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MissouriEd

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Greetings to all. I am not totally new to muzzle loaders, but am getting back into it as a way to open up hunting opportunities. I just moved to Missouri and they have many BP hunting opportunities.
I would like to purchase an inline 209 muzzleloader and will put a low power scope on it. To simplify things I would like to use the pellets and sabots. I live in an apartment so want to keep accessories simple and to a minimum. Deer will be the target with ranges mostly under 100 yds at typical woods ranges.

Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.
 
Welcome to the forum ed. I'm fairly new here also. My first purchase was a T/C Impact...fairly inexpensive, and I have found that it shoots extremely well with a Speer 270 grain Deep Curl behind 90 grains of BlackHorn 209, and using a Winchester 209 primer. Simple to clean and use... I like you very seldom shoot over 100yds. Good luck!
 
:D

CVA all the way :!: :!: :!: Can't go wrong. Breech plug removal is done with your fingers. :partyman: Easy to clean. Easy to remove firing pin for cleaning, can't beat the Bergara Barrel for accuracy. They are second to none. Like the slogan goes, " IT'S JUST A BETTER GUN " :!: Go to cva muzzleloaders.com and check it out for yourself. On that site they compare other brands with the cva rifles.



Ray............. :wink:
 
MissouriEd said:
Greetings to all. I am not totally new to muzzle loaders, but am getting back into it as a way to open up hunting opportunities. I just moved to Missouri and they have many BP hunting opportunities.
I would like to purchase an inline 209 muzzleloader and will put a low power scope on it. To simplify things I would like to use the pellets and sabots. I live in an apartment so want to keep accessories simple and to a minimum. Deer will be the target with ranges mostly under 100 yds at typical woods ranges.

Thanks in advance for any help you might provide.

Not sure Mo has MANY ML hunting opportunities. The "alternative" season is well after both CF seasons. All the ML hunts on conservation land are lottery and only a few days long. The best places near STL get tons of applicants. Ive got a 6% chance of a 2 day hunt for the one i picked. Your chance of being drawn is slim in many areas. You are also too late to apply for the CA/WA hunts now. Applications ended Aug 15th.

What is nice is you can use any powder including smokeless (in approved rifles), scopes, inlines and no primer restrictions. Some lottery hunts have much stricter regulations. Those lottery hunts are listed as "cap and ball" vs inline.

Now, if you live near St Charles, i might be able to meet with you at Cabelas and give you some pointers. I also have 1 or 2 rifles i might be willing to sell . Both will shoot any powder you wish but loose powder is so much better than pellets and its simple to prefill a bunch of powder tubes. I can also show you a better place to buy powders, sabots and 209 primers cheaper than Cabelas.
 
I have a TC Impact that I keep for my dad & it is a great gun to carry & shoot. It is a 100 yard tack driver with 90 grains of BH209, black Crush Rib sabots & a Barnes MZ 250.

With that said, I think the best bang for your buck is a CVA Optima, or a CVA Wolf, if the Optima is a little more than you want to spend. I would highly recommend BH209 loose powder, no matter what gun you use. If you go CVA, then a Western Powders breech plug is a must. The best place to buy everything you need is Ed's Gun Shop 910-692-7936. The guy you wanna talk to is Carlos. Good luck with whatever you choose.
 
Brands that I own and can recommend: CVA, Thompson Center.

Traditions is the one brand that I will not purchase again. I had the pursuit xlt and it did not hold up to range time and hunting, shot good but the quality was not there.
 
Knight, CVA, TC all make good accurate rifles. The One thing I would recommend before you buy, is to go to a good shop or 2 that have a variety or brands and actually shoulder as many as you can. This will let you see which rifle "Feels" good to you, then shop for price on what "you" like. We all are different shapes and sizes. As an example, My nephew has a CVA Wolf Rifle, good entry level rifle that shoots really great, feels good to him but not me. He can shoot it better than me since it just don't fit me good. The Encore is another example. I really wanted one of those when they came out. First time I shouldered one it just did not feel right to me, and my smaller hands made it hard for me to touch the trigger properly. The Guys here that have them love them and shoot great groups with them.
 
Thanks to all who made comments. I appreciate your time and advice. I'm not in a rush, but I'll do some serious shopping in the next few days. Thanks again,
 
CVA Optima or CVA Wolf. The CVA Wolf is a bit of a Kicker on the Bench but in the woods you won't feel a thing. I would suggest getting the SS over the BLue though. CVA has had some issues with the Blue Models. Not sure if they have gotten that straitened out yet or not.
 
