First Time ML Hunter...

[GM54-120]

muzzle-loaders.com had the Optima in black/SS for $260. Wolf in SS was going for $210.

 

[MrChristopher]

muzzle-loaders.com had the Optima in black/SS for $260. Wolf in SS was going for $210.

Are those American prices or Canadian? Gun prices are higher up here in Canada than in the states. At least in Ontario they are.

 

[alaska viking]

They still print Canadian Dollars? I thought it was 2 dimes for a quarter, and falling?

 

[MrChristopher]

They still print Canadian Dollars? I thought it was 2 dimes for a quarter, and falling?

LOL...ya that sounds about right. I went for a trip to Las Vegas in June and couldn't believe the price of guns. Even with our lower dollar it would still be cheaper to buy something across the border. It was mighty tempting but just too much hassle to try to get something back on a plane.

 

[MrChristopher]

ugh.....it's not looking good for black powder season this year.....It's been almost a month and still no word on when my gun will be back(in for warranty work). Being as it's so new I might argue with the store about just giving me a replacement.

 

[MrChristopher]

My gun came back to the store today. They gunsmith gave it a good cleaning and said nothing was wrong and that there were no deformities in the barrel that would affect accuracy.

I've attached a photo of what the problem looked like to me when I took it in.

You can see the shiny spot in the rifling. Looks like pitting or something.

Can anyone tell me what they think of this and if this looks like something that could have been fixed/cleaned off?

 

[WV Hunter]

Its hard to tell from a picture exactly what you are seeing. If they said its fine, I'm sure you are. I've seen barrels in terrible shape that still shot well. You should be fine

Just be happy you got it back...now get it dialed in and go hunting! :yeah: :mrgreen:

 

[Widude]

That picture doesn't look pristine, but maybe not enough to matter either. If it came back from the factory with a clean bill of health I'd think it is comparable to their other guns.

You could try a mild abrasive like 'JB's Bore Paste/Cleaner'. There are threads on cleaning a neglected M-L bore, yes slightly different situation here.

It may very well not be enough to to matter. With hunting close at hand, that's the path I would take. Get some preferred loadings and get to the range, try it out.

 

[MrChristopher]

I reattached the picture with the spot circled that I'm talking about. Theres alot of dust floating around that might make it look dirty.

I really felt/looked like a gouge in the metal. After taking it out for the 1st and firing 4-5 shots I took it home and cleaned it and discovered that.

I'll take a look myself when I pick it up tomorrow and try it out asap.

Hopefully they were right and it was just a cleaning issue and not trying to sweep something under the rug....

 

[ShawnT]

Have you spoke to CVA yet or just the stores gunsmith? If not you might want to try contacting CVA about it directly.

 

[Widude]

Have you spoke to CVA yet or just the stores gunsmith? If not you might want to try contacting CVA about it directly.

It sounds like the gun already went back to the manufacturer. They said it was O.K..

 

[MrChristopher]

Have you spoke to CVA yet or just the stores gunsmith? If not you might want to try contacting CVA about it directly.

It sounds like the gun already went back to the manufacturer. They said it was O.K..

Correct....the store did send it to a gunsmith but this particular gunsmith is a CVA rep in my area.

They gave it a good cleaning and said there's nothing in the barrel that would cause accuracy issues. I'll find out when I pick it up what it looks like when I pick it up. If it's still there and wasn't some kind of debris I don't agree that a brand new, out of the box, gun should have a gouge inside the barrel like that, even if it doesn't cause inaccuracy....

 

[ShawnT]

Correct....the store did send it to a gunsmith but this particular gunsmith is a CVA rep in my area.

Ok, Maybe I misunderstood. I thought the store just had a gunsmith they use look at it. Missed that he was CVA rep.

It most likely would not effect accuracy. Some of us have rifles we have "Rescued" that had rust in them and when cleaned up they still had pits but still shot great, just have to be extra careful when cleaning. After you get it if it is still there look for some JB Bore paste. You might polish a bit out but if it is a gouge/pit then you will never get rid of it. Since it was new in the box I would not expect to see that there either. Let us know what it looks like when you get it back.

 

[MrChristopher]

Correct....the store did send it to a gunsmith but this particular gunsmith is a CVA rep in my area.

Ok, Maybe I misunderstood. I thought the store just had a gunsmith they use look at it. Missed that he was CVA rep.

It most likely would not effect accuracy. Some of us have rifles we have "Rescued" that had rust in them and when cleaned up they still had pits but still shot great, just have to be extra careful when cleaning. After you get it if it is still there look for some JB Bore paste. You might polish a bit out but if it is a gouge/pit then you will never get rid of it. Since it was new in the box I would not expect to see that there either. Let us know what it looks like when you get it back.

I went in tonight after work and the issue had been totally looked over. I'm more than positive the gunsmith didn't spot the issue. The guys at the store kept telling me the spot was gone and it clearly wasn't. They made many excuses for what it was from the blueing being rubbed off to some powder build up on the rifling. Still looked exactly like the picture I posted. Anyway to make a long story short....the store wasn't willing to do anything since guns are 'final sale'. I told them to call CVA then and have them OK a replacement. He got a CVA importer for Canada on the phone and in less than 60 seconds he had agreed to give me a whole new gun. Pretty excellent customer service on CVA's part if you ask me.

