CVA Paramount Update

[sam-arkie]

I bought a .45 Paramount (2019 non-threaded model) a couple of months ago. Along with it I got a good supply of the Powerbelt 280 gr ELR bullets. I already had the Blackhorn 209. After I got it I joined this forum and got to reading about the issues with the leakage I got to checking closer. I've never had a problem with the breech plug, but did around most of the primers. I emailed CVA and they sent me a new breech plug and I order 20 new adaptors. With the new plug and after culling about 1/3 of my 30 adaptors, I can now say that after about 50 shots it's good to go. As far as working up the best load, I will never again load a muzzleloader with a volume measure, I never realized inaccurate that was until I went to weighing them on my powder scale.
I ended up settling on 100 grains of Blackhorn, by weight with the .280 ELR bullets. 5 shot group was touching at 100 yards and about 2.5" at 200 yards, off the bench with a leadsled. I went to a hayfield of mine and set up a 400 yards target and figuring on the 48' drop at that range, with a 200 yard zero I put an 8" coffee lid in the middle of a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood.


I put the crosshair right on the top of the plywood. That's nine shots, there is 2 in the lowest hole just under the lid. the 6 best shots were with the Minox 3-15x50 scope set on 15X, the 3 a little high and to the left were with the scope set on 6X and using the bottom crosshair of the three crosshairs on the scope. I don't think it was too bad with using a 50gal barrel for a table and rolls of paper towels for a rest. It do kick a little.

Took this gun to Nebraska last week for their muzzleloader hunt, with visions of big bucks and long shots. Ended up shooting a cull buck at 90 yards, but he was a big bodied deer and I ruined both shoulders with a through and through shot.

 

[Ninering62]

I bought a .45 Paramount (2019 non-threaded model) a couple of months ago. Along with it I got a good supply of the Powerbelt 280 gr ELR bullets. I already had the Blackhorn 209. After I got it I joined this forum and got to reading about the issues with the leakage I got to checking closer. I've never had a problem with the breech plug, but did around most of the primers. I emailed CVA and they sent me a new breech plug and I order 20 new adaptors. With the new plug and after culling about 1/3 of my 30 adaptors, I can now say that after about 50 shots it's good to go. As far as working up the best load, I will never again load a muzzleloader with a volume measure, I never realized inaccurate that was until I went to weighing them on my powder scale.
I ended up settling on 100 grains of Blackhorn, by weight with the .280 ELR bullets. 5 shot group was touching at 100 yards and about 2.5" at 200 yards, off the bench with a leadsled. I went to a hayfield of mine and set up a 400 yards target and figuring on the 48' drop at that range, with a 200 yard zero I put an 8" coffee lid in the middle of a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood.

View attachment 11850
I put the crosshair right on the top of the plywood. That's nine shots, there is 2 in the lowest hole just under the lid. the 6 best shots were with the Minox 3-15x50 scope set on 15X, the 3 a little high and to the left were with the scope set on 6X and using the bottom crosshair of the three crosshairs on the scope. I don't think it was too bad with using a 50gal barrel for a table and rolls of paper towels for a rest. It do kick a little.

Took this gun to Nebraska last week for their muzzleloader hunt, with visions of big bucks and long shots. Ended up shooting a cull buck at 90 yards, but he was a big bodied deer and I ruined both shoulders with a through and through shot.

Great post, thanks for sharing your experience with your Paramount with everyone here. Congrats on the deer. My 1st deer kill with mine was last yr. 130yds running L>R. I loaded the 280elr's & 105grW BH 209. It got hit high & mid rib cage & he was dead in mid air. Dang I wish I had that shot on film. But the damage was bad. Too bad. I could put both hands in & clap in exit wound. Grenaded the insides. The next one I killed was 60 yds walkin right to me. I was seated on the ground. I hit him with same load at base of neck/chest. It looked like a 12ga blast to the chest in an old western upon impact. I killed one more & destroyed both shoulders. I'm not hunting with them currently. BUt they sure do shoot straight & absolutely wreck what they hit.

