So over the past week I finally got to get some range time under my belt. This is my entrance into the muzzleloading world, and I am enjoying it ! I have the CVA wolf that I purchased on black Friday for 269 with the Konus scope. I put 28 rounds down the tube so far, and have learned a few things.
1. A light muzzleloader with 95 grains of powder has a surprising amount of recoil. I wasted most of 1 session because I didn't realize the scope had worked loose.
2. 12 shots takes a whole lot longer with my CVA than a rifle (duh!) it did surprise me how long
3. I am using 777 fffg powder. There is a distinct difference in the crud ring when using 95 grains powder as opposed to 80. With the 80 grain load, I can shoot twice with no cleaning and have about the same build-up as I do with 1 shot of 95 grains. This surprised me.
4. Windex cleans well. I take a spray bottle of windex along, 2 passes damp patch, 2 on dry. (swab, flip, swab) It gets it really clean. I spend a little extra time at the crud ring, which is fairly easy to feel, esp at the 90+ grain range.
5. 80 grains of triple 7 fffg with a 300 grain lead bullet in a Hornady sabot gives me 1610 fps. I tried to be as consistent as possible, my extreme spread was 45 fps for 5 shots. I didn't feel that was too bad. In my opinion, that should be enough for 100 yards.
6. I like the smoke!!!
Thanks for the help folks!
One thing I am still undecided on is what alloy to use for my bullets. The answers I get are all over the board. Some say pure, others say 16:1 others say 20:1 or even 200:1. I personally feel that pure is too malleable? Seems to me if a shoulder was accidentally hit that penetration would be compromised. Maybe I am off on that. One thing I am going on is this year I shot a buck and doe with a 358 Winchester with cast bullets. They were cast from a 3-3-94 alloy and at 1900 fps they killed very well, and seemed like they expanded. I know that is a small sample, but from that I deduce that maybe a 16:1 alloy would fit my needs fairly well. Thoughts?
1. A light muzzleloader with 95 grains of powder has a surprising amount of recoil. I wasted most of 1 session because I didn't realize the scope had worked loose.
2. 12 shots takes a whole lot longer with my CVA than a rifle (duh!) it did surprise me how long
3. I am using 777 fffg powder. There is a distinct difference in the crud ring when using 95 grains powder as opposed to 80. With the 80 grain load, I can shoot twice with no cleaning and have about the same build-up as I do with 1 shot of 95 grains. This surprised me.
4. Windex cleans well. I take a spray bottle of windex along, 2 passes damp patch, 2 on dry. (swab, flip, swab) It gets it really clean. I spend a little extra time at the crud ring, which is fairly easy to feel, esp at the 90+ grain range.
5. 80 grains of triple 7 fffg with a 300 grain lead bullet in a Hornady sabot gives me 1610 fps. I tried to be as consistent as possible, my extreme spread was 45 fps for 5 shots. I didn't feel that was too bad. In my opinion, that should be enough for 100 yards.
6. I like the smoke!!!
Thanks for the help folks!
One thing I am still undecided on is what alloy to use for my bullets. The answers I get are all over the board. Some say pure, others say 16:1 others say 20:1 or even 200:1. I personally feel that pure is too malleable? Seems to me if a shoulder was accidentally hit that penetration would be compromised. Maybe I am off on that. One thing I am going on is this year I shot a buck and doe with a 358 Winchester with cast bullets. They were cast from a 3-3-94 alloy and at 1900 fps they killed very well, and seemed like they expanded. I know that is a small sample, but from that I deduce that maybe a 16:1 alloy would fit my needs fairly well. Thoughts?