Help with my new Inline

This year i recieved a few muzzleloader quota permits to.some wildlife management areas here in central florida. So last week i went out and bought a 1998 CVA Firebolt .54 cal 1:38 twist and have a few questions about it. First of all i believe it is a persussion cap smokepole but would like to get someone who knows there way around these guns to.take a look at the pic of the breech below and tell me for sure. I would also like to know if any has any experience with a .54 cal and can suggest how many grains pf powderi can use with it.and how big.of a bullet i should go with. And what type of bullets i should use with it having a 1:38 twist. Thanks in advance

It will not allow me to upload the pic due to.size so i guess i will have to.do.my best describing the breech. So o guess the.easiest way to say this is there is a breech plug that.a nipple screwwed into it

How big is the picture? Are you trying to upload from a cell phone?

Many of us use photobucket to host our pictures. You can upload pics there and then post them here full size or as thumbnail size

Here is the manual in pdf format that includes that rifle http://stevespages.com/pdf/cva_inline.pdf

I would call cva and ask them if they have a 209 primer conversion

Im trying to upload from a cell phone. That must be the problem, but im not to worried about it now sinve i read that pdf and for sure that it is a percussion cap rifle. Do yall know of any gokd good places where i.can get a conversion kit other then callimg up.cva? Are they worth it?

Sorry about the spelling. big fingers and small screens dont get along all the time

If the nipple is small, the hole on the end, its probably a #11 cap system. That was most common. And if you're going to shoot loose powder such as Pyrodex RS, Triple Seven, APP, or black powder, that #11 system will work just fine.

With the 1-38 twist try 80 grains of powder and a conical bullet such as a maxiball, or even a powerbelt in .54 such as the 405 grain. That will plant most anything you might encounter.

What grain size maxi ball would you suggest?

IIRC 54cal maxis are in the 420-430gr range. Depends on the alloy and the mold used. The Hornady Great Plains 54cal is about the same weight also.

Arlight. Ill have to look into them. Thank yall for the help. I will defiantly be back to this forum for anymore questions. Thank yall again

I would search the web for what's out there on that gun. I see a 209 ignition system mentioned, may be an add on. If you haven't been around M-L's a bunch out some thought into cleaning after you shoot it, make sure it's clean with the flash channel clear before you shoot it too.


Loose Pyrodex or 777 powder may be the logical choice.

Just a couple of points. Blackhorn 209 is not safe in that action. With other powder I would recommend a musket nipple and musket caps. I shot a 1-38 twist for many years it does have some advantages, one of the best loads I had for hunting deer was a .535 Patched Round Ball. and 90 grains of Pyrodex RS it also shot well with 200 grain 45, 230 grain 45,and 250 grain 45 caliber bullets in a sabot. There are quit a number of sabots and you will need to find the ones that are tight enough to shoot good in your gun. Sabots The most noticeable thing about sabots as far as I am concerned is that up north in cool country the MMP sabot work best most of the time since I moved to AR where most of our shooting is done in 80 to 110 degrees the Harvester sabot is the one that does best by far and I believe it is directly related to the temperature and the composition of the sabots.

They did make a 209 for this gun I have one in .50 cal. Mine is a very accurate gun

It should be just a matter of getting the right breach plug.I have had both Mag Bolt and Fire Bolt rifles and it was just a breach plug swap.

It's the CVA plug that has the slot across it.Don't get the one with the Hex head.

