about 3 to 5 seconds before they were running to the safety of private land or deep into the Pinon Trees.

On Day 4, the camera man and i had dropped my brother in law off at another spot and decided to head to the Mesa to see if that buck was still around, along the way we kicked up a doe, sat down for a while and watched and made sure there wasn't a buck in the group and then continued on for about 150-160 yards when i saw a deer jump up from under a Cedar/Oak brush grove and stand there.

Luckily i had already deployed my Claw Sling Stix and had them strapped over my barrel, ready for a shot and once i saw that deer, i sat down, got the scope on the target and checked out the head. I saw 3 points on one side and the other antler was blocked, after 4 days of long hunting and not being able to close the distance on a big 4x4 or 5x5, i decided it was time to test the bullet and report back on it.

Thumbing back the hammer, i took aim right behind the shoulder " high shoulder" and squeezed the trigger. BANG! The cameraman goes, what.... what.... wasn't that a doe? It looked like a doe in the camera! I go, heck no that wasn't a doe! I know it had at least 3 points on one side. Cameraman goes, Are you sure? I could have swore that it was a doe when i zoomed in. I didn't think much of it till later when we reviewed the film.

You were on the wrong deer cameraman! I had such a sick feeling in my stomach once i saw that. It was such a perfect set up, had plenty of time to get settled in and check out the rack before deciding the pull the trigger and in that time, a couple of doe's moved up out of the trees and it just happened to be the time when the cameraman looked up and aimed the camera directly on the doe rather than the buck that was standing under the cedar tree.

It happens.

After reloading and priming the Optima, i walked straight to the tree he was under and looked around slowly until i noticed a piece of white/reddish pink lung tissue on the ground, along with trail of blood! The blood trail wasn't far either, he choked up a great deal of lung matter and didn't go but 30 yards with a hard hit.

To see the hunt unfold, along with the tracking job, please view the video below.

In the video i make a remark of " One hole shots don't bleed you know" I am referring to many of the comments from others that say " if the bullet doesn't exit, you get poor blood trail." That was not the case as you can see! Poorly placed shots are what limit blood flow, resulting in no blood or very little to trail by! I didn't get my monster that i originally had my mind set on, but the bullet test was a lot more important than antler bragging rights so overall i feel i got my moneys worth, most certainly got one heck of a hunt to remember! And the best part, a great deal of deer steak in the freezer to enjoy this winter. As for the bullets performance, you saw my results. Place your shot and you will have a deer on the ground!

A Big Thanks to the Following!
CVA
Powerbelt Bullets
Western Powders - Blackhorn209
CCI Ammunition
Quake Industries " The Claw Sling Stix"
Caldwell Shooting Supplies
Birchwood Casey

Pictures from the Hunt

A gorgeous Antlered Skull mount we found! In New Mexico it's illegal to take a skull with antlers attached unless you pay a small fee to the Game & Fish. They say its to prevent someone from poaching a deer and letting it rot, and then coming back for just the skull. Every poacher I've heard of always take what they illegally kill, right away. So in truth, its just one more way for the state to make some extra funds.

CVA Scout Compact

2011-09-04T15:19:00.025-06:00

Back in August i ordered a brand new CVA Scout .243 Compact. I was a little worried about the Compact version being a bit to small for my 6'3" frame but as soon as i got it, i knew it would be perfect.

Last year my nephew, 15 at the time went on his first mule deer hunt in northern New Mexico on Thanksgiving Day. He carried his dads savage 110 chambered in .270 and the rifle was just way to heavy for him to get comfortable with.While he took a nice muley buck,i knew we had to update him with a gun that wasn't a tank for him to haul around.

When the Scout came out i knew it would be perfect and originally wanted to order one in .270 but was told that the normal sized Scouts were being discontinued and so only the Compact version would be made. After thinking it over i decided that the .243 was the best chamber to go with this time around. I personally have never fired a .243 prior to receiving the Scout. Its a nice light weight recoil caliber and perfect for young hunters and even the older guys. Its just a fun caliber that's pure pleasure to shoot all day long.

When the rifle came in, i of course had to go and do all the FFL paper work along with the $20 fee which was a lot better than the previous FFL holder charged me. The store owner was fondling the rifle and looked it over and said that he's heard about these new Scouts and that it was finally nice to see one up close. He seemed to have really liked it.

Buying a box of Remington Express 80gr Ammo, i drove back home, took the rifle apart right down to the frame and gave it a good scrubbing with Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. The clear fluid ran brown that evening with all the grease i was blowing out of the trigger area! After it was dried i soaked the internals with Barricade and set it off to the side to dry while i then turned my attention to the barrel.

I basically did a visual look over the barrel, lock up lug, bullet extractor, and of course down the bore to see how she looked. Smooth as glass and beautiful crisp rifling!

After getting the gun back together i went and mounted the rifle on mu Tipton Best Gun Vise.

When i ordered my Scout i went with the Combo package which includes the One piece Durasight Dead on Mount system, a Konus Pro 1.5-5x32 Scope with Super thin cross hairs " I love this!" and a CVA Soft gun case. I can tell you right now, if you want a Scout, This is the way to go! That Konus Pro scope may only be 5 power but it is awesome! I normally use a 9 or 10 power scope on my other rifles and even my muzzle loaders but that 5x scope really has be thinking about trying one on a muzzle loader.

A big surprise was finding that the stock it actually outfitted with REAL sling studs, not the cheap built in plastic loops that you will find on some of their other model muzzle loaders. That for me was a big welcome to see. We don't often use bipods due to their bulk and slow set up but i know a lot of hunters do use them, especially varmint hunters. So you guys won't have to worry now as they DO come with the good style of sling studs that won't break on you when you go to mount a bipod.

Measurements of the rifle with my measuring tape.

Over all Length: 34 1/8"
Compact Barrel Length: 20"
Length of Pull with hammer cocked: 13 1/8"
Weight of rifle with scope and mount: 6lbs 13oz "Sling weight not included"

Now with the rifle on my Tipton best gun vise, i decided it was best to pull the scope and make sure that all of the scope mount screws were tight. They were. The reason i decided to check this was because i found two of the scope cap screws loose and figured, if these were loose, its very possible that a mount screw or two would be loose. Its always wise to do this and MAKE SURE everything is good and tight or else you will just have nothing but trouble on the range in trying to shoot consistently.

With the scope tightened up and lined up straight i went out to my shooting range in the back yard and started out at 50 yards on a BIG target to get an idea where she was going to hit. The first shot ended up being 4" to the left of the bulls eye but a good 9 to 10" low. Making my adjustments i got it hitting center with two more shots and then it was time to move on.

Now after shot #1 i ran into a big problem. I was unable to pull out the spent cartridge. I had to use a pair of pliers on that one as well as every shot after that.

Knowing that there was an issue with the rifle, i knew it would be ok to take a few shots at 100 yards and get things dialed in. I ended up shooting a 1 1/4" 3 shot group @ 100 yards with factory ammo made by Remington Express 80gr. Not bad! But i do plan on trying some bullets in the 100gr range as we would like a heavier bullet for mule deer.

Getting the gun back onto my Gun vise i wanted to take a look at what was holding up my cartridge and now allowing it to freely come out of the chamber. After a good deal of inspecting the chamber and bullet extractor i actually removed the extractor and put an old case into the chamber and had to really push to get it fully seated.

In the end i actually used some JB Bore paste, smeared it all over an old case and lapped the chamber section of the barrel and was able to fire 6 shots without a mishap and was able to freely remove the spent cartridges. The only thing i can think of is that there was a burr near the extractor and when the cartridge went off, it expanded a bit and was getting caught up on that burr, causing the stuck cartridge. The burr must have been by the extractor cut out section in the barrel because that is the exact spot where it was getting caught up. Problem was solves with 30 strokes of JB Bore Paste and have worked perfectly since then.

Overall i have been extremely happy with the rifles looks, performance and the way it shoulders. I highly suggest this rifle for anyone in the market for an affordable, fun and sturdy Centerfire.

Notes:

The 20" compact barrel offers excellent point and shoot accuracy, perfect for mountain/thick brush hunting. But due to the shortness of the barrel is is extremely loud! In the video you will see i didn't use my hearing protection " stupid i know" but i had to test this to see how it would be in the field. You may want to bring some ear plugs on your hunt as its like Twenty m60 firecrackers going off right next to your ear.

IMR White Hots - Powerbelt Aerolite Testing

2011-07-17T21:53:00.012-06:00

Wanting to get some testing done, i decided to go and use my 3 week old CVA Optima .50cal and give the IMR White Hots a try, along with the New Powerbelt Aerolites.

The last time i shot the IMR White Hots, i had been using my other CVA Optima with an assortment of Powerbelts ranging from the 245 Aerotip to the 295gr Aerotips. I had decent results at 70 yards but nothing close to this test.

Grabbing all of my gear, i knew right away that i would swab the bore clean between every shot to remove all fouling and keep things consistent.

I used Birchwood Casey No. 77 Muzzle Magic Foam as my swabbing solution.

Primers: Winchester W209 "Blue box"

After making sure that i had a decently clear target set up " It was a left over but had plenty of clean meat on it so to speak" ... I went a head and loaded up 100 grains worth of IMR White Hots, the 250 grain Powerbelt Aerolite, Winchester W209 primer and got set up on my Caldwell FCX Lead Sled. When testing i like to make SURE everything is steady and in order.

A major issue"s" i had to deal with was the 92* weather, high humidity due to a recent rain storm and the sun i had hovering over me while i was testing. Not an ideal testing day, but then again, no hunting day weather will ever be perfect.

Getting the Optima on target i got it all set up, tightened down and took aim, Squeeze the trigger and saw my first shot impact nicely around the bulls eye.

Removing my breech plug, i went a head and used my Muzzle Magic, 4 pumps worth and allows that to work down the bore while i got my stuff ready for the next shot.

After running a couple patches down the bore to remove fouling, the bore was now all clean and dry, ready for shot #2.

After getting shot 2 loaded i proceeded to fire, take out breech plug, clean bore and fire again for a final 3 shot group.

I was really excited to see how well the 100gr IMR White Hot - 250gr Aerolite Powerbelts shot!

Now the real test was to find out how well this rifle did with a magnum 150gr pellet charge.

A pretty funny thing happened.

With the heat we were having, i needed to go and cool that barrel down a good deal so things would be consistent as they were with the previous 3 shots. I've done a good bit of tree clearing on my range and so i was pretty much up a creek. But, i got lucky! I had my truck parked out on the range for the weekend with most of my heavy shooting accessories in it as they tend to wear you out carrying them back and forth.

So under the truck the Lead Sled and Optima went, for a good cool down while i took a break my self and got all my loads ready.

So with the Optima now cooled down, cleaned and loaded to go, back onto the table she went and i took my first shot with 150gr IMR White Hots, 250gr Aerolite Powerbelt @ 100 yards. This load drifted a bit lower and to the right, but that's ok, i don't care where the bullets impact, i just need the group size before making any adjustments.

Going through the same process as before, remove breech plug, pump some cleaner into the bore, swab bore, dry bore, reload, fire. I took my 3 shot group and REALLY ended up being impressed. In fact, i think the 150gr Charge actually shot a touch tighter than the 100gr load.

So in the end, i ended up with two beautiful groups with the Powerbelt Aerolite & IMR White Hots combo!

Keep the bore cool and clean and it will be Consistent! I plan on trying this again later on.

2011-06-29T22:36:00.063-06:00

As September's Muzzle Loading Season nears i finally had decided that enough was enough! Through out the year i am constantly taking my scope off one muzzle loader and putting it on my other muzzle loader. ENOUGH!

I started off first with a Non Thumbhole CVA Optima last year and love the muzzle loader! But in Colorado we can only use Open Sights for hunting. I enjoy shooting with a scope in the off season to work up accurate loads.

So to keep things simple i went and ordered another CVA Optima, but this time i ordered one with the Thumb Hole Stock as i really like the feel of them and i think they just feel better in the field when you have to take off hand shots. They seem to just offer more stability and a very comfortable "squeeze" on the gun.

Now this Thumb Hole version is set up specifacally for Scoped shooters. The cheek comb is much to high for open sight shooters, so keep this in mind when you are trying to decided between Thumb hole VS Non thumb hole.

All new CVA Muzzle Loaders now come from the factory with the Durasight Dead On Mount system. This is a great sturdy mount and i really prever it. I used the High Mounts on this new Optima and i really like how it comes into focus when i look through the Konus Pro 3-10x44 scope. Medium height mounts most likely would work too but i think for me, the mediums would make me squish my cheek down hard onto the stock. Cheek weld is important but to much cheek weld just plain hurts.

With the scope all set up and ready, i went and measured a few of my standard 100 grain charges of Blackhorn209, a few CCI 209 Magnum primers and the new 250gr Aerolite Powerbelts. My original Optima loves this load, so i figured the new one might like it as well.

When working with a new gun i always bring the target in close, 20 yards exact and go from there.

As you can see on the target, the Very center shot " but low" was my first at 20 yards. The next upper 3 shots " the 2 touching were my first 2 at 50 yards and one more shot directly over the bulls eye was my final shot @ 50 yards after scope adjustment.

Those 2 touching shots really made me happy and shows that the load was right on track.

Now i really wanted to see how she'd group at 100 yards and so i did my homework and ended up shooting 100gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Mag primers, 250gr Aerlite Powerbelt and they shot awesome at 100 yards! The width of my thumb.

While that was really some darn good accuracy, i decided to try 90 grains and 110 grains of Blackhorn209 @ 100 yards just to simply see what would happen.

First 3 shots " Upper 3" were my accuracy test shots with 90gr Blackhorn209. A very respectable group! Recoil was very tame and enjoyable. Those next 2 shots in the bulls eye area were adjustments for what was coming next.

110gr Blackhorn209!

Now when i shoot, i allow my barrel anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to cool down between shots. Its important to keep your barrel as cool as possible as it helps increase your accuracy greatly.

Now i have tried this load before in my Older Optima and it did not like the 110 grain load at all. It would open up from 3 shots touching to a 3" group @ 100 yards. Not cool!

I honestly didn't expect the results i got, but i am darned glad i tried it just for the heck of it. When i fired my 2 shots i actually had to go down and look at the target closely as the bullets were overlapping eachother with the hole slightly smudged out to one corner.

Fired my 3rd and final shot and just lost it! I couldn't believe how tight the 110 grain load had grouped. 3 shots touching TIGHTLY in a little cluster!

I will be using this muzzle loader and load on my hunt in Northern New Mexico during the September 24th-30th Muzzle Loading Season!

Another tack driver from CVA!

Properly Cleaning Your New Muzzle Loader.

2011-06-23T23:24:00.013-06:00

I recently received a new CVA Optima .50cal with the Black Thumbhole stock and so i decided that i would pass along some info on how I clean my Brand New Muzzleloaders.

I know there are a lot out there that think " Ahhh just wipe the oil off the outside, clean out the bore and it's good to go".

Not so! I used to be like that until i got tired of gummy feeling triggers that always leaked out heavy doses of grease when the gun sat out in the sun while sighting it in. This grease/oil must be removed and replaced with a much lighter gun oil.

Why? One reason i stated above, that grease melts in heat and makes a mess all over you and the gun and will attract every kind of debris you can think of. More reasons to clean it is again, it can make your trigger feel gummy when you squeeze it and actually add weight to the trigger pull.

A list of items i use for proper cleaning:

Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber
Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber
Birchwood Casey Barricade
Birchwood Casey RIG #2
Brass Cleaning Patch Jag
Nylon Bore Brush
JB Bore Paste
Lots Of Cleaning Patches!!
A Couple Shop Towels Proper
Tools for Disassembly Of The Stock and any other parts that are easily removed.

Now to explain why the need for the items above.

Gun Scrubber is AWESOME for removing the packing grease from inside the Bore, Exterior of the muzzle loader and for removal of the heavy grease inside the actions of todays modern break action muzzle loaders. When i hit a hard to reach spot, i add the plastic straw extension and position it and hit it with a short but heavy dose of cleaner. I do this throughout the action of the muzzle loader until i feel i did as good as human possible. So basically, use this product to easily remove grease from the exterior of the muzzle loader, the external action and internals.

Bore Scrubber is what we will use if we are shooting Blackhorn209, Highly recommend this cleaner for Blackhorn209 as it easily cuts out the fouling with just Two to Three patches. After you have degreased the barrel with Gun Scrubber, You may not switch over to BORE SCRUBBER which is an oil based cleaner for Nitro Powders as well as for removed Copper fouling. This product will basically mop up any grease that may have been missed by the Gun Scrubber. It also has an Anti Rust Preventive in it that allows you to clean with the same product and protect against rust/corrosion.

Barricade is what i use on the Internals of the action. I basically just get as much as possible and give it a good solid spray down inside the action and all its moving parts. Give it a good soaking and then set it on a shop towel and give in time to do its job. Wipe off whatever dips out of the action. Once the dripping has stopped, the Barricade will dry over the next day and will no attract dirt particles like the factory grease does. This is a light weight oil.

RIG #2 is a fairly new product to me but one i have grown to like and store in my gun closet. RIG #2 i consider to be a heavy weight oil best used on non moving " Triggers,hammers, ext" due to the thickness of the product once it dries. This product is excellent for rust protection on the outside of the barrel and frame. Spray it down heavy and directly onto the metal and allow it to work for a couple hours before lightly wiping excess off with a soft clean cloth. I find that when thicker oils, even when dry, create "drag", especially on Triggers.

Brass Cleaning Jag of course is used to mop out your bore of debris. Dirt, grease, fouling, moisture.