A lot depends on what you want to spend. Many people like my friends use them for two weeks out of the year, and seldom go to the range. Many of them outfitted themselves with CVA Wolf and CVA Buckhorn Magnum rifles. The reason... well the rifle is affordable, functions perfect, and for 50 yards and under shooting... they are deadly with them. Then they throw a cheap Simmons Pro Diamond 4x32mm scope on them and they are set. I have seen two of them shoot their Buckhorn Magnums at the range and out to 75 yards, with basically no practice under them, they were still deer hunting accurate.

I purchased an Optima .50 caliber for $209.00 and threw a $49.99 Cabela's PowderHorn Scope on it. The rifle has really surprised me. Its very accurate out to 100 yards. I have not shot it further. And its easy to clean, easy to take apart, and stainless steel. So for $250.00 I have a very good rifle set up.

There are lots of rifles and all of them have reasons you should purchase them. Maybe go to a big sporting goods store and handle rifles. See which one really makes you smile. Also if there are clubs around you that shoot black powder rifles.. that is an excellent place to wander around, talk to the shooters and watch the rifles perform.
 
I look at this board and another board I frequent and what I see mostly is a bunch of experienced squared away guys that know their stuff.

Lets be honest that there are hunters out there that are not so dedicate to our craft that are just intersted more in getting in the woods for a couple of extra days of the season.

Having done this all of my adult life I cannot think of a better entry level ML than the CVA Optima or Wolf. Its so simplistic with its no tools breech plug. Will take pretty much any load you put in it. No muss no fuss scope mounting with the excellent Durasite scope mount. Even a Cave man could not mess up mounting a scope with that system.
 
I own TC's, CVA's, Knight's, White's, and several customs.. Honestly, I love them all! Each has earned its own special niche somewhere. and im sure if you asked this question enough times, youd get so many different answers...
Its almost like walking into a crowded bar and asking everyone what their favorite beer was.
 
My self personally I have only ever owned Knights. My very first gun was a Knight LK-93 purchased used from a friend of my father for $100 and that came with everything I needed including bullets and 2 lb. of Goex. I shot that rifle for years before finding this place and upgrading my practices and equipment. I have handeled all of the big name ones out there. From the T/C Encore, Triumuph and Impact to the CVA Accura, Optima and Wolf, I also looked at a couple of the Savage's that are now discontinued. Personally for me I liked the Encore but not the price and the Savage's but again the price was too steep for me. I have settled for now on buying used from a few of the good folks on here and have stuck with my Knights.
 
Hornet22savage said:
My self personally I have only ever owned Knights. My very first gun was a Knight LK-93 purchased used from a friend of my father for $100 and that came with everything I needed including bullets and 2 lb. of Goex. I shot that rifle for years before finding this place and upgrading my practices and equipment. I have handeled all of the big name ones out there. From the T/C Encore, Triumuph and Impact to the CVA Accura, Optima and Wolf, I also looked at a couple of the Savage's that are now discontinued. Personally for me I liked the Encore but not the price and the Savage's but again the price was too steep for me. I have settled for now on buying used from a few of the good folks on here and have stuck with my Knights.
To me I think it comes down to what you like and what you are use to. Some people are just going to naturally be swawed by one feature or another or one piece stock vs two peice stock. That is why they make chocolate and vanilla.



Price certainly becomes a factor for a lot of folks. Take they guy that is only looking to extend his season by a week. He is only probably going to hunt what?? One or two days of the year with it? He is probably not going to shell out $800 for a top of the line KNight and stick another $300+ worth of glass on top of it.

Then take a look at the CVA Wolf and Optimas and the TC Impacts. At $200 and $300 starting price points these look very attractive. Not only are those ML's affordable but they can shoot as well as some of the biggest names in the industry with the right loads and the right shooter behind them.


The industry seems to be addressing not only the 1 week hunter but the full season hunter pretty well with a full line of some of the best Inline ML's ever made.
 
The CVA Wolf, Traditions Buckstalker, and TC Impact are the "economy" muzzleloaders on the market.
 
I just purchased my first muzzleloader. I looked at quite a few at cabelas and sportsmans warehouse, but they didn't have much of a selection in stock. Even their online inventory was low. I ended up finding a great deal at http://www.muzzle-loaders.com. These guys are out of LaGrande, OR, and they were fantastic to deal with. They shipped the same day and it arrived FedEx at my doorstep by 10am the following day. I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase!
 

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I would guess MissouriEd already got his ML last year or other things became a priority. I have not seen him post in close to a year now or mention what he got.
 
Bass Pro Shop has a CVA Optima V2 package on sale for $399.97
It includes a Konus Pro 3-9x40 scope, and a CVA Soft gun case

I have the Optima V2 and i am very happy with it.
I have a Cabelas powderhorn scope though
At the bottom of my page shows what I shoot

Hope this helps
 

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