 

[dwm]

anyone kill anything with that bullet and less powder, I would like to try them in my ultra lite 45 , just curious about performance at slower velocity

 

[Ninering62]

anyone kill anything with that bullet and less powder, I would like to try them in my ultra lite 45 , just curious about performance at slower velocity

Great thinkin, nobody says ya gotta push them 280gr ELR's at 2400+ FPS. They are made for the slightly larger Bergara bores .4525-.453 so idk how they will fit a Knight bore. I've never owned a Knight. Well bud, it's only 24.00 for a pk of them to find out. Let us know how that goes.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Great thinkin, nobody says ya gotta push them 280gr ELR's at 2400+ FPS. They are made for the slightly larger Bergara bores .4525-.453 so idk how they will fit a Knight bore. I've never owned a Knight. Well bud, it's only 24.00 for a pk of them to find out. Let us know how that goes.

Only $24 a pak. I remember when $24 was a fortune. Thats why i cast.

 

[GM54-120]

The body of the ELR is .449 and the skirt is over .454 so they could work in most fast twist 45s.

 

[sam-arkie]

I bought a pack of the .50 Powerbelt ELRs to try in my T/C Prohunter. It has a Bergara barrel (1/28 twist) and it didn't shoot the ELRs worth a darn. I'll stayed with the 300 grain Hornady XTP .45 with a sabot that it likes so well. Just had to give them a try though after the .45 ELRs shot so well in my .45 Paramount and the high ballistic coefficient makes the ELRs very tempting to at least try.

 

[HC]

If the pro hunter has QLA, then that’s probably why it won’t shoot the ELR bullets very well.

 

[GM54-120]

He used a Bergara barrel for Encores. It could with a max load of BH209.

 

[Ninering62]

I have played around with my Paramount quite a bit on the breech plug and leakage. My primers always looked really good and clean but I would seem to get a little smoke around the breech plug. So I started using the traditions anti-seize that comes in the stick, like chapstick, I apply the full length of the plug. Then I run the breech plug in just finger tight. So far I haven’t noticed any leakage since.

Ive been very fortunate with mine I guess. Ive had zero issues arise with my BP or the Variflames I was really worried about bein leaky & problematic. I was using anti seize on the BP like I have with every other inline I've ever owned until I read about using the red marine bearing grease, I'm worse than lettin a retard near fresh paint ( No I don't eat it ) but I'll have it everywhere I go for the rest of the day. So the red bearing grease makes way less mess & is easy to clean up & works fantastic with just a lil bit. I tighten my BP just barely snug thats it. No blowback no mess no probs.

 

[Tom33078]

Ive been very fortunate with mine I guess. Ive had zero issues arise with my BP or the Variflames I was really worried about bein leaky & problematic. I was using anti seize on the BP like I have with every other inline I've ever owned until I read about using the red marine bearing grease, I'm worse than lettin a retard near fresh paint ( No I don't eat it ) but I'll have it everywhere I go for the rest of the day. So the red bearing grease makes way less mess & is easy to clean up & works fantastic with just a lil bit. I tighten my BP just barely snug thats it. No blowback no mess no probs.

I’ll have to try that, first I’ve heard of the marine grease. Thank you! Probably next weekend I’m gonna stretch her legs a little bit.

 

[Ninering62]

I’ll have to try that, first I’ve heard of the marine grease. Thank you! Probably next weekend I’m gonna stretch her legs a little bit.

Cool Tom, let us know how that leg stretchin session goes.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Ive been very fortunate with mine I guess. Ive had zero issues arise with my BP or the Variflames I was really worried about bein leaky & problematic. I was using anti seize on the BP like I have with every other inline I've ever owned until I read about using the red marine bearing grease, I'm worse than lettin a retard near fresh paint ( No I don't eat it ) but I'll have it everywhere I go for the rest of the day. So the red bearing grease makes way less mess & is easy to clean up & works fantastic with just a lil bit. I tighten my BP just barely snug thats it. No blowback no mess no probs.

Where did you hear about the bearing grease? I literally can get tons of it. Never heard of using it. But i guess almost any lube will work if you're pullin the bp after every session.

 

[c-ne-rlk]

I have run my Paramount Pro Colorado with nothing (clean) on the breach plug and with anti-seize on it. Have never had any blow back in either case.

 

[rcs9250]

I’ve been reading your posts regarding the Fury bullets. Are they .40 caliber and you’re using sabots ?

 

[Nit Wit]

CVA's are alright but I have a hard time thinking they have high quality steel parts. I have always thought their barrels were of softer steel. I think Knight is far and away better quality. Has Knight ever done a video of cutting a CVA barrel and then cutting a Knight barrel? That would be enlightening for me. How else would you tell which is higher quality?
Nit Wit

 

[Jabink84]

anyone kill anything with that bullet and less powder, I would like to try them in my ultra lite 45 , just curious about performance at slower velocity

I shot my buck at 280 yds this year with a 280 ELR. bullet performed great. Complete pass through. The buck didnt take a step.
2120 MV out of an accura LR. They shoot very well from my 45 cal knight mountaineer as well.