Nylon Bore Brush is another new deal that i recently switched to a few months ago and really like them the best. I used a lot of Bronze bore brushes over the years and absolutely hate them. They bend up, they shrink in size with heavy use and i honestly think they do not get into the little nooks and crannies due to their stiffness. Nylon for me has been the best way to go.

JB Bore Paste is a WONDERFUL item to have on hand. It is basically a lapping compound meant to be used inside a new bore to smooth out any roughness, burrs, any small errors that you can not see. It is not an harmful abrasive product either so don't be afraid to use it in your bore. When using this product you need a nice tight fitting patch, lightly lubed with oil and then rub some JB Bore Paste into the patch as well.

The oil keeps things running smoothly. Also be sure to leave your breech plug in and do this work from the muzzle. Pay some attention towards the muzzle as that's where you'll mainly find your small burrs and such. A minimum of 60 passes with JB Bore Paste i recommend. Change your patch out after 30 strokes and get you a fresh patch. JB Bore Paste can easily be cleaned out with Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber, followed up by Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber. Run a few dry patches after the Bore Scrubber has sat and been allowed to work for a few minutes. DONE!

JB Bore Paste i found comes in Two different colors. Pink and an Olive green. The little tub that you want is white with blue lettering and will have the olive green paste inside. I believe the other compound which is a super fine polishing compound, is again white but with red lettering? I am unsure of its actual text color so please forgive me on that one.

Depending on the powder you shoot, I shoot Blackhorn209, I normally will fire 10 rounds and then go and completely clean the bore free of fouling and shoot another 10 rounds and repeat the cleaning. I do this basically to just inspect the bore for any obvious flaws in the bore and to let it break in slowly. Keep the Lead/Plastic fouling down as another reason on the list. After that though, its time to get dirty and start shooting for groups!

Our new CVA Optima! She is one sweet shooting machine and very light weight. It will be used on my first out of state hunt in Northern New Mexico. Its preferred load is 100 grains Volume Blackhorn209 with a 250 grains Aerolite Powerbelt and a CCI 209 Magnum Primer. The scope is a Konus Pro 3-10x44mm and is crystal clear. Good solid equipment makes things easier on you and much more enjoyable in the field.

Fuzzy Sight Cure

2011-05-18T00:13:00.011-06:00

To be honest, when i first saw this about 3 - 4 months ago i didn't believe in it. How could it help cure blurry open sights?

I finally gave in one night and decided to buy a pack just to try out, $9 total wasn't going to break me and if they didn't work out and help as they say they do, You got me!

Now to start off with, my eye sight isn't the greatest to begin with and so i had been looking for a way to help improve my sight so i could get back to shooting my open sight muzzle loaders, as that's the law in Colorado during muzzle loading season.

The Clear2Target was affordable and very simple + it won't interfere with our hunting regulations.

I read on their website that you can leave them on your glasses all day long, even while out in the field and i really wasn't to sure how this would feel while out in the field. Kind of like a pesky horse fly that lands on your glasses or the tip of your nose while you're Still Hunting. So this was something i really wanted to test out for a few days and see if it caused any problems with visibility and another important matter, how well they stuck on to your glasses.

Doing the test, i left the Eye piece on my every day glasses " what i use in the field and on the range" for Three days, to learn and experience how this little sticky will affect me in the field. I had no problems whatsoever leaving them on all day doing my normal work around the house, i don't feel they will be a problem in the field while hunting either.

It is best to fully clean and degrease your glass lenses before putting the sticky on to ensure full contact to the lens. I had have it come off once at the range, but i broke the rules i just listed above and put it on a greasy dirty lens. It was perfectly reusable once i cleaned the sticky and my lens.

Shooting my Open sight CVA Optima at 50 yards to get everything adjusted to where it needed to be, it was a huge comfort to look down the barrel, line up the Truglo Ghost Ring rear sight and align it with the Truglo Globe front sight. Crystal clear! I never have seen open sights this clear before and it was a big welcome to finally be able to pin point my shots again on the range.

I ended up putting a Birchwood Casey Shoot N see target out at 100 yards and again, took the CVA Optima .50cal 245gr HP Powerbelts and 100gr Blackhorn209 ignited by a CCI 209 Magnum primers. While this load produces fair 3 1/2" groups with open sights @ 100 yards, its not the greatest shooting load in this rifle. But those bullets were all i had on hand and so when that's the case, you go with what you have for the time being.

While i wasn't extremely pleased with the group, i was impressed as hell when i looked down the 100 yard range and could SEE that 1" bulls eye clearly with the Clear2Target attached to my glasses! I haven't been able to see a 1" bulls eye @ 100 yards in a good handful of years. Its nice being able to see a small bulls eye and place those shots nice and tightly.

Now as i said before, my vision was/is pretty darned bad with open sights. The rear optics were fuzzy, the front was clear, but the bulls eye ranging from 1" "basically could not see a target that small at 50 yards" to the 2" and even up to a 4" bulls eye, had been blurry as sin.

When i used to shoot this rifle earlier last year, i used to take Two 2" orange bulls eyes and place them side by side just so i could do my 50 yard shooting! That's pretty bad, but when it's all you have left in your eye sight, what can you do? It got worse at 100 yards when i had to use 3 of the 2" orange bulls eyes.

After i had found out how well the Clear2Target worked for me, i took a couple of my double bulls eye targets and put it out at 100 yards and fired a few shots, made some adjustments and once i was there, i put up a new target and fired one last shot which was perfect!

But boy let me tell you, Now that i am able to see the sights and target clearly now, that double 2" bulls eye was TO BIG in the optics!

But seriously, if you have trouble with blurry sights, check these out because they are cheap, reusable but effective!

I bought mine from this website: http://www.clear2target.com/ There may be other websites out there that carry and sell them as well, so do some searching around.

Keep debris out of your bore

2011-05-09T16:23:00.013-06:00

Each fall, all of us sight in our center fires, Muzzle Loaders, Shotguns, what ever kind of firearm we shoot, we normally go and cover the muzzle to keep dirt, mud, you name it, out of the bore.

Having mud, water or snow get into your muzzle is not only sucks, but is extremely dangerous and can cause problems. The biggest problem with a bore being plugged with snow or mud of course would be a ruptured barrel.

Over the past couple of months, some forum members of Frontier Muzzle Loading have been asking the question of : Will using a Bore Cot " Or anything over the muzzle" change accuracy in any way?

This isn't something i ever thought of and why would we? Its just basically a simple balloon that you slip over your barrel to keep debris out of the bore. Why should it affect accuracy?

Well i finally had some nice weather to do the testing and when i first did it, i was shooting off my Caldwell Tack Driver bag rest. I rarely shoot off of it because my FCX Lead Sled has spoiled me and so after shooting and testing, i really was surprised at what i was seeing.

Now i didn't want to jump on the band wagon and tell everyone what happened until i did it at least one more time to make sure. With something important like this, i used my Lead Sled on the next trip to the range for testing to eliminate as much human error as possible.

Using the CVA Apex .50cal Muzzle Loader i got my supplies set up and used 100gr "71 grains weighed charges" of Blackhorn209, a 295gr Hollow Point Powerbelt and the CCI 209 Magnum primers. This is an excellent shooting load in the rifle.

I took my Three shots at 130 yards, allowing a few minutes in between shots to make sure the barrel did not heat up. Perfectly right under the bulls eye where they grouped the last time out with the rifle.

After cooling the gun down for a good 20 minutes, i reloaded and took Three more shots, this time with Bore Cots over the muzzle, just like we do when we are hunting.

Now when i fired that first shot, my head shot up and i looked down the the rifle with a confused look on my face. One shot doesn't prove anything so i reloaded, let the gun cool down a few minutes and took shot two which went right next to the first shot.

This certainly showed the Bore Cot had in fact changed the bullets impact zone a good deal. The added drop was Two inches and while that may not seem like much, when you start shooting 200-250 yards with a muzzle loader, THAT is a big drop that can make a good hunt, perfect shot, a missed shot.

I ended up getting into a rush and reloaded right away rather than allowing the barrel to cool down and as usual, if you don't give the barrel enough time to cool down properly, you'll most likely get a flier. That's what happened to me but it had no affect on the test at all.

When i posted my findings on other forums, i did take some " Yeah, BS!" comments basically. Here's one who did not believe my findings, yet tested it to make sure.

By Sabotloader
"First project was a continuation of the Super Powder testing. and the Second was to confirm FG's findings about shooting with Rain Gear on the muzzle of the gun, which I must tell you I did not really believe his test and I still not sold on my test - I will have to repeat the test." Note: He, just as i did, could not believe in the first testings. Its truly something we never think about!

"The last test of the day was to check FG's thought that Rain Gear on the muzzle might effect POI. I often shoot with 'Rain Gear' on the muzzle - have for several years but have never really thought or worried about POI. This small test is not enough yet for me to draw a positive conclusion, i will have to repeat it again on another outing...

Rain Gear..."

Shots 8 - 9 -10 were without the Bore cot. Shots 11 - 12 -13 were with the Bore Cot on.

Certainly no where near the drop i had during my testings, but again, its affecting it both by adding drop and spread to the group. Another point to bring up and most likely why the drop wasn't as much, my testing was done at 130 yards, The other gentleman's " Sabotloader" his testing was only 75 yards.

I know a lot of others use simple balloons, saran wrap with a rubber band around it, Duct tape over the muzzle, Electrical tape over the muzzle. These are the most common items that hunters use to keep debris out of the barrel. But do they ever test it out at the range to make sure these items don't change Point of Impact? 99% chance, No. Why? Because its crazy to think that something so simple could change where the rifle hits or how it affects group size.

Another forum member by the handle of RonLaughlin did the following test:

By RonLaughlin:

"When hunting i have always used electrical tape on the muzzle of all my rifles. Two pieces crisscrossed, and another wrapped around the barrel to hold them more better. This thread got me to thinkin' some, so this morning i gave the tape a try compared to without tape.

The rifle was the CVA Accura V2, and the load was a 200g Shockwave pushed by 115g BH209, lit by an STS primer. The range was 198 yard. Six shots were made. The unmarked bullet holes were made with a naked barrel. The first shot was with a naked barrel, and the next was taped, and the next was naked, and the next...................."

As you can see, the further you move out, the greater impact a bore cot or tape over the muzzle has on your accuracy.

I do not plan on testing any more with this as its easy enough to see that any time you change the SLIGHTEST accessory on your muzzle loader or firearm for that matter, CHECK IT at the range First before using it in the field!

Hodgdon Powder - Testing the Big 3 Part 2

2011-05-05T19:40:00.010-06:00

If you didn't read the first Hodgdon Powder Test, now is the time to do so.

During the first test, i had been using the medium heat Winchester W209 primers which work well, but did not offer the greatest accuracy with certain powders i had tested with.

On a recent trip to the local gun shop i found some NSI 686 " Italian brand" Primers for a good price of $4.50 and figuring that they may help with accuracy, i went and bought a package to try out and do the Big 3 test all over again.

Having a beautiful day, it was perfect do set up all my equipment and get settled in for another round of testing IMR White Hots, Triple 7 Pellets, Pyrodex Pellets.

All powders were tested using the CVA Accura V2 .50cal and both 245 & 295 grain Hollow Point Powerbelts. Just as in the first test.

The only difference, A primer brand change.

It was a long day with having to swab between shots and even myself having to go rest in the shade to cool down due to the intense heat.

The first test i ran was with the IMR White Hots and the 295gr Powerbelts.
After 3 shots i had a grin plastered across my face and finally found a combo that shot extremely well!

Moving on to Pyrodex Pellets and the 295gr Powerbelts, I was fairly pleased with the results.

Triple 7 on the the other hand reacted very terrible with these new primers, Decent hunting group BUT i certainly would feel a lot more comfortable with a much tighter group when i am in the field. Now because it did not group good, does that make the powder bad? No, it just means i have more testing ahead of me with other brands of primers to find that sweet spot like i did with the IMR White Hots.

Here are the results with the 295gr HP Powerbelts:

Now i was pretty happy, especially with the White Hots - 295 Powerbelt combo and even fairly happy with the Pyrodex combo load. I thought i was all set for even better results once i switched to the 245gr HP Powerbelt. Boy was i ever wrong!

Switching over to the 245gr HP Powerbelts and the IMR White Hots, i took my 3 shots, scratched my head, shook it side to side, and proceeded to remove the breech plug and swab the bore clean. Once clean, i loaded up with Pyrodex, took my 3 shots and REALLY was fuming with how that group went. Triple 7 did not go any better, in fact it got worse! With the Pyrodex Pellets and Triple 7 Pellets, this gun would not group worth a snot for even big target moose hunting! There's a lot of time and patience involved when shooting as i do have swab between shots in order to get the next round seated, and when i go through all this work and not have it group for nothing, its very disheartening.

245gr Powerbelt Results:

BUT..... it must be done in order to educate others about how different bullet weights, primers, oils, ect. can affect the accuracy of your muzzle loader. The results with the IMR White Hots and NSI Primers along with the 295gr HP Powerbelt are a perfect example of patience and taking the time to sit down at the range and work loads up and document them just in case i have to go back to a certain load.

Very simple things can change your muzzle loaders accuracy. Some of these things may be something YOU never would have thought about. Want an example? If you don't, you're going to get one anyway! Foul weather hunting - We put a piece of electrical tape, clear wrap with a rubber band around it - Bore Cot - Balloon over the muzzle to keep rain, snow, mud and other debris out of the bore while we are hunting. Can something that simple really affect your accuracy? We will find out soon!

Hodgdon Powder - Testing the Big 3

2011-04-22T21:23:00.023-06:00

I had put in for an order many months ago for an assortment of Triple 7 Pellets, Pyrodex Pellets and the new IMR White Hots pellets. Due to poor weather, either snowing, horrible hurricane force winds, mud, you name it! We had it over the winter and early parts of spring.

So now that the weather has finally lifted and the temps are in the mid 70's to low 80's i finally have been able to get outside and do some testing with Hodgdons main Three best selling Pellet powders.

While pellet powders are convenient, you are stuck with what grains they come in. Meaning, where as with loose form powder you can fine tune your load a few grains at a time. With pellets you have either a 50 grain pellet or a 30 grain pellet. You can use Four 30 grain pellets for 120 grains total if that's what your rifle shoots best with.

Getting to the test, i decided that i wanted to test those Three pellet brands with Two different grain of bullets. I chose the popular 245 and the 295gr Powerbelts Hollow Points. These bullets are widely used across the country when muzzle loader season starts.

On the Forums i am always reading, "Ah man! My gun doesn't shoot for nothing with the 245gr powerbelts! The normal response i read is, Mine either! I couldn't get mine to shoot the 245's for anything! I switched to the 295 powerbelts and it loves them! Puts them into an Inch and a half group @ 100 yards and has dropped Four deer so far! Im sticking with this load!"

Well in this article i am going to share my little test from a few days ago with you all and SHOW you what can happen with One bullet weight and One powder Brand.

Loadings - Cleaning process:
Swabbed bore clean with Birchwood Casey Muzzle Magic Foam between Each shot to cut down Crud ring and to make for consistent accuracy.

Target Distance: 75 yards
Gun Rest: Caldwell FCX Lead Sled
Muzzle Loader: CVA Accura V2 .50cal

Powder Type: IMR White Hots

Starting first with the New IMR White Hots, 245GR HP Powerbelt, Winchester W209 primers.

I actually ended up taking Four shots due to shot #3 dropping down into the bulls eye. Shot Four surprisingly hit just a bit above it. No explanation for this other than the weight of the bullet just may not mix well with the powder.

Experiment with as many powders, primers, bullets as possible!

Switching over to the 295gr HP Powerbelt but sticking with the 100gr White Hots charge, consistency was grouping was much better.

While it was an improvement, I am not satisfied with either group. Groups like this are something i'd expect at around 150 - 200 yards, not 75 yards.

Powder Type: Triple 7 pellets
So now that i cleaned the bore again, i switched over to 100gr Triple 7 pellets with the 245gr Powerbelts " Pictured left" An improvement over the White Hots but still not great in the accuracy department that i demand.

Cleaning again and reloading with the 295gr HP "Pictured Right"Powerbelts i took my Three shot group, cleaning the bore out between shots and saw a very nice improvement.

While this was a great improvement, especially with the 295gr Powerbelts, this to me, for my Experience in muzzle loading and squeezing the tightest accuracy possible out of my rifles, i would have to call all of the groups, failures to be quite honest with you all.

Would these groups do the average hunter - Shooter? Absolutely! Once you start to log in the hours and Thousands of shots i shoot each year, you tend to get spoiled by accuracy and become very picky about group size, so understand this as we go along!

Powder Type: Pyrodex Pellets Now Guys i will warn you a head of time! Pyrodex is a VERY accurate and reliable powder. It has been for the past 30+ years and i believe was the first substitute powder that was on the market when the real black powder stuff began to fade off due to restrictive laws in the US.

Now the warning: More Corrosive than the previous powders listed above. Fully clean your muzzle loader after shooting Pyrodex.

Use a water based cleaner to wash away the corrosive salts, follow up with a bore brush, flush your barrel out again, dry and lubricate with a good oil such as Birchwood Casey Barricade, Birchwood Casey RIG #2 just to name a couple. These are excellent oils for short term or long term storage.

Pictured left is starting off with 100gr Pyrodex Pellets & the 245gr HP Powerbelt. First and Second shot were beautiful! Sadly though, shot #3 could not keep up with the first two. A HUGE improve over the previous Two powders when using the 245gr HP Powerbelt.

Now a very strange thing happened, and it happened when i switched over to the 295gr HP Powerbelt.

Why? No clue! Normally the 295's love the 100gr charge, In loose form they do anyway. Pellets, apparently not!

This just shows you how powders react to different projectile weights. Some may say, Change your bullet weight, others may say, Change your powder! You just won't know what exactly is needed until you try something different.

