Hi folks! Jumping into this new hobby and look forward to learning what I can from this site. My son pulled his first Nevada Junior Mule Deer tag which allows him to hunt with a muzzle loader. What better excuse than that to get one, right? Being a fan of our Bergara rifles I decided to get a CVA Accura V2 black syn. with sights. I'm going to be browsing this forum for suggestions on what other 'essential' ML items I should acquire before heading to the range. I understand I need to spend some time to find what MY rifle will like, but for starters I picked up some White Hots, 250gr Aero PowerBelts, 250gr SST's and Remington 209's. It's those misc. items I'm not sure of to get - cleaning products, greases, bullet starter, etc. From what I can see just from the numerous CVA accessories, one can easily go overboard with ML 'stuff' lol. Anyway, looking forward to this. Thanks for having me!
Hello from NV
- Thread starter Smokehim
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Welcome from Oklahoma.
That's the whole point to go overboard with stuff. Extra rifles and pistols are good.
That's the whole point to go overboard with stuff. Extra rifles and pistols are good.
Matthew323
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Welcome
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welcome enjoy the forum
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Welcome Smokehim. Great choice for a first ML.
Thanks MM, hopefully won’t be left disappointed. After a bunch of research I narrowed it down to the Optima or Accura. Finally was able to get our (my 12yo and I) hands on these side by side. I’ve read some say the Optima was as a better for them, but not the case for us. We both felt the Accura was a better fit. The Bergara barrel should be a nice bonus
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I bought an Accura V2 year before last and love the way the gun feels in my hands.
Mine loads super hard. It has a pretty tight barrel. I haven’t slugged it to see exactly what size it is, but it’s TIGHT!
Theres literally a million combinations of loads you can use out of it. If the White Hots and Powerbelts shoot good, you could stay with that. That is a CVA recommended load though, and I understand they own both. Probably one of the most expensive bullet/powder combos out there.
I, and many others on here, shoot loose powder and a myriad of combinations of sabot and bullet.
I have never shot White Hots, and personally never will. I haven’t stuffed a pellet form of powder down any of my MZ’s for 15 years. It was just too expensive and, I saw absolutely NO advantage to pellets when I tried them 15 years ago, in accuracy, speed in reloading, ease of reloading, you name it, but that is just my opinion, and only holds water with me.
That being said, there are guys who shoot them, love them, and get great results with them, hopefully you do as well. If they’re shouting well for you, I wouldn’t change anything this year, but I would encourage you to try different bullet/sabot/powder combinations, and shoot that gun a lot!!!
I have had the best luck, so far, with 100 grains volume of BH209 and a Remington 250 grain sabot/bullet combination out of mine. Groups are 1-1/2” at 100 yards. I know the gun will shoot better than that, I just haven’t found the right combination yet.
Congratulations on drawing the tags! and getting into one of the greatest shooting sports there is!
This can be a rabbit hole of immense proportions! More addictive than any drug put there, more frustrating than golf, and more enjoyable than.....you fill in the blank.
Back to your original question now, lol. Some sort of quick load for hunting can be essential, I use a TC (I think it’s called) Mag Charger or Muzz Charger, something like that. G
Mine loads super hard. It has a pretty tight barrel. I haven’t slugged it to see exactly what size it is, but it’s TIGHT!
Theres literally a million combinations of loads you can use out of it. If the White Hots and Powerbelts shoot good, you could stay with that. That is a CVA recommended load though, and I understand they own both. Probably one of the most expensive bullet/powder combos out there.
I, and many others on here, shoot loose powder and a myriad of combinations of sabot and bullet.
I have never shot White Hots, and personally never will. I haven’t stuffed a pellet form of powder down any of my MZ’s for 15 years. It was just too expensive and, I saw absolutely NO advantage to pellets when I tried them 15 years ago, in accuracy, speed in reloading, ease of reloading, you name it, but that is just my opinion, and only holds water with me.
That being said, there are guys who shoot them, love them, and get great results with them, hopefully you do as well. If they’re shouting well for you, I wouldn’t change anything this year, but I would encourage you to try different bullet/sabot/powder combinations, and shoot that gun a lot!!!
I have had the best luck, so far, with 100 grains volume of BH209 and a Remington 250 grain sabot/bullet combination out of mine. Groups are 1-1/2” at 100 yards. I know the gun will shoot better than that, I just haven’t found the right combination yet.
Congratulations on drawing the tags! and getting into one of the greatest shooting sports there is!
This can be a rabbit hole of immense proportions! More addictive than any drug put there, more frustrating than golf, and more enjoyable than.....you fill in the blank.
Back to your original question now, lol. Some sort of quick load for hunting can be essential, I use a TC (I think it’s called) Mag Charger or Muzz Charger, something like that. G
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Guess I was too long winded, it cut the last half of my post off. As I was saying, some sort of quick charger is a must, in my mind, for hunting. We never want to have to take a second shot, reality is, sometimes it happens.
Breech plug grease is another topic you will find a dozen recommendations, I like Teflon tape since I started using it a couple of months ago, makes cleaning the breech area super easy.
Welcome to the sport, and to the forum, and hopefully you share your results and questions with all of us. I learn something new on here almost on a daily basis. I’m sure you will too. There is a lot of very knowledgeable people on here, willing and eager to help. We all want to grow this sport and, helping each other enjoy it to its fullest, is the best way to do that!
Breech plug grease is another topic you will find a dozen recommendations, I like Teflon tape since I started using it a couple of months ago, makes cleaning the breech area super easy.
Welcome to the sport, and to the forum, and hopefully you share your results and questions with all of us. I learn something new on here almost on a daily basis. I’m sure you will too. There is a lot of very knowledgeable people on here, willing and eager to help. We all want to grow this sport and, helping each other enjoy it to its fullest, is the best way to do that!
Thanks sd, I hear what you’re saying. I do plan on trying different powder/bullet combinations to see what works for this ML. BH209 sounds pretty popular. Pyrodex Select and XTP also sounds like a liked combo. I’ll have to add those Remi sabots also to the list. Let the fun begin!