I know I may seem fairly particular in this case but I just think a gun fresh out of the box shouldn't have any flaws.....

Anyway I'm super happy about getting a replacement and will hopefully be taking it out this weekend or the next to get it dialed in!

 

[WV Hunter]

Good to hear :yeah:

Let us know how your shooting goes

 

[CVA7589]

Idk if i skipped over whats wrong with ur muzzleloader or not but whats the issue u r having? And the CVA wolf my friend has hes been using it for a little over a year now and loves it i think its pertty much the little brother to the optima theres not many differences at all both are excellent guns and very acuratte with the right setup and the trigger pulls on both seem to feel very much the same excellent in my opinion ne how i hope u have luck with BPI or cva they have been excellent with me everytime i needed help or info on something and sent me a crap load of free stickers lol if u seem to be having issues with them im not sure if you could get ahold of him or not his name is dakota he works for BPI he is very knowledgeable and would prob have u fixed up shortly i dealt with him and i was 110% sattisfied well sorry for the long rant lol but id ask to speak with dakota if he can help u any fruther good luck bud :yeah:..... lmao,welp just seen ur post glad to hear bud good luck CVA/BPI are a excellent company and there staff is top of the line imo :applause:

 

[MrChristopher]

Thanks! Good to hear the Wolf is a decent gun. I really liked the longer and stainless steel barrel of the Optima but the Wolf was such a good price.

Looking forward to going out for the first time this year.

 

[MrChristopher]

Idk if i skipped over whats wrong with ur muzzleloader or not but whats the issue u r having? And the CVA wolf my friend has hes been using it for a little over a year now and loves it i think its pertty much the little brother to the optima theres not many differences at all both are excellent guns and very acuratte with the right setup and the trigger pulls on both seem to feel very much the same excellent in my opinion ne how i hope u have luck with BPI or cva they have been excellent with me everytime i needed help or info on something and sent me a crap load of free stickers lol if u seem to be having issues with them im not sure if you could get ahold of him or not his name is dakota he works for BPI he is very knowledgeable and would prob have u fixed up shortly i dealt with him and i was 110% sattisfied well sorry for the long rant lol but id ask to speak with dakota if he can help u any fruther good luck bud :yeah:..... lmao,welp just seen ur post glad to hear bud good luck CVA/BPI are a excellent company and there staff is top of the line imo :applause:

Do you know what load your friend is using in his Wolf? Just asking around to see what does and doesn't work for some people so I can narrow things down without having to spend a ton of money.

What I plan to start with are 2 white hots, a Hornady 250 gr. SST and a winchester W209 primer.

I've read alot about CVA owners liking the winchester primers in their guns.

 

[CVA7589]

Hes using the same setup as me 2 hodgdon 777 pellets 100gr /winchester 209 777 primer and the powerbelt 295gr copper aerotip bullets but like i said ill be lowering the gr on the bullets the setup that u r going to use imo sounds great so see how she does and let us know good luck bud :yeah:

 

[ShawnT]

Do you know what load your friend is using in his Wolf? Just asking around to see what does and doesn't work for some people so I can narrow things down without having to spend a ton of money.

What I plan to start with are 2 white hots, a Hornady 250 gr. SST and a winchester W209 primer.

I've read alot about CVA owners liking the winchester primers in their guns.

Glad to here that CVA is coming though for you. The Wolf is a very good rifle even though it is their entry level rifle. My Nephew has one of the older ones and it shoots great, is light, making it a nice rifle to carry in the brush.

I would recommend a different bullet when using Pellets. 2 50 grain Pellets are not really the same as 100 grains of Loose powder even though the advertising leads you to think that. They will shoot with less velocity than the equivalent of Loose Powder, most likely due to the additive added to the powder to make the pellets. In some cases the SST/Shockwaves (when shot with 2 pellets) have had expansion issues and those issues seem to always be associated with being shot with pellets. They are Very accurate but don't always seem to expand good when using pellets. It happened to me and to my Nephew so I am not just repeating something someone else said. There have been a few others report similar issues and they all seem to be when using pellets. The guys that have good luck with that bullet (and there are a lot of them) pretty much all shoot loose powder and more velocity making expansion more reliable. If you want to use that 250 SST I would highly recommend you skip the Pellets and go with Loose Powder such as Pyrodex RS, 777, or BH209 and start with 95 to 100 grains Volume of it. If you want to stick with the Pellets I would recommend you use the .452 (45cal) 300 grain or 250 grain Hornady XTP in a Harvester Black Crushrib Sabot. My Nephew now shoots 2 777 Pellets (Very Similar to your white hots, If not the same thing) Harvester Crushrib sabot and the 300 grain XTP in his Wolf. Shoots very accurate and It has taken several deer from 50 to 175 yards without fail. He loves that load.

Just my 2 cents.