Now to do another experiment, i will next use ONE 50 grain pellet and ONE 30 grain pellet for a total of 80 grains. This will really be interesting to see how each of these bullets again does in the test. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and find the rifles Sweet Spot!

Oiled Barrel VS Non Oiled barrel

2011-04-16T13:35:00.019-06:00

I first did this experiment with American Pioneer Powder 2f. This is one of those powders that is inconsistent in Velocity from Shot one to shot Two. Velocity spreads of 100 to even 250 FPS between shots is pretty normal when just loading up and shooting on a dirty barrel. An extreme spread like this isn't very noticeable at 100 yards, but once you start getting out to 150-200 yards, It will be noticed greatly.

With the Substitute powders today, IMR White Hots, Pyrodex, Triple 7, American Pioneer, Jim Shockeys Gold, these powders are known to produce whats called a Crud Ring. Sugar based powders like Triple 7 is well known to produce the crud ring the worse out all the other powders.

Cooler primers like Winchester 777 - CCI Inline MZL primers - Remington Kleanbore primers help reduce this Crud ring an hopefully enable the Hunter to reload his spent muzzleloader for a quick Second shot in the field. Having to swab in the field in order to get the next shot down is just plain ridiculous when you have a wounded animal in the field. But that's another issue for different time.

My first experiment was to keep the Velocity within a reasonable spread. I decided to do a test with a Lightly oiled Barrel, take Three shots, record the data and then fully clean the rifle again, take Three more shots WITHOUT oiling and see how the Velocity spread acted.

American Pioneer Oiled Barrel VS Non Oiled barrel Walk through video:

Now i had a good number of people wanting me to do this test again, but with a different brand of powder.

I decided to try the IMR White Hots, 100gr pellet load in the CVA Accura V2 with the 245gr Hollow Point Powerbelts, Winchester W209 primers and a distance of 13 feet the muzzle to the Chronograph. I started off by lightly coating a patch with Birchwood Casey Barricade, swabbed the bore and followed up with One dry patch to mop up excess oil. Dropping Two IMR White Hot pellets down the bore for a total charge of 100 grains, Seated the 245gr Powerbelt, primed the rifle and got everything set up on the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled, i was ready to take the first shot.

Shot one registered 1,701 FPS on my RCBS Chronograph. Not to shabby! Setting the gun up on the Tipton Best Gun Vise " It truly is in my opinion!" I removed the Quick Release Breech Plug, Ran a 5/32" " My Plug is modified" drill bit through the flash channel to remove primer carbon debris, did a half pump of Birchwood Casey Muzzle Magic Foam onto the face and wiped it clean and dried it, set to the side while i started on the barrel.

Part 1 - Barrel maintenance - Preparing the bore for the next shot.
The IMR White Hots produce a much softer fouling than what Triple 7 leaves behind. Using the Muzzle Magic Foam again, i did Three full pumps in the breech end of the barrel and let it do its job for a few minutes and soften up the fouling before running a patch down to swab the bore clean. It took a total of Two patches to remove all fouling. Followed up with One dry patch " used both sides", lightly coated a dry patch with Barricade, swabbed the bore and again, One dry patch, both sides, to mop up excess oil. Reloaded and took shot # Two - Repeated cleaning process & fired shot # Three.

Shots One through Three:
1701
1695
1690 Avg Velocity of 1695.

Now that was pretty darn good!

But i still had Three more shots to fire through the chronograph, but this time, No Oil in the bore.

Non Oiled bore:
Cleaning the gun again, i decided to make sure that there was No oil remaining in the barrel.
I soaked a patch with Birchwood Casey GUN SCRUBBER to completely remove any trace of oil that may have been left behind. After each shot the gun was fully cleaned, including the breech plug, and the bore was hit with Gun Scrubber to repeat the first shot cleanness i started with.

Shots One through Three:
1660
1681
1671
Avg Velocity of 1670 with an extreme spread of 21 FPS.

Now that's not bad either, but we lost 41 FPS on the first shot of a Non oiled barrel.

Now its highly worth noting that i found the Crud Ring on a Non oiled barrel to be pretty darn hefty. It took 6 pumps on the cleaner and Three patches " using both sides" to get the crud ring out. I was lucky enough to be able to take a picture of the IMR White Hot crud ring, after running one patch " Both sides" and cleaning out the loose fouling.

Why the fouling was stuck onto the stainless steel barrel harder with a non oiled barrel is something i have not figured out yet. Looking at it up close when i noticed it, the crud was very thick and chunky with a high gloss to it. This is one thing i do want to experiment more with and see why it sticks harder. My original though was that if there was any kind of Lube in the bore, it would turn the powders fouling harder and messier. That wasn't the case today.

This crud ring if not swabbed out will catch the bullet and hold it up. Meaning if you did not mark your ramrod or range rod, you may not notice that there's a 1/4" t o 1/2" gap between the powder charge and projectile!

If you accidentally do not seat the projectile on top of the powder charge you will experience heavy recoil, with other possibilities of a Bulged barrel or worse, a ruptured barrel that could take your life or any bystanders near you. ALWAYS MARK YOUR RANGE ROD - RAM ROD! If you watched the American Pioneer Video, you will see that my range rod has a Charge height indicator already built onto it that locks into place.

So if you are at the range, shooting the Sub black powders and want to get the best accuracy, most consistent velocity, Oil the bore between shots and run a couple patches to mop out excess oil! It simply works.

New To Muzzle Loading - Getting Started

2011-04-13T22:33:00.028-06:00

Part One

This subject pops up a LOT in the forums and blogs. We at Frontier Muzzleloading always get this question from a new guy who has zero knowledge or maybe someone with Some knowledge but is asking anyway because that's the smart thing to do when you are unsure about something and want to make sure you have it down correctly. Being new to any kind of sport is nothing to be shy about. Today there are tons of forums, blogs, that hopefully will offer the right advice to help you. So before i start, Let me just say, New guy! Do not be shy about asking questions, even if they may sound silly. You need to know this information as your Success with a Muzzle Loader depends on knowing exactly what you need and how to use it properly!

**Always Read the manual that comes with your Firearm & Shooting Accessories!**

The products you WILL need are listed below. These products include everything from a flask that carries your powder for easier use in the field and on the range, cleaning products that will ensure that your firearm lasts a life time. If you do not clean your muzzle loader, the corrosive powders will eat up the bore, leaving behind deep pitting which will never come out. I know this can all seem like its a huge pain in the butt to clean them, but its not as long as you are using products that actually work. It is a very simple process that is needed in order to keep your muzzle loader in top shape, but most importantly, Safe.

Now assuming you've already bought your muzzleloader " An Inline Muzzleloader most likely" We will look over some very important items and we Will also cut the crap out that you do NOT need!

Items I will need for my Inline Muzzle Loader:

Note: Provided links are for those that like to see exactly what is being spoken about to get a better idea of what is needed.

Range Rod - A heavy duty "Ram Rod" used Strictly on the Shooting Range. This saves your original ramrod and relieves a lot of pressure on your palm when seating a projectile! GET ONE!
Cleaning Rod - A much longer Universal ram rod used strictly for Cleaning the Bore of your muzzle loader.
Cleaning Patches - Explanation needed?
Ram Rod Accessory Pack - Contains ball/patch puller, cleaning brush, cotton bore swab and cleaning jag/loading tip for cleaning your Muzzle Loader.
Breech Brush - Used for cleaning the breech plug threads inside of the barrel. A must have!
Cleaning Brush - An old tooth brush or the likes will do to help scrub your muzzle loader clean.
Anti-Seize - If you forget to use this, You breech plug will be froze up in your muzzle loader! Apply a good layer onto the threads of your breech plug before reinstalling it! Tip: White Teflon Tape " Plumbers tape works excellent as well as less messy! A single wrap will do the job.
Bore Brush - Used to aid in removing stubborn fouling. I prefer the Nylon Bore brushes to the brass. The nylon will hold shape for a long time and not loosen up.
Powder Measure - For measuring Volume Amounts of Black Powder or black powder substitute powder.
Powder Flask - Holds your powder while you are out hunting or on the shooting range.
Bullet Starter - Loads the bullet into the muzzle and partially into the bore, reducing stress on your range rod and yourself.
Speed Loaders - Holds Pre-measured powder charge, bullet and primer! I throw a few into my pocket while hunting and they work excellent.
Shooting Rest - Get your rifle down on something good and solid to hold it steady!
Eye Protection
Hearing Protection

Now that you have the list of items above i can already hear the Question: What if i use such and such powder, what items will i need for cleaning? We'll keep the basic powders simple and straight to the point. The following includes,Loose Powder and Pellet Form of Powders.

Water Clean up: Simple warm soapy water to clean the following powder fouling. Windex with Vinegar or without vinegar is also an excellent product to clean the fouling that these powders produce. Triple 7 - Pyrodex - American Pioneer Powder - Goex - Swiss Powder.

Oil Based Solvent cleaners are a must if shooting Blackhorn209.
I have used a handful of cleaners and these are my top favorites to use for cleaning the Fouling that BH209 produces: Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber, Butches Bore Shine, Monatana Xtreme Blackhorn209 bore solvent. Bore Scrubber has stood out as the winner of the Three and it is all i use anymore.

What to use for Rust Protection?

That's currently an issue that i am doing testing on. CVA sent me 6 barrels to perform rust protection testing on and i have narrowed it down to a few products that do the job, with Two of them doing a better job than the other.

Birchwood Casey Barricade
Birchwood Casey RIG #2
Montana Xtreme Gun Oil

Out of the Three products, I prefer the Barricade as it dries and leaves a protective film on the metal surfaces. Monatana Xtreme of course does not dry and attracts dust, dirt, you name it, it sticks to the oil.

Rig #2 is a new product i am working with in the testing department and so i have limited experience with this product. The testing i have done with it, shows it to be an excellent product, it leaves a much thicker protective film coating and dries in less time than Barricade.

While all Three of these Products did the job, Barricade and RIG #2 were the best at keeping rust down to almost zero while sitting them outside for Two weeks, getting rained and snowed on. These products will keep your new or even your old muzzle loader in top shape. For Long storage periods, i recommend the RIG #2.

Now that you have a list of items that you will need, you can go to the store, look through the supply list and pick them out. If you are unsure of the brands quality, stop by the forum and ask about those products you've been eying at the store.

Part Two will look over the types of powders, Primers and what must be done to safely load and shoot a second shot!

Harvester 260gr PT Gold

2011-03-31T16:31:00.019-06:00

Due to our state laws, we are not able to use sabots during muzzle loading season in Colorado. Now i still like to get an assortment of popular selling bullets sold these days and so i contacted Harvester after reading some bad information on these bullets. These bullets supposedly exploded into hundreds of tiny little pieces in ballistic gel.

Well, Ballistic gel is very expensive and so i take advantage of our poor quality southern Colorado sandy soil. Making sure i get out as many imperfections "Small rocks and twigs" as possible, i fill up a Five gallon sand bucket, add a couple gallons of water and stir it up into a nice wet mixture. Sand of course is much harder on Bullets than say Ballistic Gel, but when you have plenty of it and its free, you use whats handy.

Once i received the 260gr PT Gold bullets and Crush Rib sabots for testing, i decided to use my brothers CVA Accura V2, Set up a new Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird target and see how they shot before i did any testing.

Starting at 100 grains of Blackhorn209 i was able to shoot a decent group at 153 yards, but i figured it was worth a few shots with 110gr Blackhorn209.

I was happy that i did because my group improved greatly, down to 1 1/4" with two shots touching. I didn't think it could get much better.

Taking the rifle back to the 50 yard range i went and loaded up a smaller sized Three gallon plastic bucket with a cement like mixture of sand-water and proceeded to take one shot so i could recover a bullet shot at a much closer distance. I wish i had been filming because that bucket shot straight up into the air and flew back a couple feet after it was all over with.

I sadly was disappointed once i saw that half the face of the bucket had been blown off, half of the sand thrown about in small chunks and a nickel size exit hole to top it off, in the back of the bucket. I don't think i ever have lost a bullet when shooting into this mixture.

Wanting to see if i could increase the Accura V2's accuracy even more, my brother and i decided to up the charge from 110 grains, to 120 grains Blackhorn209 just for giggles and see how accuracy would be. This is called a Magnum load and normally do not provide the most accuracy, but it is well worth trying. My brothers Three shot group at 153 yards measured under 3/4"! Never count the Magnum Load out until you actually give it a try in your rifle. Accuracy so far has not been an issue in the Accura v2!

Update: March 31 2011, Even though im sick, i had a real bad itch to go shooting and see if i could catch a bullet. I set up a Five gallon bucket that thankfully was already filled with clean sand and decided to use my Nephews CVA Wolf with 110gr Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum Primers, 260gr Harvester PT Gold in a Long Black Crush Rib sabot. Starting off at 100 yards i took Two shots and went to recover the bullets. Again, dumbfounded as they passed completely though my sand bucket! I don't know how the heck i am going to stop these bullets but i think having two five gallon buckets lined up in a row, i probably would have better luck.

Looking behind my target i was able to recover the Two bullets on the ground! Happy as heck that i was at least able to recover them even though one had smashed into some near by sand stone rock, But even then, it retained 212 grains!

The best bullet recovered "pictured" weighed 224 grains and

was found Approx.
Four feet behind the sand bucket.

After recovering the Two bullets, i decided to take a 50 yard shot into the same sand bucket and see if i could recover it now that i had the bigger five gallon sand bucket. Like the first test at 50 yards, when i walked up to the bucket, there was no bullet to be found. I will need to upgrade my sand buckets and make them a little more heavier duty it looks like, especially when shooting the PT Gold's!

2011-03-18T22:21:00.015-06:00

Adding to one of our most Favorite and Often Used Products we write about on here, are showing off New and Updated products from Birchwood Casey!

Adding to our Favorites list are the New " To us anyway" Dirty Bird Splatter Targets. I had been running low on targets for a while now but like to use up as many as possible before ordering more targets. While looking through Birchwood Casey's website I found these amazing targets.

I normally don't go with targets like this because of the "What if" factor.
Meaning, what if my gun throws a shot off and i couldn't see where due to limited space.

Well for the past year that has NOT been an issue whatsoever. After receiving my order in Three days, i was pretty happy that i had made the decision to go with these targets.

The New targets i ordered offer me Four 5.5" Bulls eye's on the standard 12"x12" size target. Each bulls eye has a 1" Red dot take make things easier on the shooters eye at the longer distances we may be shooting.

Getting the CVA Accura v2 set up on my shooting bench, i proceeded to load up a new Sabot to test out for Accuracy and later on, Bullet Performance in a controlled media.

Once loaded, i set up on my Lead Sled and sighted on the lower left hand target and took my first Three shots with the new bullet and new target set up. Very happy but the one shot in the white was hard to see, but lucky for me, the area i shoot at was lit up pretty good by the sun and i could see light shining through.

Wanting to take another Three shots, this time at the upper left target, i allowed the barrel to cool down for a few minutes in between shots and that helped a good deal with shrinking the group down.

Even at 153 yards, neither group was bad, certainly all in the kill zone, but honestly, i figured that i could do better than that. If not, either i was doing something wrong or the bullets just weren't up to the job.

Upping my charge to 110 grains Blackhorn209, i took aim at the lower right hand bulls eye and took my time, allowing the barrel to cool down properly and proceeded to shoot a One And a Quarter inch center to center group @ 153 yards with the bonus of Two shots " 1 & 3" Touching.

I really am enjoying these targets so far. I like the fact that i have 4 targets with full size bulls eyes and can now compare loads side by side rather than the old way of stuffing shot up targets into my range box that's packed with enough stuff as it is.

Cuts down on a LOT of walking as well. Not that i am lazy or anything but after walking 900 feet round trip after Three shots to put on a new target, it really takes its toll on you after a while.

I do like the full size single bulls eye targets when working with a new gun, especially for sighting in open sights or a scope, but once that has all been set up, the 4 in 1 targets are excellent.

As usual, another great target from Birchwood Casey and one that is growing on me very quickly.

Update!

Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber 2 in 1 bore cleaner

The last time i ordered this stuff to try out, i ordered the Spray Can style cleaner. A single 10oz can lasted me a full MONTH and i shoot almost daily. I was pretty surprised at that to be honest. The product works excellent for cleaning the fouling from Blackhorn209, my preferred powder of choice. Two or Three dry patches to swab out loose fouling, One wet patch to swab the bore, another wet patch to swab bore again and allow Five minutes to work, wipe out with another wet patch and i am done. It has been an excellent cleaner with very little smell to it. I can be sensitive to certain smells, but the Bore Scrubber is actually pretty decent and won't set the wife off on you the next time you clean your gun.

I had to make another order now that i was out of cleaner and so now that i knew how well the product worked, i ordered the massive super sized 32oz bottle. This should last me a very good while. The Bulk Bore Scrubber i did notice had a bit more bite to the odor compared to the Spray Can bore scrubber. This most likely is simply because you can actually unscrew the cap and have access to the entire contents.

And with that said, Make sure you don't knock it over with the cap off or else someone will be yelling at you.

I plan on buying a smaller sized bottle with a spray nozzle to keep from over soaking my patches and wasting cleaner along to prevent spillage.

Birchwood Casey RIG #2

CVA was nice enough to donate Six barrels " Five Blued and One Stainless Steel" so i could do a rust experiment on actual barrel steel. I am simply looking for a Quality product that actually helps keep the rusting down to a minimum. Another important issue is stickiness. No hunter can oil his or her gun and just leave it on there all oily and a complete mess. It's going to smell, its going to be slippery and worse of all, every darn bit of dirt, dust, or what ever is going to stick to the oil.