 

[Decay]

I'd hate to see this thread fizzle out and die so I'll add a little more. It's been a very interesting thread, lotsa good info. I've picked up a few good tips and learned some things.

I shot my 45 caliber Paramount yesterday for the first time. I took two spacers out of the stock and it fits me nicely. I put a Burris Fullfield II scope on it in Leupold rings and bases. The scope is 3x9x40, matte, with the Ballistic Plex reticle. I have several of these Burris scopes. Rifle with scope, without sling, weighs 10.5 lb. I did the Lee Shaver barrel burnishing. I've done it before. I listened to what CVA said and bought Blackhorn 209 from MidSouth Shooters supply and a hundred Powerbelt ELR's, supposedly 285 grain. The package of Powerbelts that came with the gun were labeled 225 grains. That seemed wrong to me (DUH), so i weighed all 15 of them, They varied from 290.5 to 292.7 grains. No 3 bullets weighed the same. I find that really poor. The brochure in the bullets packaging shows they're 280 grains. So on to loading and shooting. I was on paper at 25 yds with the first shot making sure the scope was on straight. Then I shot 2 more to confirm that the turrets moved the reticle as it was supposed to. The Burris responded perfectly. Then I moved the target to 100 yds.
For about the past 40 or so years, most of my targets are an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of notebook paper with a 1 inch black square printed or drawn with a magic marker in the center with horizontal and vertical lines with marks on the lines at 1 inch intervals. Each target is used as a record of the shots and lotsa notes are written on each target. Each target is then kept in a 3 ring binder ($1 from Dollar Tree). I use pushpins to hold the target paper to a cardboard backing attached to a repurposed old wire 'for sale' sign. One of the tips I learned here was from MtMonkey's photos of his targets. I use thumbtacks or pushpins to hold my targets rather than having someone hold the target with their thumb. Someday he's gonna slip up and shoot that guys thumb off. Safety first!. Just go back in this thread and you'll see what I mean. Oh, I'm sorry.
Well anyway, I shot the 290+ grain Powerbelts from my benchrest. 70 degrees, almost dead calm, partly sunny. Really a perfect day for shooting here in west central Wisconsin. Rock solid on the rest, good trigger control, breathing was good...and the 3 shot groups I shot were all crap! CRAP! I started at 70 grains, then 80, then 85, then 94, then 100, then 105. The groups ranged from 1.66 to 2.3 inches. Not anywhere near what I expected based on what I'd read.
Another thing I read on these forum threads is how bad the recoil is from this gun with the 105 grain charge of BH209. I'll betcha a dime I'm older and smaller than most, if not all of you, and I didn't find the recoil at 105 grains to be very bad at all. I can load my Marlin 45-70 so it can break my collarbone, I do't like that at all so i download it. I wouldn't even shoot a friends 458 Lott. I don't really like my 7mmSTW. But these loads weren't bad at all. I thought from what I read that I'll need a muzzlebrake like what Ninering62 has. It's really, really nice. But as of yesterday, I see no concern with recoil.

Now I've gotta figure out what went wrong with the accuracy.

What I'd also like from you deer hunters is more accounts of what 45 caliber bullets you shot deer with. Details, lotsa details. Bullet make, model and weight, muzzle velocity, range to deer, where deer was hit, size of deer, amount of penetration, amount of meat damage. Were they big northern bucks or those little central Florida deer? Those Fury 265StB's sure look good on paper, but I don't know if they're proven on deer yet. I hope so! I can shoot about 250 yds on my little cornfield and maybe 400 across the swamp so, I need a bullet that works at all ranges.

So hows that for a dissertation. Go get another cuppa coffee. I'm going to read your replies. And hey, Thanks to all of you!

Ninering, during the winter I live in your neighborhood. I'd probably be happy to meet ya, shoot with ya, and talk Harleys too.

 

[GM54-120]

I started at 70 grains, then 80, then 85, then 94, then 100, then 105. The groups ranged from 1.66 to 2.3 inches

Are those by weight or by volume loads?

 

[Decay]

All weighed on my RCBS 1010 scale.