Load advice

[Blackpowder8bore]

I just bought a .50 cal CVA optima LR with a scop ed and 28"bbl. It is stouter and heavier than my Traditions Vortek and I will be shooting 209 only out of it,as I bought that breech plug.id like to know what yall think is most accurate.sabots or fullbore? If so which brand?what powder load? I want to zero it at 100 yards.what weight bullets worked best,what combo worked best for yall in this gun?or any CVA? Mines a .50.

 

[dbowling]

Theres no way anyone can tell you the most accurate load for your gun, you will have to find out thru trial and error trying different loads.. Every gun likes different loads, a good starting place for a cheap load to get on paper/hunt with would be a 300 gr XTP with a MMP or Harvester sabot with a starting load of 75 gr of BH209 and work up or down until you get where you like.. Barnes has a number of good bullets Fury has several etc. Its usually never cheap finding a really accurate load or 2 but in the end worth it to know your gun will hit where you want.
As far as full bore conicals No Excuse and Bull Shop are hard to beat and will size them to your bore.

 

[GM54-120]

I would start with affordable components first that are still adequate for hunting. 45cal 300gr XTPs (not MAGS) and the Harvester 50x45 EZ-Load sabot for upto 300gr bullets is a good start. Those sabots are cheaper than the Crushribs and have a good track record for fitting new CVAs. The 300gr XTP will hammer deer just fine. MMP 50x45 HPH-24 sabot will be pretty close too.

The Speer DeepCurl 300gr is also another very affordable bullet with an excellent track record as a ML bullet. Occasionally they are just a bear to find.

 

[Muley Hunter]

Location and what game you'll hunt?

 

[snapbang]

I have a Wolf and heres my story. I was looking for inexpensive terminal bullets. (see pic below)
Left GT Bullets Model: 44-255-hp-430 ($.17/ea) with a MMP sabot ($.19/ea) total $.36/ea/shot.
Middle GT Bullets Model: 44-305-HP-430 ($.19/ea) with a MMP sabot ($.19/ea) total $.38/ea shot.
Right GT Bullets Model: 45-70-385-HP-459 ($.26/ea) with MMP sabot ($.25/ea) total $.51/ea shot.
I order them to the size I want and no lube. There are other bullets there to choose from but these were my choices. If you order more than the minimum the shooting gets cheaper yet. They all shoot 2 1/2 inches at 100 yards but we have not tried to do better. Thats all the distance we can shoot.

If you have doubt about their performance on deer size game go to ronlaughlin bullet tests and that should ease your mind. I havent used the 385 yet on deer but figure its gotta work. I have a young man that hunts with me and he uses the 255 grain. Killed 2 this year. 1 DRT and one staggered about 40 yards then went flop with a blood trail Stevy Wonder could follow. I use the 305 and killed 3 this year. 2DRT and 1 staggered about 50 yards before flopping over. Same thing, didn't have to look for blood it was everywhere.

 

[edmehlig]

I love those wide metplates. Where do you purchase those bullets?

 

[snapbang]

The company name is GT Bullets. they have a web site. Do yourself a favor and go to rons bullets tests. They are explosive.

 

[snapbang]

yeah, tea cups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[snapbang]

Ed, want me to send you a few???? Be happy to. You too Blackpowder8bore.

 

[edmehlig]

Just a few if you don't mind and let me know what load you use. I assume they are for a 45cal as that is all I shoot. Although I do have a 50cal Flintlock Lyman Deerstalker that I need to get out of mothballs. GRin

 

[snapbang]

sorry. the left and middle one are 44 caliber at .429. The right one is actually for a 45-70 but they offer the option of sizing to .452 and that's the size I get. So I think the one on the right would work for you in your 45 cal.

They all would work in your .50 with sabots. Ill provide sabots as well.

so tell me how many???

 

[MSalyards]

I have an Accura V2 in 50 cal, I'm assuming you have a 50 cal? I shoot 77 weighed grains of BH209, and a 300 gr Deep curl from Speer, .452. In a Harvester black crush rib sabot. Not expensive and very accurate. I buy my Harvesters from Graf's, their a bit more reasonable than Harvester them self's. Also Win 209 primers! Mike

 

[Blackpowder8bore]

Location and what game you'll hunt?

Florida,whitetail and big fat hogs are the quarry.

 

[Blackpowder8bore]

Ed, want me to send you a few???? Be happy to. You too Blackpowder8bore.

I'll check out the gt bullets site and in the meanwhile I'd be happy to see what you got there.for me the heavier the better.

 

[Muley Hunter]

Ok, use a load for the hogs. The whitetails are easy to kill. I asked the location to make sure you can use sabots but you already know that. Sometimes I run into hunters who plan to come to Colorado for elk and aren't aware of the ammo laws.

I always use a load that will kill the biggest game I might hunt or have to shoot. If i'm just hunting deer i'll still use a load that will kill a big bear because you never know when a grumpy bore will show up. The old bores around here are known to stalk a hunter.

 

[snapbang]

I'll check out the gt bullets site and in the meanwhile I'd be happy to see what you got there.for me the heavier the better.

send me a PM on how many you want.

 

[mtn. archer]

I'm using 80 grains of bh 209 and 250 grain hornady sst in my Optima lr . Its shooting good with that load for me

 

[Blackpowder8bore]

Ok, use a load for the hogs. The whitetails are easy to kill. I asked the location to make sure you can use sabots but you already know that. Sometimes I run into hunters who plan to come to Colorado for elk and aren't aware of the ammo laws.

I always use a load that will kill the biggest game I might hunt or have to shoot. If i'm just hunting deer i'll still use a load that will kill a big bear because you never know when a grumpy bore will show up. The old bores around here are known to stalk a hunter.

Sound advice.i like to use more than necessary on deer anyway,and what I use will kill a hog.thanks.

 

[Blackpowder8bore]

Just a few if you don't mind and let me know what load you use. I assume they are for a 45cal as that is all I shoot. Although I do have a 50cal Flintlock Lyman Deerstalker that I need to get out of mothballs. GRin

I got me a couple of muzzleloaders but I'm asking now about a .50 fast twist CVA.

 

[mtn. archer]

I just got back into muzzleloading . I used to use pyrodex pellets before I quit ,this time around I tried triple 7 to start with but the crud ring is a pain. I went with some advice I got from here and tried the bh 209 I'll never use anything else , shoots good and easy to clean. So far loving the optima, last muzzleloader I had was the tc black diamond when it first came out never really liked it .