I have always heard of RIG on the traditional forums and they said it was some of the best stuff they used until the company stopped making it. Birchwood Casey it seems picked up the brand and is now offering it again.

Now comparing it to Birchwood Casey Barricade, The RIG #2 seems to leave a much thicker film coating on the metal once you wipe off the excess oil with a soft dry cloth. I just received this product so i do not have much info on it yet. I will run the RIG #2 inside the bores, outside the bores and on the rust testing barrels outside to see how well it protects. After being able to spray it on to my barrel and feel the thicker film it leaves, i think this will be some great stuff for rust protection. BUT! You never know until the tests are run, and that's what i plan to do.

Will provide updates on both the Targets and the RIG #2 as i get more time with them and test them.

Note! I forgot to mention the smell of RIG #2. It took me a while of sniffing to pin point it but once you spray down a patch and let it soak into the patch for a minute or two, It reminds me of a Moldy dusty smell. I did a little to much sniffing and ended up with a sore throat, so don't do like i did and sit there smelling it, take my word for it!

Powerbelt Aerolite Bullet Recovery Testing

2011-02-19T15:29:00.017-07:00

A few weeks ago, I got some samples of the New Powerbelt Aerolite Bullets to test out in both 250 grain and 300 grain. I normally shoot bullets in this weight range so i was very interested in seeing how these new bullets shot, but most importantly, how they performed in the sand trap.

I first started out with the CVA Optima shooting a 100 grain volume charge of Blackhorn209, set everything up in a 5 gallon bucket and took a shot.

With that first test done in the video, i wasn't to happy at recovering the bullets in the condition that they were in. The wound channel was huge, the size of my first as you could see in the video but the question is, how would they actually perform on game?

Wet news paper is torture on bullets, especially soft lead bullets, i don't think the wet news paper - gallon jug of water were the greatest to test in, but i had to see how the bullets held up in that kind of media.

Doing some more testing Feb 19th 2011, i used my nephews CVA Wolf with the 300gr Aerolite Powerbelt, 100gr charge of Blackhorn209, CCI 209 Magnum primer and set up my recovery bucket at 100 yards. I lined the front of the bucket with 2" of damp news paper and filled the rest of the bucket with damp sand to stop the bullet.

Note " Broken section of bullet was done by me in order to clean sand out from under that section so i could weigh the recovered bullets weight accurately.

This media worked out much better and gave me a real idea of how the bullet would perform on game at 100 yards. Notice i put in bold "100 yards" After recovering the bullets, i am a bit worried how they'd perform with that load at say, 25-75 yards with a Frontal Chest - Shoulder shot.

The first recovered 300gr Aerolite with the Ballistic Tip still attached to the bullet weighed 287 grains recovered and with fairly thick center mass.

The other bullet on the other hand lost its Ballistic Tip which in return allowed the bullet to "pancake" flat and be very thin and brittle towards the middle of the bullet. That bullet weighed a respectable 275 grains, but scary thin overall.

Will this hurt the performance on thin skinned animals such as a Deer or Antelope? No, most likely not, but i do like a bullet that holds thick center mass to get complete penetration into the vitals.

The Aerolite runs a new Over sized hollow point with in truth, confused me when i first read about it, as i have always felt they needed to either reduce the hollow point or just get rid of it completely. Soft lead mushrooms easily, even just by throwing it up against a wall, it will deform.

Going on Three years now i have been experimenting with my own insert for the powerbelt bullet which is made from hard Wheel Weight lead and uses a threaded shaft " Current Ballistic Tips - Aerotips use smooth shafts"

The idea with the Threaded Shaft is so that when the soft lead of the Powerbelt starts to mushroom on impact, it will actually squish into the Threaded Insert and bond to it and hold the Aerotip - Ballistic Tip in the center of the bullet and limit the bullets expansion to a certain point. Whats this all mean? Well, rather than having your Aerotip - Ballistic Tip turn sideways and cut into the soft lead, weakening it, its now going to stay center when it impacts Game and retain more energy as the bullets not going to pancake flat.
My Inserts were originally made for the Lead - Copper Series Powerbelts. I used Hard Wheel Weight lead and as soon as i dropped them from the mold i made, they went directly into a bucket filled with ice cold water and sat in that cold water for 24 hours to harden. My Inserts however did sit flush with the face of the bullet, simply as i do not have the tools to cut the Aerotip shape into the mold.

Pictured Left - 245gr Powerbelt - Threaded Insert

A very popular Powerbelt comes in 245gr Grain but with my testing, its safe charge is only 80 grains Pyrodex RS or equal. And thats for distances 50 yards and above. Using the Threaded Insert that i used to make, You could use a 100gr Pyrodex RS charge and shoot safely from 20 yards on out to how ever far you can see and that bullet would only lose an average of 6 to 8 grains at 20 yards.

Another great Powerbelt thats very popular is the 295gr Powerbelt In both Hollow Point and Aerotip. I made a special insert for this bullet but left it longer so it would act like an Aerotip " Looks nothing like the Aerotip but its purpose will be shown" Note 1 shows the Hard Wheel Weight Lead, spread across the soft lead, forming a protective "skin" over the soft lead to protect it and to keep it from over expanding. This Insert was one of my first experiments and did not get the cold water treatment which hardens the lead greatly.

Getting back to the Powerbelt Aerolite, Accuracy has been outstanding And while this is a new bullet, i am just doing my job in testing new products for you, the buyer - supporter of Powerbelt Bullets. While i am concerned about the overall performance on actual game i feel that shooting into wet news paper, phone books, ballistic gel and what other media you could think of, just does not give an accurate and honest Review of this bullet. I love how this bullet shoots but to voice an open concern about the Ballistic Tip.

As part of my love and compassion for both Powerbelt bullets and Product Testing - Reviewing I felt that it is up to me to get out in the field and test the New Powerbelt Aerolite this season. As of Feb 18th 2011, i sold my .54 Lyman Great Plains rifle to fund the cost of a New Mexico deer tag, If Drawn, so i can have the opportunity to not only harvest a big northern New Mexico Whitetail - Mule deer, but a chance to film it on camera and do an in the field Product Test - Review using the new 2010 CVA Optima, Blackhorn209, CCI 209 M Primers, Konus 3-10x44 Scope and the New Powerbelt Aerolite in 250 grain.

CVA Wolf - Accuracy still improving!

2011-02-16T18:02:00.011-07:00

Taking a rifle out to the range on a windy ( 20 - 30 MPH ) day is not something i normally do. Wind is something that annoys me more than anything else and so i rarely ever shoot when its windy. I decided to go shooting since it was very warm and just tinker around. I started shooting some 300gr Powerbelt Platinums, some 295gr Hollow Point Powerbelts and figured what the heck, i'll give the 250gr Aerolite Powerbelts another go. They did excellent the last time out with them so why not end the day with a bullet that i know shoots great in the rifle.

The rifle was shooting pretty high with the 300 and 295gr Powerbelts so i adjusted the scope 20 clicks down, set up a new target and loaded the rifle. Once settled into the Caldwell FCX i proceeded to get on target and lined up on the bulls eye.

First shot showed me that the Point of Impact moved a bit to the right after adjusting the scope down previously. I wasn't worried about that so i left it for now. As you can see, the bullets impacted about 3/8" high of the bulls eye. I like having my rifle to shoot a bit high and not shoot out the bulls eye. Why? If i shoot out the bulls eye, i wont have a solid center to aim at. Sometimes my rifles will be sighted in as much as 6" high just to keep the target clean and keep a clean clear scope.

The last time out with this rifle and this exact load, i didn't allow any cool down time and yet i still produced to shoot a 7/8" center - center 3 shot group @ 100 yards. Fantastic accuracy for a $170 rifle.

I decided to reload and give the barrel a few minutes to cool down. I did this for all Three shots today and my Accuracy went from excellent to, looking cross eyed at the rifle and saying, How in the hell is this $170 rifle shooting groups like this?

I was shooting the new 250 grain Powerbelt Aerolite with 100 grains Blackhorn209 and the CCI 209 Magnum primers.

A newly designed 2010 1cent penny next to my group!

Once home i measured the hole outside to outside and came up with .727" Divide that in half to find the center to center width and you'll end up with a .363" center to center 3 shot group with a $170 CVA Wolf! People will may 5 - 6 times the money and settle for something that gets a lot less accuracy than my Wolf. Not only does my Wolf shoot tight groups, It does it Consistently!

How can you do this? Patience, the will the listen and learn.

A good rifle, Powder, primer, projectile and most important, a good quality rest will help you greatly in achieving excellent groups as the group i shot today. Nothing special needed!

Accuracy Update: 2010 CVA Wolf

2011-02-14T16:09:00.021-07:00

It's been a while since i took my CVA Wolf out. I have been spending so much time on the range with my CVA Optima that a few days ago i felt bad for the Lil Wolf sitting in the corner and not getting the love it deserves.

I took care of that today and loaded up some powder tubes with 71 grains weight "100gr Volume" Blackhorn209, got a fresh package of CCI 209 Magnum Primers, loaded up the Wolf into the gun case along with the range rod and headed out back to the shooting range with the ATV and gear in tow.

Now one thing i have been doing and most likely will stick to, is weighing my powder charges. I feel it does help with accuracy, especially with Blackhorn209. Knowing that my charges weigh equally the same gives me greater confidence while on the range.

I really haven't shot a whole lot of Blackhorn209 in this rifle due to my other rifles getting all of the attention so i figured that i would just start off with a 100 grain charge and give it a go and see how it went.

Grabbing a package of the 300 gr Powerbelt Aerolites, 250gr Aerolites and even a package of the 270gr Powerbelt Platinums, i was off and heading to my shooting range for some play time.

I first started off with 100gr Blackhorn209 & the 300gr Aerolite Powerbelt. Once the bullet was seated i set my charge height indicator on my range rod so it would seat the bullet consistently to the first shot on a clean bore.

Got the Wolf loaded and set up on the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled and dialed onto the Dirty Bird Target and squeezed the trigger. The bullet impacted surprisingly high but it was center. I normally don't bother with adjusting the height until i find the exact hunting load i will be using and so, after a few minutes of barrel cool down time, i reloaded, got set up on the Lead Sled again and did this Two more times for a Three shot group @ 100 yards.

I was pretty excited with the group, Shots One and Two are in the same hole and shot Three drifted out a bit. Hey with wind gusts of 10 to 20 MPH, i surely wasn't about to complain!

A solid 1 & 3/8" 3 shot group out of a $170 muzzle loader is pretty damn good in my opinion.

Although we have between 6 to 12" of snow on the ground, the weather has been beautiful, in the low 60's and great for shooting if you don't mind the wind and the mud. Especially when you drop your Caldwell headphones right in the mud when reloading. That's why i carry a spare set of simple ear plugs for back up.

Some Advice on targets: Match your cross hair thickness to the correct size of bulls eye on your target. This Wolf uses a simple inexpensive $50 Bushnell scope. Very clear but the cross hairs are super thick. When i started shooting the 270gr Platinums, i'd get a Two shot group touching here, and then a Two shot group touching over there. My bulls eye was a tiny 1/4" orange dot and due to the smallness of the bulls eye, i wasn't able to consistently hold on target. I upgraded to the Dirty Bird targets with a 1" bulls eye and i was fine after that. I normally use the 1/4" bulls eye for the Konus Pro with the 30-30 reticle. So make sure you bring the right size bulls eye for the scope you are shooting. A bulls eye that's to big will have the same affect as a bulls eye that's to small. Match them up!

Once i had the 300gr Aerolite info wrote down, i went ahead and reloaded with the 250gr Aerolite Powerbelt and a 100gr blackhorn209 charge, topped off with a CCI 209 Magnum Primer.

I loaded and fired the first shot i was again surprised to see it a good 5" high but center of the bulls eye. This Wolf has never liked a light weight powerbelt and so i wasn't expecting much on shot Two. But to my surprised, shots 1 and 2 over lapped each other! A complete and total surprise to say the least.

The wind had kicked up pretty good while i was reloading shot Three and just as i was getting ready to squeeze the trigger, my target bent in half. After a bit of head shaking and mumbling some words under my breath i went and walked out to the target for a repair. The repair ended up being a Two foot long stick wedge into an old bullet hole, but the repair worked and so after the 10 minutes it took to repair and walk back, i was set up and aiming through the scope onto the target once more.
After the shot i was simply blown away, left it shock, left speechless and kissing that Wolf!

Come hunting season, if i or anyone else in the family uses this rifle, the 250gr Aerolite and 100gr Blackhorn209 charge will be its load!

Now to refresh the powder tubes, bullet bag and put some fresh targets into the range box. I am going to start shooting this wolf a hell of a lot more from now on!

Come visit the forum! Muzzle LoadingAccuracy is just one click away.

Powerbelt Aerolite Accuracy Test

2011-01-24T22:55:00.017-07:00

Well, It didn't take long to test the new Aerolites out. The following day after UPS dropped off the Aerolite Powerbelts, i was already in the room, reloading my Powder Tubes with Charges of 90 - 100 - 110gr Blackhorn209, Grabbed a fresh box of CCI 209M primers and some Dirty Bird Targets and put all the gear into my range box for the walk out back to the shooting range.

Now i had planned on shooting the 300gr Aerolites first but for some reason, i loaded a 250 Aerolite by accident.

The damage had already been done, i wasn't going to dump the charge so i just went with it and decided to give the 90gr Blackhorn209 - 250gr Aerolite a try at 100 yards and take Three shots. I was actually pretty happy when i saw the group. It was roughly 2 1/2" Already an improvement just from a slightly heavier bullet.

After that i went and loaded up 100gr Blackhorn209 and the new 300gr Aerolite. This Optima loves the big heavy bullets with a 90-100gr charge so i figured what the heck, lets go with a good thumping load and see what happens.

Blacked out holes are the previous Three shots with the 250gr Aerolites.

On the first shot i was really surprised to see the 300's impacted EXACTLY the same height as the 250's. That's a first for me and to be honest, i was a little upset as i wanted the target to have clean holes rather than a bunch of shots run in together. It happens, so you just have to go with it. After 3 shots i had them 1" center to center with shots One and Three in a big hole! I figured on this happening because the rifle loves the 300gr Platinum, why wouldn't it like the 300 Aerolites?

With the first Three rounds shot down range, i noticed in the freshly fallen snow skip marks all across the surface. Looking closer i could see small bits and pieces of Black plastic from the Powerbelts Gas seal. Very typical to find the Green, Red and Yellow gas seals out to 50 yards down range, but the Platinum - Aerolites gas seals break up immediately as they exit the barrel.

On the Platinum series, there's normally a round piece of plastic stuck onto the Powerbelts nipple and that can cause some serious bullet damage upon impact and weaken it greatly. I am hoping that the Aerolite sheds this piece of plastic so it will not have this kind of trouble like the Platinums.
The red dots indicate where pieces of gas seal impacted in the snow.

As you can see, they started breaking up and hitting roughly 6 feet in front of my Shooting Bench.

After that i was pretty stoked and living on top of the world. I was going to call it quits but what the heck, Why not give the 250's another try with 100gr Blackhorn209 this time around? What could it hurt? Other than accuracy of course and Three less bullets in the package.

I decided to adjust the scope 12 clicks down and 12 to the right and actually go walk out and use some repair pasties to patch up the old holes from all the previous shooting. The Konus Pro 3-10x44 scope has very thin cross hairs so i had to stick on one of Birchwood Caseys 3" targets that has a tiny 1/4" Orange dot. Yes, its tiny but that scope has some seriously thin cross hairs for pin point accuracy.

After taking a break to cool down, i proceeded to load up the Optima with 100gr Blackhorn209 and the 250 Aerolite, Slipped a CCI 209 Magnum primer into the breech plug, closed the action firmly and got settled onto my shooting rest.

On my first shot, i just smiled and shook my head as the recoil was extremely light. I can be recoil sensitive, especially after taking a scope to the nose more times than i care to remember, so being able to push that 250 Aerolite with the 100gr Blackhorn209 charge and enjoy it, it gave me a lot of confidence for Septembers muzzle loading season.

Giving the rifle a few minutes to cool down, i do this between each and every shot to keep barrel heat down and consistent, i reloaded again, set up, got on the target and carefully squeezed the trigger. I don't think i said anything when i saw where it went, i just stood up, reloaded and got set up on the target, and laid my head down in my forearms and closed my eyes to rest them and think about what just happened. After the few minute break - cool down, i got the rifle shouldered again, sighted down on the target, slowly pulled the hammer back and gently stroked the Optima's trigger.

If the next door neighbor was home, he most likely would have thought a fight was going on due to all the screaming and swearing going on! I seriously was doing so much of it that i got light headed and damn near passed out cold. This Optima has NEVER shot like this with a light weight Powerbelt! What i had just pulled off the first time on the range with the New Aerolite Powerbelt just simply blew me away.

After measuring the group at the widest point, I came up with a 1/2" Three shot group from 100 yards with the 250Gr Powerbelt Aerolite with 100gr Blackhorn209 and the CCI 209 Magnum primers with a Three minute cool down between each shot.

Now you'd think i was shooting off my $300 Caldwell CFX Lead Sled right?

Wrong.

As much as i love that Lead Sled, i know for a fact that its out for the average joe looking to go to the range every other weekend. I hadn't shot on this kind of rest in a long time, so i surprised the heck out of myself with how consistent i was on it. Normally it takes a few trips to the range to warm up and get used to something i haven't had much practice with, but i sure won't complain about the Accuracy and Consistency I had on this trip to the range.

As you can see, the rest i used was the Caldwell Tack Driver bag rest. The last time i looked, these bags ran only $40 unfilled which is a hell of a deal for a good solid rest. I used a simple wool sock with... of all things... A Three pound bag of pinto beans stuffed into it and then tied off to put under the butt of the stock. If it works, use it!