Sorry yall. Ive been so busy between workin and school that i havent been able to get on here. I appreciate the advice. Well now that know that is percussion cap i need to take a ride up to gander and pick up a can of them. When i was last up there i picked a bottle of american pioneer powder (ffg) and was wondering if any of yall have any experience with it. Should it do good in my ml or should i take it back and get another kind? Dies it work well with percussion caps? Thanks

I did a quick look on eBay and you can get a bp for use with a 209 primers for about $20 or less. I never used the American pioneer in mine but I did use t7 loose and pellets but I always had trouble getting pellets to ignite had a lot of miss fires and hang fires but never had a problem with loose in it.

btbrunk9 said:

Sorry yall. Ive been so busy between workin and school that i havent been able to get on here. I appreciate the advice. Well now that know that is percussion cap i need to take a ride up to gander and pick up a can of them. When i was last up there i picked a bottle of american pioneer powder (ffg) and was wondering if any of yall have any experience with it. Should it do good in my ml or should i take it back and get another kind? Dies it work well with percussion caps? Thanks

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I did a quick search on Google, here is what I came up with reading a few links. Says you can leave it uncleaned without worry of corrosion but to leave the gun oiled. Also it is extremely easy to clean your gun using American Pioneer Powder. Says the Powder doesn't foul a lot. Also you can load without swabbing between shots, unlike Triple 7 there is no crud ring to swab between shots. 2FG is ok if you have a .45 Caliber or larger gun. If you have any doubts read your manual to see what the manufacture recommends. If you can't find the manual call the manufacture of your gun. From a few links I read I would stick to the powder, they say chunks break off the sticks, making charges not uniform. I don't like Pellets anyway, too restrictive to load development for your gun, With powder you have many combinations of grains of powder to use for your loads, with pellets you are very very limited. An article at Chuckhawks.com by Randy Wakeman was very negative about American Pioneer Powder, I wouldn't put too much stock into anything Randy Wakeman says, In my opinion he is not very unbiased, I have read a few of his reviews and have got to the point that I don't even like to read or believe them. Here is the links you can check out for yourself: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Am ... er+Reviews
After you select what you are going to shoot and have shot it, post back and fill us in how everything went for you. I personally have never shot American Pioneer Powder but from what I read it sounds pretty good.
Also they said you can leave your gun uncleaned as long as you keep it Oiled. That may be true, but get in the habit of cleaning your gun the same day you shoot it no matter if you shoot it once or 100 times. If your barrel rusts and pits there is no cure for it, it may still shoot good and it may not, but it will be harder to clean. Get into that habit of cleaning Especially since they say American Pioneer powder cleans up especially easy.

btbrunk9 said:

Sorry yall. Ive been so busy between workin and school that i havent been able to get on here. I appreciate the advice. Well now that know that is percussion cap i need to take a ride up to gander and pick up a can of them. When i was last up there i picked a bottle of american pioneer powder (ffg) and was wondering if any of yall have any experience with it. Should it do good in my ml or should i take it back and get another kind? Dies it work well with percussion caps? Thanks

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Any of the AP powders are badly under powered and ten to draw moisture more than most powders. If you get AP 2f powder it is more like granulated gravel and very inconsistent in sizes. That is not to say it will not shoot well it will, but for hunting it would be one of the last powder choices I would make. 3F AP is more consistent but also really draws moisture and will clump in the bottle actually both of them will.

In all of my percussion rifles I shoot T7-3f, it is a great powder for cap ignition and burns fairly cleanly. If you are using caps you will not get the crude ring unless you have a large amount of oil in the barrel especially petroleum based oils. If you can get synthetic oils for the bore I believe you are far better off. I use Montana X-Treme Bore Conditioner... Also if you are shooting heavy lead conicals 3f might not be the choice t burns to fast and will burn out before the bullet leaves the bore.

Here are some pictures that might show you what I am saying... Shockey Gold is suppose to be the best of the AP powders.

Hope this helps. I have a 1990's Thompson Center Firehawk .54 with a 1 in 38" twist. It is a striker fire inline. I use musket caps, but have also used # 11 caps with no problem. On the Firehawk you can just unscrew the nipple, and #11, and musket cap nipples are interchangeable. My load is 100 grains of 777 FF, an MMP white .54 sabot for use with .429"-.430" bullets, and a Hornady 225 grain FTX, .44 caliber/.430 bullet. Most accurate load ever for this MZ. I bought this MZ new, and have put just about every type of projectile through it in 20 years, and this load tops all.