Just goes to show, You don't need the most expensive gear out there to gear amazing accuracy.

Keep it simple:

A good clean,consistent powder like Blackhorn209
A good hot primer like the CCI 209 Magnum
A g00d muzzle loader with a smooth cleanly rifled barrel
A good clean, crisp breaking trigger
A good shooting rest

Now for Bullets, lets face the truth, what works in my gun, May Not work in yours! Muzzle Loading can be a very expensive addiction finding the right charge, bullet, primer combo. But its worth it after you find that sweet spot.

RCBS came through and replaced the Ammomaster Twice due to faulty mainboards shorting out, They sent me a brand new Ammomaster chronograph with an updated board, a refund check to make up for the shipping i had to pay to send it back the first time, a pre-paid shipping label to send back the other non working Chronograph! That's customer service there! I was pretty upset after paying $150 for it and then having this happen, but it looks like they pulled through and took care of me.

Chronograph info with the New Powerbelt Aerolites is next up on the list, followed by Expansion testing.

NEW! Powerbelt Aerolite

2011-01-19T19:46:00.019-07:00

I am extremely excited to say that i got the Brand New Powerbelt AeroLite's in today!

Why a new Powerbelt? Well, The AeroLite Series is designed for standard loads of 80-100gr powder charges. The AeroLite is completely different on the inside as its specifically designed to deliver optimal performance when used with the muzzle loader hunters most commonly used 100 grain charge.

The AeroLite has a Larger Hollow Point cavity than any other Powerbelts made.

The larger cavity Maximizes Expansion while eliminating weight from the core of the bullet. This makes the bullet longer than standard Powerbelts ( Copper Series - Platinum Series) Of similar weight.

Longer bullet length produces more stability and greater accuracy.

A Polycarbonate Aerotip Fills the Over sized Hollow Point to give you better aerodynamics and better expansion control on impact.

The AeroLites are "tuned" to perform best at velocities of 1,800 Feet Per Second.

Can you use Magnum charges with the New AeroLites? Absolutely! If you are hunting in an area where its normal to be shooting distances of 100 yards or more, the Aerolite will have slowed down to its recommended 1,800 FPS area even with a 150gr Charge.

Breaking out my Calipers i dissected the new Aerolite and got measurements on almost everything.

250gr Aerolite Powerbelt Specs:

Bullet Length: .840"
Bullet Length Without Aerotip Installed: .592"
Bullet Diameter: .499"
Bullet Diameter at top of gas check: .507"
Hollow Point Diameter: .202"
Aerotip Shaft Length: .324" "In other words, The Hollow Point Cavity Depth."

This is a massive Hollow Point and i look forward to setting up my Wet News paper / Sand buckets for penetration - Bullet Hold Up Testing.

The Coating on the new Aerolite is very SLICK. Although they look black in color, the Coating in person is a dark Graphite color. Very pleasing to the eye " i call it eye candy". Loading up my CVA Optima with the new Aerolite, i noticed right off the bat that they seemed to load smoother and easier than the other Two style Powerbelts.

Until i am able to hit the range and see how they shoot, I'll just provide the info and pictures so you all can see it up close.

Konus Pro 3-10x44

2011-01-18T19:37:00.021-07:00

I got this Konus Pro from Dudley McGarity of CVA earlier in 2010 and have been shooting it on 3 different rifles to see how it would stand up from everything to our CVA Apex 30-06 to the CVA Optima .50cal. I've put a couple Thousand rounds through the rifles with the Scope mounted and it has been trouble free since day one.
The Konus 3-10x44 is a waterproof and fog proof scope provides predictable results in every weather condition. Features a 30/30 engraved reticle and enhanced Green Coated optical glass. The optics are multi-treated and nitrogen purged to optimize the already high quality images. This scope is shockproof (Heavy Caliber recoil proof reticle). Because of the larger objective and excellent lens coating this is an ideal scope for dusk to dawn hunting.

Specification:

Finish / Color	Matte Black
Model	Konus KonusPro
Objective Diameter	44mm Objective
Power	Power 3-10x, Power 3x10, 3-10x44
Reticle	Glass Etched 30/30 Reticle
Type	Rifle Scope
Magnification / Objective	3-10x44
Parallax Setting	100 Yards
Waterproof	100% Waterproof / Fogproof
FOV (Field Of View)	38.3 ft. at 3x / 10.8 ft. at 10x
Eye Relief	3.7 Inch
Click Value	6.3mm / .25 (1/4) Inch at (mm@100m/in@100yds)
Adjustable Range	62.8" / 1.74mInch at (mm@100m/in@100yds)
M.O.A.	1/4 M.O.A. finger adjustable windage
Optics	Green Multi Coated - Nitrogen purged
Weight	17.6 oz ./ 547.42gr.
Length	12.9" / 327.66mm.
Tube Size	1 inch

When i first got this scope i immediately mounted it onto my New at the time, CVA Optima and used the Durasight Dead on Mount system. Looked great on the rifle, very solid.

I had never heard of Konus before Dudley sent me this scope, so i really didn't know what to expect. The clarity of the Optics is excellent, crystal clear and does not get fuzzy around the edges.

Normally my scopes have always had thick cross hairs so when i got the Konus out of the box and looked through the lens, i couldn't believe my eyes, I've never seen cross hairs so thin. I absolutely love this 30-30 set up this scope has!

One thing you will notice however is that you will have to use a target with a very small aiming dot. I currently use a Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird Splattering target and then add one of their smaller 3" Shoot N - C targets over the center which has a tiny 1/4" orange dot in the center.

I am pretty impressed with the quality and overall performance i have had with this scope over the past year. As time on the range goes by, i am able to keep shrinking my groups more and more with practice, Its getting the point where the accuracy is really starting to scare me. Who'd have ever thought a muzzle loader could be so accurate?

Hopefully one year i will be able to use the scope during hunting season and report on how it acts in the field under hunting conditions and especially how it acts after a day being strapped to our ATV while scouting and driving to hunting areas.

CVA Muzzle Loaders - Keep'em Clean

2011-01-01T21:53:00.022-07:00

Does your Accura, Optima, Accura V2 or Wolf, look like the picture on the left?

I can't even tell you how many times i have opened my CVA Accura, Optima,Wolf and found the face of the frame covered with black primer soot. Not only is it ugly to look at, it can be a down right pain in the neck getting it off. At times it will come off with a simple cleaner like windex, hoppes, butches bore shine. At times, even those will not remove it! So we use a tiny ball of 0000 steel wool and end up taking not only the Primer Soot off, but the Nickle plating as well.

Well after playing around and trying to figure out an easy way to take care of this issue i finally found it. And the best part, All it takes is a proper fitting screw driver and some patience.

Tools you will need:

Proper fitting screw driver
White Teflon tape
Feeler gauge with assorted thicknesses

First thing you will need to do is get your rifle up onto a rest if you have one available. I am using the Tipton Best Gun Vise which makes scoping, cleaning, modifying my rifles/Muzzleloaders a real charm. If you don't have something like this, you can use a card board box and cut out some slits for the rifles frame to fit into and hold it snug.

Once you have your rest all set up, go a head and remove the barrel from the stock and remount your frame to your vise.

Now that your rifle is snug in the vise, Go a head and get your screw driver set. I use the Wheeler 26 piece set that i bought from the local gun shop for $16. When working on a muzzle loader or any gun in general, you NEED a good assortment of screw driver sizes.

"Left" Notice on your Factory CVA muzzle loader that the Firing pin bushing sits flush with the frame:

Visually inspect and find the Firing Pin Bushing. This Bushing holds a TINY spring and of course the metal firing pin striker.

Use the proper fitting screw driver and Remove these parts and put them into a plastic ziplock bag to prevent you from losing them. Especially that spring!

Once the Bushing is out, Go and clean it free of any grease / debris. Follow up by cutting a 1" long piece of White Teflon "Plumbers" Tape. You will then need to wrap the threads of the Firing Pin bushing with this Tape as it will give it a tighter hold while installed. Once taped, reinstall Firing Pin - Spring and Bushing. Snug up the bushing and then back it off just a touch.

Now this is the part that gets tricky!

We need to take a look at the primer you will mainly be using. Primers come in all kinds of lengths. The set up i use is both the CCI 209M primers and Winchester W209 primers. Federal 209A primers are also close in length to the other Two. The CCI 209M primers are the shortest of the "hot" primers. With these primers you will need use your feeler gauge and pull out anywhere from the .014 all the way up to .016" thickness gauge.

Shorter Primers such as the cooler Winchester 777 primers, Remington Kleanbore Primers,CCI Inline MZL primers may work best with the .016 as these primers are shorter. These Three primers are the Nastiest primers to use on a factory CVA rifle as the mess they leave behind is just terrible from all the blow by.

Now to skip back a bit, I want to show you what a factory CVA Accura looks like after shooting the CCI 209m primers and the firing pin screwed in all of the way.

On the left side we have CCI 209M primers fired in a factory set up CVA Accura. You can see that one half is pitch black and the other side is fairly clean. Why is this? My only guess is that when the rifle is fired, the primer blows back due to the gap between the firing pin bushing and primer, Once the primer hits the bushing, the pressure then puts force onto the primer and cocks it at an angle therefore leaving us one one filthy side and one clean side.

Now the primers on the right are Winchester W209 primers fired from the a CVA Accura after its firing pin was adjusted .016" out. Super clean and a simple Q tip at the end of the day to clean up inside the frame.

Now getting back to what needs to be done for a spotless CVA Break action Muzzleloader.

I shoot mainly Blackhorn209 with the CCI 209M primers. So for this set up, i will use the .016" feeler gauge and grabbing my screw driver, back the firing pin bushing out until its level with the .016" feel gauge. Once that's done, i will re-install the barrel.

Making SURE that there is no Charge in the barrel, install your primer into the breech plug and just gently close it. DO NOT SLAM IT! If adjusted correctly, there should be about a .008" gap between the frame and the Quick Release Breech plug. If you shoot a Pre-2010 you'll see the gap quite a bit easier.

Once you see this gap, burn it into memory. After that, break the action open again and then time, give it a good solid slam shut. Doing this will cause a "Crush" fit of the primer for basically a 100% blow back free Primer to Frame fit. You will no longer have a mess to clean, you will now get Consistent pressure into your main charge.

If you are using the Shorter primers mentioned earlier, just experiment and make adjustments as you see fit until its completely blow by free.

On This CVA Accura V2, the Firing Pin bushing has now been adjusted outward .016" and is 100% blow by free of primer soot.

An assortment of CCI 209M primers and Winchester W209 primers.

How To Video:

Birchwood Casey Gun Care

2010-12-15T19:03:00.014-07:00

Well, UPS dropped on a case of Blackhorn209, December 15th. I really was interested in trying the Birchwood Casey Barrel Scrubber with Blackhorn209's fouling.

After mounting a scope on the CVA Apez .50cal Muzzle Loader, i decided to go ahead and swab the bore free of any oil. I actually used the Gun Scrubber to do this as it dries very quickly and removes any oil. Once that was finished i set about getting all of my shooting gear together and packed into the range box.

I was running some home cast .500" 360gr Lee Minie ball through this Apex with 70gr Blackhorn209 and a CCI 209 Magnum primer. Accuracy was going excellent at 50 yards and at 75 yards, things did start to act up. I noticed one bullet would go in with finger pressure, the next i had to use my Roto Loader, slip it over the ramrod and push down hard.

I am thinking both the Lee Alox lube and even Bore Butter was causing a gummy fouling to form and completely mess up my groups. I plan on experimenting more with those bullets as Accuracy was really showing great promise in becoming an Accurate load.

Once i got my gear back into the house i mounted the Apex on the Tipton Best Gun Vise and proceeded to remove the breech plug for cleaning. Once out, i cut up some cleaning patches, got the can of Gun Scrubber, put it to the side and then ran Two DRY patches down the bore to mop out the loose fouling. Once that was done, i sprayed down a clean patch and swabbed the bore in short 4" strokes until i works my way all the way to the muzzle.

Changing patches for a fresh one and again, soaking it with Bore Scrubber, i repeated my last step of short swabbing. I allow the product to work for around 10 minutes and in that time, i normally go off to clean the breech plug out and then come back to finish up the Bore.

Running a Third patch down the bore " final cleaner patch" it was squeaky clean. It basically took Two dry patches to push out excess loose fouling, One soaker patch, another mop up soaker patch that was allowed to work for 10 minutes, a final patch as a Double check to make sure all fouling was out. After that Two dry patches.

Perfect! Very little patches for clean up, a spotless bore. I think i will know for sure if this Bore Scrubber will be my new cleaner once i test it more over the winter.

One thing is for certain: If you are shooting Pyrodex, Triple 7, American Pioneer, Black Mag. Don't bother with the gun scrubber. I tried it with American Pioneer and it just did not cut the hard crud down. I ended up having to use Birchwood Casey foaming bore cleaner to get the residue out. Gun Scrubber seems to be made for cleaning Smokeless Powder rather than the Sub black powders.

So the Gun Scrubber, Barricade and Bore Scrubber, these Three all seem to be doing excellent for me in my rifles.

We take care of cleaning out the dirt and grit with the Gun Scrubber, we follow up with Rust/Corrosion protection with the Barricade and then we have a squeaky clean barrel with the Bore Scrubber.

What about keeping the weather out of the Bore while hunting in foul weather or just simply to make sure harmful dust/dirt doesn't get into the bore?

Bore cots!

No, not the little white cheap rubber deals the doctor uses when he tells you to drop your pants and bend over.

Birchwood Casey as i found out not to long ago, offers them in a MUCH thicker latex and will not tear easy. I wish i had found them years ago rather than ending up with condensation in my bore which led to rust.

Not much to say on them guys! Thick latex that doesn't break easily, non gloss finish, package of $20 for around $4 depending where you shop.

Targets Galore - Birchwood Casey

2010-12-15T17:27:00.011-07:00

Well its that time again where i had an itch to try some new targets. One thing i love it about a company is when they offer a huge assortment of shooting targets to choose from. I like that! Make things fun, give variety to the buyer and not have the stare at the same target over and over each time out on the range.

I loved the looks of the Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird Sight in targets so i got some to try out. I've only worked out to 75 yards with them so far " ran out of bullets" so i haven't been able to do a whole lot of shooting with these new targets just yet.

Five bull’s-eye targets come with aiming points for open or scoped sights making it easy to check different ballistic loads for more shooting fun. The main Center Bulls eye is 1" diameter and the other Four bulls eyes on the sides are 1/2" in diameter. Plenty big for actual use. Normally i don't bother shooting at extra bulls eyes due to the size of them being so small they are hard to see in the cross hairs but so far, i think i will actually be able to make use out of a full target and shoot all Five available bulls eyes.

Complete with 1" grid pattern and stadia lines making sighting-in a snap. The all-around best sight-in and practice target!

Use this large 12" x 12" sight-in target for sighting-in up to 400 yards away.

As you can see, the holes from the 245gr Aerotip Powerbelts show up excellent on camera and in the scope.

I plan on using these targets as my main " work horse" out on the shooting range. Then again, you never know what else i may run onto! Until then, these are my new favorite targets to shoot at.
****************************************************************

Our next target that we're using mainly for open sights is the Birchwood Casey Shoot N C Targets 8" and 12" Round “X” Target.

When i ordered i messed up and did not realize that when you order the 8" the orange center is actually 1-1/2" Diameter VS the 12" that has a 3" orange center. I plan on using these mainly for open sight shooting but with the smaller 1-1/2" center, my range will be limited obviously to not being able to see it as well. So other than my whoopsie, the targets are fantastic.

The contrasting crosshair design makes lining up your scope crosshairs a snap. Use as a
sight-in target or for general purpose. Each sheet contains extra pasters that match the center
aiming point, because that is where you will be hitting the most anyway!

Out on the 50 yard range where i start off when working up loads, i decided to go a head and give this new target a few shots and see how well i liked them.

Using my CVA Mountain Rifle .54 at 50 yards, i could see the 1-1/2" orange circle perfectly in my single red finger optic sight. My Accuracy was out standing as well. That's Three shots at 50 yards with 80gr American Pioneer Powder 3F, CCI #11 cap, .530" round ball and .015 TC Patches. That will be my hunting load should i choose to use that rifle one year.

We tested these at 100 yards with our Scoped CVA Accura V2 and the target is perfect out at that range. The stood out crisp and clear in the Barska Huntermaster 3-9x40 scope we have mounted on the V2.

A great target to both the Scoped & Open sight shooter.

If you are sighting in a new Gun or just trying out new loads for the heck of it, Go with the 12" to allow more room for experimenting and especially for error. Once you got your load down, switch over to the 8" for easier storage in your range box.

Dislikes: The 8" targets only come with one Black repair sticker but does come with Three center bulls eye repair stickers. Birchwood Casey offers a Repair Kit for a very reasonable price and i highly recommend that you get both the 1" and 2" repair stickers. They come in handy.

Count on seeing both targets being used in the near future Range Reports!

1-2-3 Aerosol Value Pack

2010-12-11T16:56:00.016-07:00

Gun cleaning made simple. 3 easy steps to clean your firearm: dissolve, clean and protect. First, use Bore Scrubber® to dissolve copper fouling and residue left behind from firing your firearm. Second, clean out the dissolved material with Gun Scrubber®. And, third, cover with Barricade® to protect your firearm from rusting.

Two of these products are new to me. I have never used them before simply because the local stores here are small and are lucky enough to even be open!

Ive used Barricade for a while now and its excellent for keeping rust away and spraying down the guts of my muzzleloaders with after i flush them out. As i found out earlier this year, Barricade also makes an excellent Patch lube for the traditional round ball shooters!

Testing out a modified breech plug, i ended up with my CVA Optima frame being cover in black soot due to breaking the rules of " If it ain't broke, Don't fix it". Well i tried fixing what shouldn't have been fixed and ended up with a horrible mess inside that rifle. As i was taking the rifle apart getting ready to clean it, Fedex showed up with a box and good thing too because it had my new cleaning supplies inside it.

After looking over my order i was extremely interested in getting the 1-2-3 Pack open and tested out.

I shook up the Gun Scrubber and before i sprayed it i had a thought of, Ah man is it going to be like Brake cleaner and take the nickel finish off my rifle? Only one way to find out and i am crazy enough to do that kind of testing on my own rifles " Better mine than yours right? hahaha"

Make sure you have a soft bristle and medium bristle tooth brush handy just in case you need a little extra scrubbing power to get the nasty stuff out. I read the directions on the bottle and you use Short bursts, don't hold it down and go at it, just hit it with a burst, go to a new area and hit that area with a burst. Inspect it and if you see any fouling, follow up with the tooth brush and hit it again with the Gun Scrubber to clean it off.
I was pretty impressed though when the fouling just basically was blasted off the interior frame of my Muzzle Loader. That stuff can get pretty nasty when testing new primers and such.

One thing is for CERTAIN, If you hold the nozzle down, You are going to eat it up fast. Short bursts, scrub, another short burst and inspect the area you are cleaning.

This is a great product for taking off that nasty crusty fouling that seems to seep into every nook and cranny possible on a firearm. Pair up cleaning product with Birchwood Caseys Angled Cleaning Brushes and you got a great set up that will get into those hard to reach areas.

Moving onto the other Product, Bore Scrubber.

The Main powder that i shoot is Blackhorn209 which requires an oil based Solvent to clean it out of your barrel.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect as i never used a bore cleaner in a spray can before. Again, read the directions on the bottle. Birchwood Casey recommends to run a DRY patch down the bore to mop up loose excess fouling. I did this and as expected, the typical Black fouling Blackhorn209 leaves behind.

Spraying a clean patch down, i followed the directions and swabbed the bore in short strokes, slowly working my way to the Muzzle. Once there i again, followed the directions , i wet another patch, swabbed the bore and gave it around 5 minutes to work and do its job.

In the end i was surprised when it took Three patches to fully clean out the Optima's bore! I even tried some different powder today in my CVA Accura, American Pioneer and again, i cleaned it up with only TWO patches. I think with more time in the field and even more in the house cleaning my rifles i will tell if this is my new found cleaning product.

For those that need a safer product for Synthetics, they have that as well. I normally take the stock and everything off before a good spray down.

For the price and quality of product you get, the 1-2-3 Aerosol Value Pack is an excellent deal that gets the dirty work done quickly and Clean.

So the next time your gun looks like how mine does at the end of the day, Think of the 1-2-3 Value Pack for easy clean up.

CVA Accura V2 - Thor Bullets

2010-11-19T10:58:00.010-07:00

I had shot this load in the CVA Accura V2 a week prior to hunting season, except i had been using the Caldwell Tack Driver bag rest. That's a good set up and 1 1/4" groups was normal off that set up. Well after 9 days of hunting and not one elk to be seen in a 200 mile radius, the season ended. There wasn't even a coyote to be found!

Well Yesterday "Nov 18th" I decided we have one more hunt left, i sighed in with the 245gr Powerbelts and 100gr blackhorn209, i checked the bullets impact at 150 yards, found it to be 2" low and that's perfect for my nephews hunt.

After checking the impact at 150 yards, i decided to switch to a "thumping" load in the V2 and see how she did off the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled. This rest is awesome and has allowed me to shoot some of the best groups ever.

Using the original elk load of 100gr Blackhorn209 and the New Ballistic Tip 300gr Thor "Center in picture", i got a new target set up, popped a couple primers through the clean/empty rifle. I used my 1/8" drill bit to clean out the carbon from the breech plugs flash channel and then proceeded to load up.

These bullets are based off the Barnes bullet. All copper! No fragmenting on close range shots, no fragmenting with magnum loads, Just a great solid performing bullet, PERIOD!

Sized in .500" for all of my CVA Muzzle Loaders, they load with about 30lbs of seating pressure.

Once i had the rifle nestled in the FCX, I got the Barska Huntmaster 3-9x40 scope on target, pulled the hammer back, got my breathing under control and gently squeezed the trigger.

Bullet impacted dead center, 3 1/2" high @ 100 yards. Perfect! Just where it was during the 9 day hunt.
Removing the spent primer, i again used my 1/8" drill bit and with my fingers, inserted it into the breech plugs Flash channel and started to spin it and cut the nasty Carbon out of it. I made sure to give the side of the rifle a couple firm smacks to make sure all the primer carbon dust fell out and was not blocking the Flash Hole.

Once the breech plug was carbon free, i reinstalled it and allowed the barrel an additional Few Minutes to cool down.

Consistency! Clean breech plugs flash hole, allow barrel cool down, consistent seating pressure.
Reloading the Accura V2 as closely as possible to the first shot, i got it back on the Lead Sled and on target.

I took my second shot and just smiled from ear to ear and started to get that excited feeling deep in my Gut. My Second shot was touching my first!

Again, Removing the breech plug " Thank goodness it removed with your bare fingers!" I cut the carbon out of the flash channel, reinstalled, allowed barrel additional cool down, reloaded with consistent pressure and set it back up in the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled.

Taking careful aim, control breathing and a inpatient trigger finger, i backed off, lowered the hammer and took a few minute break to get my breathing and heart rate back under control. You see, when the shooting gets REALLY good, i tend to get over excited and start punching the trigger or just impatient and allow the cross hairs to move off target.

Once i was feeling ok and my nerves were calm, i got back on target, pulled the hammer back and gently squeezed the V2's Hair Trigger.

After that 3rd shot i just looked down shaking my head and then started to whoop and holler like a Wild Injun!

Three 300gr Thor concials Touching at 100 yards!

That's a new target i found on targetpros.
It is perfect for 100 yards and looks great in the cross hairs for pin point accuracy. If you have a printer just click the 'scale to size" box and then print out a few to keep in the range box.

As you can see, the Three shots are almost dead center of the 1" square. That kind of accuracy is just down right scary and mind blowing to be honest.

The CVA Accura V2 is a Winner in my book for consistency, accuracy and dependability in the field. A true work horse that is going to get a ton of action on the shooting range this Winter.

Now the question is, How the heck can i improve those groups?!!

CVA Accura V2 Range Report

2010-11-17T18:44:00.016-07:00

As an update on the New CVA Accura V2, I decided to take advantage of today's Calm but Cold weather. I loaded up my speed loaders with 100 grains Volume, Blackhorn209, Winchester W209 Primers and the 245gr Aerotip Powerbelts. This is a very good shooting load in my Original Accura so i figured it would be a good starting point.

Another reason, a good load behind the lighter bullet would allow for less recoil. My nephews Thanksgiving day mule deer hunt is coming up and he's set on using the CVA Apex 30-06 but I'd really like to see him fill that tag with the V2. This is his first ever hunt and i think that by having him use the muzzle loader, he knows hes going to only have one shot at a big 5x5 we've been keeping an eye on. Thankfully someone missed him during the muzzle loading season!

With the weather being as cold as it was today, i decided i was going to take my time and make the shots count.

I brought along with me a 1/8" drill bit "My Plug is modded" I decided to just slow down, allow the barrel a few minutes between shots to cool down and do something else that is often over looked.

Clean out my breech plugs flash hole! This Flash hole where the primer spark goes through gets a heavy amount of carbon build up. This in my opinion should be cleaned out often if you are an Accuracy sicko like myself.

If you are shooting a dirty powder like Triple 7, Pyrodex, Etc. You normally swab between shots so you can get the next round down the bore and most importantly, Keep things consistent. Well, that is perfect! But most often over look that flash hole. You swab your bore to stay consistent but you are over looking that flash channel! After each shot, more and more carbon is building up, changing the amount of spark/heat getting into the main powder charge. Consistency is key to great accuracy!

How do you clean that out? Pretty simple, the CVA Flash channel uses a #32 drill bit. My breech plug however, i modified as a test to check performance and cleanness. I used an 1/8" drill bit to open up the flash channel, and then enlarged the .028" flash hole to .032". All you have to do is turn the drill bit with your fingers and allow the bit to cut out the carbon build up. You will be very surprised at how much comes out after only a few shots. The picture of the Plug, drill bit and Carbon, is after only Three shots. Other brands of primers may produce less or more carbon build up.

I used the drill bit to clean out my flash channel after each shot to keep pressures consistent in the primer area.

The amount of pressure your seat your projectile is again, probably the most important. If you load the projectile lightly onto the powder charge and then on the next shot you lean you upper body weight into it and then on the next shot you pull a 1950's Walt Disney movie scene and pound and bonce the ramrod on top of the projectile, You will SERIOUSLY have accuracy issues.

After 3 shots with Winchester W209's without cleaning.

How much pressure you choose to seat your projectile with is up to you. If you are unsure, just experiment with different pressures. Some like to use the phrase " Upper body weight to seat my projectile on the powder" That would be the most common with loose powder.

For the V2 Accura i worked up something today that works very well as you will see from the pictures. Once i feel the bullet hit the Powder, i take one thumb and put it over the end of the ramrod, and put my other thumb on top and use "Thumb pressure" to seat the projectile. This has worked out excellent with the Accura V2 and i plan on loading this way when shooting the rifle.

Primer pressure " AKA - Flash channel cleanness!" Projectile Seating pressure - These are the two biggest deals that you need to pay attention to when shooting a muzzle loader.

Getting out to my range in the back yard, i took along my Caldwell FCX Lead Sled " I don't add any weight to it" Set up my print out target and proceeded to set up my powder charges, ear protection, primers, Etc.

Putting the butt of the rifle on my shooting seat " It sits low to the ground" i carefully poured my 100gr Volume charge of Blackhorn209 down the muzzle, gave the rifle a few whacks to settle the powder and then inserted a 245gr Aerotip Powerbelt, pushed it down the bore with my thumb and used my ramrod to push the bullet down snug on top of the powder. " Thumb Pressure"

Next i broke the action open and Inserted a Winchester W209 primer into the primer pocket and firmly closed the action. Once I had the Accura V2 nestled into the FCX, I adjusted my Elevation, tightened down everything and got comfortable. Nothing worse than having to shoot with your elbows dug into your shooting table. Get yourself set up comfortable and steady!

Once i had my breathing under control and my eye sight clear " a bit of wind in my face" I got the scoped dialed onto the bulls eye, slowly reached up to the forearm and gently squeezed the V2's Hair Trigger.

My first shot at 100 yards hit Perfectly dead down the center and 3" High. The second and 3rd shot grouped very well. How well? The squares are 1" and those three shots measure 7/8" center to center! That's how well this Combo groups in the V2! This is a perfect deer load, and one i hope to see in action come Thanksgiving Day morning.

Accura v2 & Myself

Lost in a snow storm

2010-11-12T21:28:00.014-07:00

November 11 2010

My brother and I had decided to do a late hunt at the local Spanish Peaks State Wildlife area only 10 miles away from home. We had loaded up the truck with our typical gear that we'd need on us, warmed up the truck, loaded the rifles into the Gun Rack and headed down to the Hunting area.

On the way over, we had been getting some peeks and glimpses of the weather, hanging low and cold looking over the Sangre De Cristo mountain range not all that far off. We had hunted those mountains two days ago for a couple days and decided to give the wildlife area a try for another couple days.

Arriving at the state wildlife area, i had decided to leave behind my back pack with mainly consists of a small supply of trail food, a Lighter and a couple items i don't ever use while hunting.... Including my cell phone " Big mistake Hunters!"

I decided i didn't need the pack so i just stuck my water bottle into my heavy pants pocket, my hand radio on my orange vest pocket and hung my compass/match holder " Cheap $4.99 style) around my neck. Knife was already belted to my side so what more could i need?

We decided to hike up to a Natural Gas well site, a good hour hike away. These well sites often have water ponds and elk, deer, turkey frequent the area. Well out of 4 days hunting that area, we only saw one 4x4 Buck and about 40 turkeys. No elk whatsoever! Three of us have over the counter Bull tags and while we knew it was going to be hard to fill Three, we'd be more than happy with just one Elk to fill the freezer.

Getting up to the site, we sat down in some trees over looking the site lay out and had a drink from our water bottles. We started talking and i said, Hey lets head down into that valley were were at a couple days when Bobby " My nephew" and Dad were hunting with us.

The storm that hung low and cold in the distant Sangre De Cristo Mountains had finally reached us and while it started out as only a snow flake here and there, it turned colder, low lying clouds and the wind started to kick up. No big deal at all to be honest.

After packing up and heading down the trail we knew decently well, my brother and i started walking in the direction of the valley we wanted to visit and walk through, which lead us back to the truck. I decided to head down a bit farther than normally so we could bypass a very steep mountain side " we normally cross that area" due to the slick ground. While walking down further than we usually do, i hadn't noticed that i was actually heading in a south east direction due to the snow that was now falling thick and driven hard by the wind. I normally am able to use a certain mountain as a guiding point but with the low cloud cover and snow blowing, it wasn't possible to use it as guidance.

The direction we should have been going was North East!

After hitting the area which i thought was the correct crossing point, i turned left, found a great area with a cliff and rocks to sit on. Out in the distance i could see the field and pointed out to my brother and mentioned what a great spot this was to spot from if the weather was good.

Carefully making our way down the mountain, towards the field, i jokingly said, Man we better get to that field before its to dark! I don't want to end up like the Donner Party!

Once we got down to the Valley we hit something right off that bat that should NOT have been there. An old access 4x4 trail. The trail was walked a few times, the trail ended at the end of the mountain. This just was not looking right, but i figured, well we did shoot past our normal crossing spot so maybe we are towards the middle of the fields.

Taking a right and heading into a south east direction, we started walking in the snow fall with very little light left in the sky. After about a mile we hit an odd style of "building" Its not really a building, but a roof that the DOW builds to collect water. This roof building stands around 2 feet high at one end and drops down to a foot and a half and the other end. At the low end, they attach a rain gutter. This big roof collects rain water, snow melt and runs into a gutter, and attached to that gutter is a pipe which in turn leads to a storage tank/ Watering hole for the animals.

We never seen this one before and so we stopped and started talking about, Where in the heck are we? I've never seen this before!

We started heading down the trail again and after a mile and a half we just kept walking and walking through one big field after the other. We decided that it was time to turn back and try to get an idea where the heck we were and to search in the dark for other trails we may have passed up.

All this time my brother and i had been using our cheap little compasses. His was mounted on the video camera bag, and the compass is the size of a DIME. His was reading much more differently than mine was and after messing around with it, we found out that his was Frozen solid!

Getting back to the Turkey House as we now call it, we started to consider just hunkering down right under that roof and make a small fire and stick it out until morning when we could see.

That idea didn't sit well for either of us and we figured to walk back up to the area we had crossed when we dropped into the valley. Once we got back to the cross over spot, we got the tiny LED flash light and started looking around and sure enough, another trail running south. We took to it and after a while of hiking it split off.

My brother says, hey this looks like the trail we used a couple days ago where it turns real rocky! We start walking down and again, splits off! We took the trail going south and ran directly into that rocky trail my brother had been talking about earlier. That area was a dead end. We now knew exactly where we were! Turning back, we took the other trail and after hiking for half an hour we started running across some Dams that the DOW builds up for water supply. I had walked up this trail earlier that day as my brother and i took two different ways up to the well site earlier that day. We was asking me, do you remember seeing this? A certain dam, a certain rock cluster on the side of the trail, a pile of brush next to the trail. At night things look a LOT different so i couldn't exactly say weather or not it was right.

Walking down even more, we started hitting one dam, then two and on the 3rd damn i said, We got it! This trail is exactly the one i used earlier, we just need to stick to it and it heads directly back to the Truck.

Along the way i was telling my brother about a certain dam that has a low built rock wall along the side of it. We had passed a few more dams before we came out into a small meadow and right away i pointed out and said, There is it! See the deep bowl? This is the damn with the big ever greens growing near it and thats where the rock wall is.

It was a huge relief when we came to that rock wall. We now knew that we only had a 30 minute hike back to the truck.

During this hike, out CVA Optima and CVA Accura V2's were luckily coated and protected with Dyna Tek Gun Shield! My Optima also had Ultra Coatings Bore coat which protects from dirt, mud, rust and corrosion. The V2 sadly, did not have the bore treatment. Neither rifles muzzle was covered during this ordeal, we did our best to protect the bores but with the way the snow was falling, both bores were soaked.

It was a huge sigh of relief when we rounded a sharp corner and saw the glowing light from a wall tent that was set up in the camp ground! A few minutes later we were practically kissing the truck while fumbling around with the keys to get the doors unlocked.

After making a phone call to the parents to let them know that everything was ok and that we had gotten turned around for a few hours, we were back outside the truck brushed the snow off of our rifles. We stupidly took our scope covers off the scopes and left them in the truck.

Our scope lenses were FILLED with tightly packed wet snow during the 3 1/2 Hour ordeal. We dug out the snow best we could and put them back on the gun rack in the truck, stripped off our gloves and face masks and started up the truck and got it nice and warm, Locked the hubs just in case for the ride home and an hour later ( 10 miles takes a long time when you can only see 20 feet in front of you!) we were pulling into the drive way and getting the rifles slung to our shoulders and heading up to the house. Nothing better than coming home to a warm house and a HOT shower.

After taking the rifles down and inspecting them for rust and such, i found ZERO rust on my Optima nor any rust on my Brothers Accura V2. Dyna Tek and Gun Shield had done its job. I had a good amount of mud on my Optima's barrel from stepping in mud puddles along the trail and that just wiped right off with a dry towel. Both rifles were soaking wet, yet the primer area had stayed completely dry.

The bores on the other hand was a much different story. Both were soaked. I figured, Ah hell, these loads are going to be soaking wet, no point in taking a chance. I pushed both loads out of the barrels " thank goodness for the Quick Release Breech Plugs!" From both rifles, i pushed out 100 grains Blackhorn209 in perfectly dry form! The water had not gotten to the charges at all. Following the powder, was a beautiful 300gr Ballistic Tip Thor.

Both rifles took 4 dry patches to dry them out, that how wet they were. I put both rifles back together and set them to the side to warm up to room temperature before reloading them " Fresh loads of course! Never can be to careful"

If you've never seen the southern Colorado Sangre De Cristo mountain range during a snow fall, you are missing out! You certainly never want to experience the way we had, but it truly is the most beautiful mountain range I've set eyes on.

Once home and cleaned up and calmed down, my brother found on the map where we were and we estimate that with all the walking, including the back tracking, we had gone 7 to 8 miles out of our way in that snow storm. We only had to take a handful of breaks during that time, most of them for compass readings and looking at the map print out. You'd be amazed at how fast and long you can travel when your adrenaline levels are rushing through your system.

After this i have learned to carry all of my supplies no matter how heavy that pack is. My cell phone, lighter and hand crank flash light will ALWAYS be carried with me now.

Barska HuntMaster

2010-11-03T19:20:00.023-06:00

We were in a very tight pinch to get our new CVA Accura V2 scoped before Saturday "Nov 6th's" 3rd season Colorado Bull Elk hunt. Three of us have over the counter bull tags and when the new Accura came in, my brother right away stated that he was using this rifle for the hunt. Well that really put us in a pinch with only a week to go! He went searching through some magazines and then looked up the reviews on a few before taking a good look at the Barska HuntMaster 3-9x40 scope.

I know, i know. Barska?!!! You kiddin me, those are barely good enough for my .22!! That's pretty much what I've read or heard about from others. But with the time left before the hunt, the reviews on this scope were very good so my brother went onto ebay and picked it up for a whopping $30 with shipping included.

Well a few days later the scope arrived without me knowing " UPS never knocks". I got the scope out of the box and made sure there was no damage from shipping, everything checked out A-ok. A very nice looking scope on the outside but hell, a flea market scope can always look good on the outside.

How about the inside where it matters? Crystal Clear! I was surprised as heck to see how clear and bright this scope was. Once my brother looked through it, he compared it to his Redfield and we both think the Barska has a slight edge in clarity.

The scope has whats called "Easy Spot" cross hairs. Its basically an + with a Circle around it. I never used this kind of set up but i found that it actually seemed to relax my eye and allowed me to concentrate on the bulls eye. Very nice cross hair set up i think.

After cleaning out the thread holes in the V2's barrel with Alcohol and Q tips, i mounted a Medium Height Durasight Dead On mount system. This is a fantastic mount set up that i have come to rely on. It was a very close fit once mounted, but the scope was perfectly down as low as it could go, which is good. Using only my first Two fingers and my thumb, i equally tightened down the scope rings and lined the cross hairs center. Once that was done i removed one screw at a time and put a drop of Gorilla Super Glue to make sure the screws did not loosen up. Some use Loc tite, i prefer something a little easier to get off.

So after the scope had been mounted and torqued down correctly, i proceeded to pre-measure some Powder charges. Started with 90gr Blackhorn209 and the 295gr Powerbelts i brought the target in to 20 yards and after 3 shots, i was 1" high. I took the target back out to 50 yards, fired a shot and ended up 5" high. Much to high! I got everything adjusted to where it should be and decided to reload more charges and take it to the 100 yard range out back and get it dialed in there. 8 Clicks to the left and shooting 2" low "Perfect!" I was ready!

November 6th-14th 2010 we are hunting Bull Elk. The 295gr powerbelts are not elk bullets so i knew i was going to be switching bullets. Thats exactly why i left it 2" low!

Reloading my Powder Tubes with 100gr Blackhorn209 and taking along a few .500" 300gr Thor bullets, i loaded up and fired my first shot. Dead on but 2" to the right. 8 clicks later and 12 clicks up, Dead on down the middle and perfectly 3" high. This load is only 7" low at 200 yards and 18.5" low at 250 yards. Mr. Elk does NOT stand a chance should he wonder into range.

After a total of 13 shots the Accura V2 was dead on Accurate with the Barska HuntMaster Scope and tracking perfectly. I think that with more time on the range, i will be able to tell weather or not this scope will hold up from one range session to the next. I think the scope looks pretty darn good, looks even better when you can look down the actual Tube! A lot more shooting is planned after hunting season.

We shall see how the Scope holds up over the Winter. Updated Report Pending!

CVA Accura V2

2010-11-03T16:45:00.015-06:00

This is the Second CVA Accura V2 that Dudley McGarity of CVA has sent me for review. The first was the non-thumb hole version which shot amazing and felt great. I am a big fan of CVA's Thumb Hole Stock Design and this new V2 did not let me down.

New futures with the V2 Accura and the one of the greatest additions of course is the New Quick Release Breech Plug. I've put them through hard tests with Blackhorn209 and after 60 shots, the QRBP just backs right out without any blow back on the breech plug threads.

The Rubber grip panels offer a solid slip free hold. The rubber grip panels are combined with the new Soft Touch finish on the stock reducing shine, along with a better grip on the rifle. Mounted on the rear of the stock is possibly the best Recoil pad I have ever had on a muzzle loader. The Crush Zone recoil pad soaks up the heavy loads i like to test out and does not leave me in any sort of pain. The pain normally comes from the scope hitting be between the eyes when i forget to pull the rifle tight into my shoulder! Haha.

Attached to the Forearm and Rear Stock, comes the Quake Industries "The Claw" Sling. This is an excellent sling that is comfortable and HOLDS onto your shoulder. I used to use the typical leather sling but am sick and tired of those. With the Claw, you can sling the rifle over your shoulder and free up both hands, move around and not worry about it slipping off. When shooting a muzzle loader, its very important that i have a good Sling set up like The Claw so i can free up both hands and use either my range finder or what ever i need without having to deal with my rifle slipping off my shoulder.

If you like how the Claw performs, you will LOVE the Quake Inc. Sling Stix set up. Its basically the Claw sling but with a little slip up/down shoulder pad/carrying case and when you pull it straight down, A set of shooting Stix pop out and unfold automatically. I like to use the Two velcro strips that come with it and strap it down tightly over my barrel to hold them into place if i will be still hunting over a long period of time. A great set up, especially since most stores have them listed for sale at $30 and Under.

Frame,Break lever, Trigger

Moving onto the Frame section of the rifle, the Trigger guard acts as the breaking lever. A great design that's user friendly and extremely quite in the field.

The hammer is equipped with a Hammer Spur that you can remove and put on either the Left Side or Right Side depending if you are a righty or lefty.

The Firing pin is accessed by using a simple slotted screw driver "proper fitting works best" Remove the Firing pin bushing, remove Spring and the firing pin itself for easy cleaning and maintenance. "Be Sure to use a little Anti Seize on the Bushing before reinstalling."

One of the other great futures of the Accura V2 is the user friendly, Adjustable trigger. Screw it in to add some weight or back it out all of the way for a nice smooth crisp, grit free 2.5lb trigger pull. Both Accura's I have tested, triggers were the same. A big thumbs up to CVA for these awesome triggers they have installed on the Accura Line up!

The Barrel:

A 27" 1:28 Twist Bergara Barrel is standard on all Accura Rifles in either Blued "Not available on V2" or 416 Grade Stainless Steel.

This bore is machined beautifully inside and out. I only hunt with conicals "Colorado law" and so i chose the .500" 250 & 300gr Ballistic Tip Thor conicals.

I have only had this rifle out on the range Twice. Once at 50 yards for a scope sight in and then out to 100 yards later that evening. This is one hell of a smooth shooting rifle and Accurate. I shoot off a Caldwell Tack Driver bag rest and a sock filled with pinto beans. I use that bean filled sock for the rear section of the stock to keep a good solid hold on the rifle. With a 100gr Blackhorn209 charge with the 300gr Thor, i have been printing 1 1/4" 3 shot groups @ 100 yards right off the bat. No load development, just pick a bullet, powder charge and get out on the range to give it a try. Im not exactly sure how to improve on that group other than possibly allowing the barrel to cool down between shots, but to be honest, the first shot is the one that counts.

When i first got the rifle, the first thing i did was strip the entire rifle of the stock & forearm so i just had the frame in the palm of my hand. I have been using a product that i truly believe in. Before applying this product you MUST de-grease the part you are about to work with. I like to use a small piece of cloth and soak it in rubbing alcohol. Alcohol removes light oil very easily and dries out fast. I do this 3 times, allowing each washing to dry thoroughly.

Once the Part has been cleaned you can Now open your bottle of Dyna Tek Gun Shield.

Gun Shield is an excellent product to use on your hunting rifle. It WILL protect your rifle from Rust and Corrosion. If you have a Nickel plated muzzle loader for example, how many times have we seen the ugly copper color that primers/blow back leave on our frames or barrels? Gun Shield will protect your Nickel plated rifle/pistol against that nasty looking stain that never seems to come clean.

Fouling from black powder and other sub powders often are a nasty mess to scrub off your muzzle loader. Every little nook and cranny seems to catch all the fouling and it just keeps building up over time.

With a beautiful Muzzle Loader like the V2 i was not about to let any stains or worse, Rust hurt it!

I gave the V2 Three coats of Gun Shield and the barrel came out as smooth as glass. In fact if you point a light on it and look down the side, you seriously would think it was a mirror.

I will be testing the Dyna Tek Gun Shield on all of my CVA Muzzle Loaders!

Range reports on the V2 are coming at the end of our Hunting Season!
Visit the forum below,

Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird Targets

2010-10-25T23:33:00.006-06:00

Testing the Dirty Bird Splattering Targets, I must admit that i had a blond moment when i first set one up. I was a bit confused while trying to pull the big black target off the paper, only to figure out that the paper is actually thin plastic and its an All Weather target! Non self adhesive. Remember to bring some Tacks, your Stapler or some Duct Tape.

After that embarrassing part, i got the target all taped onto the Birchwood Casey Portable Shooting Range and tried them out with my CVA Optima. The 2" Red bulls eye is perfect for both open sights but only out to 50 yards with my eye sight. If you have better eyes than i do, you may see it perfectly clear out to 75, maybe 100 yards.

The target leaves behind a white splatter once a shot hits and is very easy to see in a 9x scope from 150 yards away.

Although i was somewhat disappointed in the beginning that they were not self adhesive i have come to like that fact. How many times have we set up other targets and once it rains, the target shrivels up and is barely hanging on? I hate that!

These all weather dirty bird targets have held up excellent in foul weather. Rain, extreme heat, cold.... They last a week before i change them out and plaster up a new target.

If the target is going to be set up on the range for a while, i actually like to use some Gorilla glue super glue and glue the target to the plastic back board. This is especially great in cold weather when tape normally fails and staples, well when the wind blows, they tend to pull out.

And as you can see, these targets are very attractive looking in my opinion. When ever taking pictures of Bullets, Rifles, Powder, I like to use the Bird Dirt target as a back ground to pretty the picture up. They do a fine job at that as well as on the range.

They are available at a very affordable price, a good quality product. When i get targets, i get nothing less than 100 of them as i go through them fast! They are available in 8" - 12" and 17.25" Dirty Bird Bull's Eye Targets.

Birchwood Casey Deer & Bear Silhouette Targets

2010-10-25T22:34:00.008-06:00

Testing a few more products made by Birchwood Casey that had caught my interest. One being a very cool and life like Shoot N C Deer Silhouette. This target size is 24"x46" Comes with 3 replacement vital self - adhesive deer vital targets " I prefer to use these once the real target has been shot up", 24 repair pasters " 8 Per target".

I wanted to try these out mainly for my nephew as he will be going on his first New Mexico Mule deer hunt ever! I figured this kind of target would perk him up rather than the same ol bulls eye target that gets boring to shoot at after a while. Kids get a kick out of these and hell, I still enjoy them! They are a great way to train your eye for picking out the perfect shot placement in my opinion. These targets are excellent with a scope and pop out very easy and did not strain my eye at all.

I highly recommend this target for a new shooter that MUST practice and learn his or her aim on a real life animal. My 15 year old nephew had a blast shooting at the deer target and didn't complain one bit about the "slow" loading of his brand new CVA Wolf Muzzle Loader. In fact, he was acting if he could practice his off hand shooting on it!

Buy yours here! : Birchwood Casey Deer Silhouette

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Moving on to another Birchwood Casey target product is the Bear Silhouette! I have yet to set it up and shoot at it but i plan on doing so very soon as soon as hunting season winds down to a close. I got into bear hunting in 2009 when it was the ONLY over the counter tag available as i did not draw a deer or elk tag :-(

Well after seeing a nice sized bear print in the mud by a little water pool, i was very excited and pumped up. As the days went on, i finally spotted what looked to be a very big bear, but 2 miles away as the Crow flies! No such luck getting to him.

A couple days later i had packed my gear onto the ATV and was just going to take a ride down to the lower Pinon/scrub oak elevations. I drove about 30 yards from camp when i turned my head to the left and 200 yards away i saw a BIG reddish brown head staring down at camp. Slammed on the brakes, turned the motor off, ducked down behind some brush and got my Bino's out to check the bear out. To say i was excited is an understatement, My heart was in my throat, right at the back of my tongue getting ready to jump out right then and there.

I started a stalk and when i thought i was as close as i could get, I pulled out my range finder, got the bear into view and clicked the button.. CLICK............ CLICK.......... CLICK....... SOn of a bxtidh!!!...... CLICK.... Come on your son of a......CLICK. The bear was just sitting there looking at me and started looking around nervously as i am down below clicking and clicking and swearing under my breath. He got onto all 4's and looked around and slowly turned and walked off. Just as soon as his big rear end was towards me the range finder FINALLY decided to work... 167 yards, A chip shot for the CVA Accura shooting 105gr Pyrodex RS and a 250gr Thor.

As the bear walked off, Another bear shows up in the exact spot, see's me and takes off running! Talk about a slap in the face.

I didn't get my bear that year but i surely will be practicing on the new Birchwood Casey Bear Silhouette for next season!

The Two targets that come with the Bear target are amazing for Open sight shooters and look amazing in the cross hairs of a scope. In fact i need to get about 100 of them as this target is excellent as an all around target set up. How many times I've taken a scoped and open sight rifle only to find that the dot was much to small to see with open sights, I'll never know! Green splatter when a shot shows up is very easy to see as you can see for yourself from the target picture.

You can buy it from Birchwood Casey at a very affordable price, Target is again 24"x48"it comes with "2" 12" Self adhesive targets which are awesome for both scope and open sights, 48 Repair Pasters.
Birchwood Casey Bear Silhouette.

VANGUARD MZ Monocular

2010-10-19T23:38:00.009-06:00

By Marty Jalonski
Since I prefer still-hunting over tree standing I never go out hunting without some kind a hand-held optic. When I want to grab-n-go or pack-light for a quick evening hunt I carry a monocular rather than a pair of binoculars with me. If you like to use hand-held optics when you are hunting and are looking for a compact model, then check out this monocular by VANGUARD. Unlike the fixed 8x power monocular I used last season, this compact monocular is unique because it is has a 6x-12x variable power Zoom feature. I had reservations at first whether a compact zoom monocular could provide both usable optical quality and ease of use while hunting. Here’s what I found to be the case with the VANGUARD MZ.

OPTICS QUALITY –

No question here. Optics quality is better than expected and very good with clear imaging. For those with steady hands, I was surprised that even on 12x magnification I was able to easily focus a clear view and keep an object in sight without it shaking away from me. Unlike my other fixed 8x monocular, I really like the MZ’s option to be able to dial-down to a lower 6x power which gives me a bigger field of view for quick scanning. As most compact optics have a 21mm objective lens, the VANGUARD MZ has a larger 25mm objective providing increased light gathering ability which is important during those prime dawn and dusk outings. FUNCTIONALITY –

As with any monocular it takes two hands to focus. My current monocular has the focusing mechanism ( knob) around the eyepiece itself which I must hold in order to focus. What I like about the MZ monocular is that its primary focusing knob (see * below) is located off the eyepiece itself and a full inch further away from my face. It may not sound like much, but when you have hunting gloves on that extra inch makes it less crowded and easier to focus.
(* note primary FOCUSING Knob to the right of the metal strap post*)

This design allows for a more comfortable hand position as well when focusing which helps to steady the monocular. I also found the focusing adjustment mechanism to be solidly-smooth which permits for controlled and precise focusing.

There is an adjustment knob around the eyepiece, but it controls the less-often used Zoom feature magnification rather than the more frequently used focusing adjustment knob.

ADDITIONAL FEATURE: This monocular has “near-focus” capability down to 0.35 meters (13.8 inches). It’s a feature a Naturalist may find very useful for field work identification. I don’t think I would have reason to use this feature while hunting, but all I can say is that it works great. For this feature there is an additional focusing mechanism which moves the objective lens back and forth.

Because it is a feature that hunters would probably never use, it might be helpful to have a threaded or other quiet mechanism added for this near-focus adjustment to keep it stationary when not in use. I have not had an opportunity to use the MZ monocular for a day of hunting to know whether the near-focusing adjustment would slide on its own when not in use.

The MZ comes with a durable carrying case that you can thread onto your belt, a wrist strap, and a lens cleaning cloth. The wrist strap is great for hikers and sight-seers, but inclusion of an over-the-head neck strap may be preferred by hunters whose hands are already occupied carrying a firearm.

SUMMARY:

The VANGUARD MZ monocular has clear optics, compacts to only 4 ¼ inches long, is lightweight, and with its zoom feature is a good all-in-one hand-held optic to stash in your hunting jacket. For hunters like myself, it would be nice if VANGUARD could offer a matt or camo finish version in this Series.

The VANGUARD MZ has now been added to my backpack list.

MZ-61225C

MZ monoculars are compact and lightweight for easy travel. Its metal body and soft folding eyecups provide years of great performance. It also offers great near focus and zoom power.

• 2-year warranty
• Lightweight
• Compact
• Soft folding eyecups

DETAILS

• Power:6~12
• Diameter of objectives:25mm
• Prism Type:Roof
• Waterproof:No
• View Angle:4°~2.4°
• Field of Viewm@1000m:70~42m/1000m
• Eye Relief:8mm
• Near focus(m):0.35m;1.1 feet
• Focus System:Ocular focus
• Lens coating: Fully coated optical glass with multi coated objective lens
• Phase coating:No
• Dimensions (L x W):115 x 35mm
• Weight (g):125

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS MONOCULAR AND OTHER VANGUARD PRODUCTS, YOU CAN VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AT :

www.vanguardworld.com.

BUSHNELL 3 X 9 DOA 250 Muzzleloader Scope Review

2010-10-19T23:17:00.007-06:00

Review by Marty Jalonski
I have several muzzleloaders in my gun cabinet and each has its own special hunting niche. Though not a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination, I found myself once again on the market for a new scope to compliment my new muzzleloader with its 29” barrel which I’ve dedicated to extended range hunting conditions. With the long distance capability of today’s modern in-line muzzleloaders, a compatible scope which can improve my odds of placing a long range shot where I want it is of utmost importance to me as an ethical hunter.
While the selection of available scopes on the market each have their own particular features, my primary quest was to find a scope specifically designed to aid my long- range accuracy. I didn’t want to simply add telescopic magnification which is like looking through a shaky straw on the rugged terrains of hunting. Beyond my mandate for quality optics and reliable construction, I researched many manufacturers and found several scopes that offered unique reticles to accommodate the needs of my long distance shooting. For hunting conditions I wanted a reticle that was designed to provide assistance primarily in that 100 to 200 yard range. The other challenge I had was to find a scope that was designed specifically for the muzzleloader hunter rather than the centerfire hunter. The problem I encountered with scopes designed for the long-range centerfire cartridge was the lower hemisphere view was simply too crowded with numerous aiming points or lines that were clearly beyond even today’s muzzleloader capabilities. Other reticle designs I found included fainted lines or strings of circles or beads which distracted me from the traditional “crosshairs” I’ve grown so accustomed to over my 40 years of hunting.

After narrowing down the scopes with the features I was looking for, I chose the 3 X 9 Bushnell TROPHY Dead On Accurate (DOA) 250 Muzzleloader Scope which meets my needs perfectly. The reticle crosshairs on the TROPHY DOA 250 are Duplex for quick-view orientation, and contain extended yardage points at 150(first line bar below the center crosshairs), 200 and 250 yards designed specifically for the ballistics of the most common magnum loads for in-lines. To give you a real-world perspective of how the DOA Reticle looks, I took these pictures through the scope set on 9X power at about 58-60 yards. While these pictures do not in any way give the scope its full optical clarity, it should give you a general idea. For reference the tree on the left side of the V-forked trunk is 10” in diameter.

With this scope’s unique reticle design, it’s possible to essentially sight-in at 100 yards and be good out to 250, which is especially nice if your club only has a 100 yard shooting range. Some bullet manufacturers such as Powerbelts provide ballistics tables for their bullets which further supports down range trajectory predictions to complement this particular scope. Bushnell also provides this same Powerbelt ballistics data for the DOA 250 scope at: http://www.bushnell.com/manuals/riflescopes/DOA250BallisticInfo.pdf

As an added bonus I found many other features as well that I liked on this particular scope. The reticle also contains a built-in “Rack Bracket System” which consists of precise line lengths with hash-marks on the horizontal hold-over bars that correspond to the ear-to-ear widths for both the average mule deer (24”) and the average whitetail (17”). [As my own check I measured the ear-to-ear spread for two whitetail deer mounts I have, one is a 9 pointer and the other is a 10 pointer. The 9 pointer’s ear spread measured 16” and the 10 pointer’s ear spread measured 17 inches]. So on 9X power the DOA Reticle can not only provide a reliable means to aim at extended distances, but can help judge the relative size of a potential trophy rack. I see the Rack Bracket System particularly helpful on those once-in-a lifetime, expensive guided trophy hunts we all save up for. In the field the Rack Bracket System could make the most of those precious seconds when you must field judge whether or not to take the shot. Also, use the 24" and 17" measurements to gauge the buck’s width. If the ears fit, you have an accurate estimation of range as well.

It’s also convenient not having to use a coin or screwdriver to adjust the windage and elevation knobs, as they have been designed to easily rotate using your fingertips. And lastly, the incredibly generous 5 inch eye relief on this scope coupled with the “fast-focus” eyepiece feature provides that “comfort” level to eliminate the fear of facial wacking magnum loads. Since I already install Butler Creek flip-open scope covers on all my hunting scopes, their inclusion with the TROPHY DOA 250 saves me a trip to the local shooting sports retailer as well.

As I can’t think of anything to improve upon or add to this specialized scope, my guess is it’s going to set a new standard upon which to judge other in-line muzzleloader optics. Not a bad looking setup if I must say so myself with the optional CAMO finish.

TROPHY XLT Riflescope 3-9x40 RTAP DOA 250 [733960AB] CAMO FINISH (shown above on muzzleloader) 3-9x40 Matte DOA 250 [733960BP] BLACK MATTE FINISH Features: • With the DOA reticle for long-range accuracy and field judging. • Fully multi-coated optics • 91% light transmission • Butler Creek® flip-open scope covers • 100% waterproof, fogproof and shockproof • Dry Nitrogen filled • Fast-focus eyepiece • One piece tube w/integrated saddle • 1/4 MOA fingertip windage and elevation adjustments Power / Obj Lens 3-9x 40mm Finish Camo Length (in / mm) 13 / 330 Reticle DOA 250 Field of View (ft@100 ft. / m@100 m) 33/10@3x / 11/3@9x Adj Range in@100yds/ mm@100m 60 / 1.7 Weight (oz. / g) 14.3 / 405 Exit Pupil (mm) 13.3 / 4.4 Eye Relief (in / mm) 5 / 127 Mounting Length (in / mm) 5.9 / 150 Model 733960AB Click Value in@100 yds / mm@100m 0.25 / 7 For more information on BUSHNELL DOA scopes, visit their website at: http://www.bushnell.com/products/scopes/riflescopes/doa-riflescopes/

New kits from Dyna Tek

2010-10-08T22:21:00.013-06:00

Gun Care,Muzzle loader, Long gun and Pistol kits!

New from Dyna Tek! The wonderful products of Bore Coat & Gun Shield will now be available in a few weeks! This easy to do your self kit comes with both the Bore Coat and Gun Shield products in one package! They have made the price a LOT more affordable to the average joe like myself. Both of these great products will be available in a Muzzle Loader Kit for only $24.95 Retail.

The Muzzle Loader kit is enough to do One Complete Muzzle Loader.

The new Kit features an easy squeeze tube for the Gun Shield and an Aluminum Canister for the Bore Coat which increases the products life to 2 years VS the plastic bottle shelf life of 6 to 8 months.

Adding to the list of new products, They will have kits for Long guns " Rifles - Shot guns" This kit has the same Bore Coat and Gun Shield kit as the Muzzle Loader Kit does. Its enough for one long gun. This kit again runs only $24.95.

They offer a bulk supply of Bore Coat that will do 5 to 6 Long Guns and the price is $44.95 A great deal to have on had if you have many rifles i need of Bore Coat protection. And let me tell you, the stuff flat out WORKS!

Another new product is the Handgun Care Kit. I believe that if you are shooting a Black Powder Revolver,Pistol, this kit will be a huge help in cleaning up and possibly a shooters dream when the Gun Shield is applied to the Cylinder Shaft. Fouling has a hard time sticking/building up when Gun Shield- Bore Coat have been applied. Clean up again will be even easier as the fouling will basically just wash right off under the water faucet. This kit will only run $14.95 This is an investment well worth putting the $15 into.

Even the Gun Shield comes by it self for those who just want to try one product before going the entire course. The Gun Shield will be available by it self for $9.95 and will do one complete long gun or multiple pistols/ revolvers.

Thor Bullet's New 300gr Ballistic Tip

2010-09-14T21:19:00.000-06:00

The new 300gr Ballistic Tip Thor has arrived! Originally the 300gr Thor was available in only a Hollow Point. They have now added the Ballistic Tip for those of us who like the Aerodynamic shape and the performance. I got a few packages to try out in my rifles, i ordered the .500" Diameter bullet as all of my CVA's use this size.

I had recently added Ultra Coating's Bore Coat to the inside of the bore of my CVA Accura. I did quite a bit of testing but with the easy to load Powerbelt Bullets. The Thor's came in at a perfect time and i was able to test a few of them the same day they came in the mail.

After running a few dry patches down the Accura's bore to mop up excess Montana X-treme Bore Oil, i went and started to pre-measure my loads and put them into Lanes Powder Tubes.

I measured out Twenty 100 grain Volume Blackhorn209 Charges and put them into the range box for in the morning. I normally use CCI 209M primers but the lady that normally works at the store where i buy primers at, was not in and the guy behind the counter was completely lost and did not know where the other 9 boxes were "hiding". I settled on the Regular CCI 209 primers in the blue box. I often shoot these out of my CVA Hunterbolt .50cal with Blackhorn209 so i figured i may as well give it a go in the Accura the next morning.

Getting up the next morning it was a very nice cool, slightly breezy day, great for fast barrel cool down without a long wait.

Getting the Caldwell FCX Lead Sled set up, new target up at 50 yards put my ear protection on, i went and grabbed a powder tube, carefully poured the powder down the muzzle and selected the 300gr Thor Ballistic Tip. The .500" Thor in my CVA Accura loads with finger pressure. I follow up with my Range Rod and load it down smoothly and firmly on top of the Powder charge. Consistent loading pressure is key to getting great accuracy with a muzzle loader!

At 50 yards it was DEAD ON. I allowed a few minutes in between shots so the barrel could cool down a bit and loaded/shot Two more rounds into the target. I was extremely happy with the results as you can see on the left side of the screen.

Later that late evening i took all of the gear to my 100 yard shooting range and put a fresh target up, set up the Lead Sled, Loaded the rifle again "I did NOT clean the rifle from the previous 50 yard range shooting" Put my Ear protection on and squeezed the Accura's Light, Crisp Trigger.

I ended up being aprox 2" Low at 100 yards but center. After taking a couple more shots for adjustments of the scope, I gave the rifle 20 minutes to cool down and then did it all over again for a final 3 shot group on a fresh target. The first Two shots were under 1" Apart, Barrel heat on the next shot had the 300gr Thor push up out of the other group for a 3 shot group measuring just a touch over 1 1/2". I am confident that with a proper barrel cool down " Patience" This rifle will have no trouble at all shooting these 300gr Ballistic Tip Thor's into a 1" group @ 100 yards.

Setting up my RCBS AmmoMaster Chronograph at 10 feet from the muzzle, I ran Three shots through the Chrono with the 300gr Thor. With 100gr Blackhorn209 "Volume" The 300gr Thor averages 1,832 FPS. For comparison, i used a lighter weight 295gr Powerbelt with the same powder charge and it only shot 1,794 FPS.

The Thor's Hollow Base really creates a very nice tight seal. Blackhorn209 loves lots of seating pressure but i chose to do it firmly rather than look like a monkey hanging off my range rod trying to pack it as tight as possible. You have to remember that when you are in the field, that nice range rod is back at home and you are going to have to do the reloading with your ramrod which is MUCH shorter than the range rod.

Testing the 300gr Thor for expansion with 100gr Blackhorn209 into Three 1 Gallon jugs of water at 50 yards, i made a movie of me loading and shooting the jugs. I am shooting at a very steep uphill angle and due to this, Two of the pedals did not open fully. I will be testing a lot more with everything from 2x6's soaked in water until soggy, Wet/Dry News Paper and then my favorite, Sloppy Wet Sand mixed into a cement like state.

These new Ballistic Tips up to this point will be my elk load this year. I will be testing them in the CVA Apex, Optima,Wolf and V2 Accura later on as well.

Overall i am very happy with the Quality, Accuracy and Performance of the 300gr BT Thor!

Please enjoy the video! There's a BIG splash and Slow-Mo towards to end showing the water exploding from one jug to the next as the bullet passes through. Pay close attention to what i use to load the Thor in the Accura's bore, before pushing it down with my Range rod.

Ultra Coatings Inc

2010-09-11T19:38:00.000-06:00

A little over a month ago i contacted Doug Burche at Ultra Coatings Inc to ask about the products they have to offer and whether or not they'd be interested in allowing me to test them out on my CVA Muzzleloaders. I have heard of the products years ago but never really thought much about it until recently.

As all of us muzzleloader shooters know, They can be down right filthy and a pain to clean. Especially that hard carbon 209 primer dust that gets caked up on the breech plug or worse, the frame on the rifle! It got so bad on two of my rifles, i was using 0000 steelwool with oil and scrubbing my frames to get all of that carbon off. Well the Steel wool took it off and over time, took off the finish as well. Luckily the alloy frame matches the coating and isn't noticeable. But we shouldn't have to deal with a hard cleaning job like that. The products i am going to talk about here WILL solve these issues.

To begin, Let me list some info directly off Ultra Coatings website.

Ultra Bore Coat was developed to eliminate or greatly reduce all types of fouling that occurs in firearm bores. The following information describes how Ultra Bore Coat affects different firearms.

In closed breach black powder muzzle loaders using pellets and 209 primers, Ultra Bore Coat eliminates the carbon ring build-up and allows the shooter to fire for prolonged periods without stopping to clean. Some testing has gone as long as 4,000 rounds without cleaning. It eliminates the plastic fouling in the bore caused by sabots. It also reduces leading and makes it easier to clean.

What Ultra Bore Coat Will Do

It will greatly reduce or in most cases eliminate jacket fouling.
It will allow you to shoot extremely long strings without cleaning.
You will never need a bronze bore brush in the bore again; all cleaning is done with patches and solvent. It takes an average of 4-8 patches and you’re done.
Ultra Bore Coat will help protect against corrosion, both galvanic and chemical.
It will keep the barrel shooting up to its potential for longer periods of time.

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Average thickness in all bores once applied and cured is .25 microns.
Ultra Bore Coat is applied to a clean bore with a loose fitting patch and slotted patch holder. After setting at least six hours, the user puts 8 to 10 rounds down the bore to cure the coating. The coating is cured by the heat and pressure of firing. The longer you shoot with Ultra Bore Coat, the better it performs.

The Ultra Bore coat kit does Three guns in my case. I noticed right away how shiny and smooth the bores were after applying the Bore Coat. What was pretty surprising is how easy bullets now load, even lead conicals. Powerbelts load even easier. But the most important part for me was, How does it work out at the range?

I shoot strictly Blackhorn209 on the range in the Inline's and so its clean by itself but with the Bore Coat, the fouling inside the barrel is GREATLY reduced. After 20 shots i can still see the stainless steel inside the bore, typically its BLACK after only a few shots. Re-loading on the ultra bore coated bore is smooth and slick.

Cleaning, Using Western Powders Blackhorn209 Solvent, it normally took anywhere from 8 to 12 patches to get my CVA Accura fully cleaned. I am now doing this with only Three patches!

I do have a video of me actually cleaning my rifle out after a short time on the range. I was able to clean the bore out with WINDEX and it only took Three wet paper towel squares. Due to the video size it will be a while before i can get it up and running.

A few weeks ago i traded a Muzzleloader off for another. That being a CVA Mountain Stalker .54cal "Love the 54's!" and i took the barrel down the bare steel as the instructions state and applied the Bore coat. Two weeks later i was finally able to load it up and shoot!

That's when i truly got the full experience with Bore Coat! Who reading this has heard of American Pioneer Powder? If you have, you may of heard of the "Reverse Crud Ring" that it can " Not always" produces towards the Muzzle end of the barrel. This is caused by the primer/cap being inefficient to burn the powder. Go with to hot of a primer/cap, You get the crud ring down at the breech end of the barrel.

Well previously while shooting this new .54 with American Pioneer and #11 percussion caps, I got the crud ring at the muzzle. Using 100gr American Pioneer 2f, .015 patch and a .530 round ball, The Bore Coat cured the Crud Ring! After 12 shots, the last shot loaded as easily as the FIRST shot did on a clean bore! I love using .018" Pillow Tick patches but due to the fouling that used to build up, i stuck with the thinner patches. Now that this Bore Coat product has proven itself to truly be a product that works, i will now be able to use the thick patches and get great accuracy without having to gorilla the next load down through the crud.

*Pictured Left* After 12 shots with American Pioneer, This is what the Bore looks like! Simply amazing! No swabbing, No nothing. Just Bore Coat it and be done with the swabbing game.

This is a Product that WORKS and a product that i highly recommend for the Black Powder Shooter. You will save money, time and energy in the end once this product is applied. Let costly cleaning Products, Less cleaning time on the Range, Once its applied, you basically will have it in the bore for life unless you use a bronze bore brush or JB Bore paste.

I will be doing more comparison tests in the next couple days to show you the difference of a bore that's factory VS a bore that has been Bore Coated!