Need help!

[meddlingmom3]

Ok, so I started on another forum and was in the wrong place so hopefully one of you will be able to help me here. I bought a CVA Wolf PR2110 for my son. The sales person was less than helpful with what I need to have this ready to go for him. Other than the loader itself, he has some bullets that will be with it when it comes from the warehouse. He does not sell black powder or anything else. What do I need? I'm having a very hard time finding anything for this and while searching, I came across Blackhorn 209 but it talks about a primer and solvents. What are those? Could someone here please tell me EXACTLY what I need? In my state options for supplies are limited and where I live, even more so so online shopping would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance and I'm sorry if I'm not asking the right way....I have no clue what we need for this thing. I might just have to cancel the order completely if I can't get what he needs. (ps this is a gift for him that's why he's not here asking himself).

 

[MrTom]

Welcome to Modern Muzzleloading, Mom. And Merry Christmas. And a nice choice for your son.

Where is home exactly? states and cities can vary as far as stores and shops that handle black powder or in-line accessories and if we know where you're at others here who chime in may have expanded ideas for you.

Lets just keep it basic right now. First off, everything you look for should be marked 50 caliber. Check Walmarts or local gun shops. Here's a list of what I'd round up:

*Triple 7 ffg powder. Don't get pellets.
*An adjustable powder measure.
*bullet/sabot combos in the 250 to 300 grain range.
*209 primers....to get him started with the powder suggested you can use the primers packaged as "muzzle loader" primers unless you go to a gun shop that sells reloading supplies, then get 209 shotshell reloading primers. They'll both work with the T7 powder but if he ventures into BH209 powder later he'll definitely want the reloading primers.
* lots of cleaning patches
* a basic set of cleaning swab and brush
* a small bottle of dawn dish soap
* a small bottle of windex
* a package of sight-in targets
* gun case

This should get him off and running. You don't mention whether he has someone he hangs with that has gun experience or not but I would striongly urge you to take him to a gun club or a GOOD shooting store with his gun to have someone show him first hand some of the handling details specific to muzzleloading guns, especially the loading sequence. I'll also add here now that once the gun has a charge in it, the charge meaning powder and sabot/bullet, that the ram rod used to push the charge down the barrel be marked exactly where the muzzle ends on the rod....this is a visual reminder that he can see when he's loading the gun to be certain a load wasn't left in the gun from before or if he gets ahead of himself. This is called a witness mark and is the cheapest of all safety related things he can do for himself. A deep scratch in the rod's finish or a piece of masking or electrician's tape will suffice nicely for the mark.

As long as you are a registered member here now, I'll suggest that you encourage your son to sign in on your account and let him ask questions he may need to ask since he'll be the shooter. I'm not certain what the age requierement is for him to sign up and register here on his own, nor do I know his age so for now I'd say just follow your thread here with further questions. Really though there is nothing better than hands on learning about handling and loading of blackpowder guns. Like any gun they command respect and a full understanding that they can and do kill so having this instilled front and center right off is imperative. Honestly though you'll be hard pressed to find a better educational site than this one so you've made a super good choice with us here.

Again, WELCOME!

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Now is a terrible time to find ML supplies in stock on a shelf. For simplicity sake, if you can find Triple Seven in pellets and any 250 grain saboted bullet and 209 primers then he can get shooting. Then the gun can be tweaked and tuned later. The CVA Wolf should shoot about anything well from 185 grain bullet up to 350 grain bullets as long as they're for .50 caliber. As for the pellets. If you can only find the 30grain .50 cal then 3 of those pellets will be as good a place as any to start loading and shooting. If you find the Triple seven pellets in 50 grain/50 cal then 2 pellets will also be a good load in that gun. Good luck and make sure he joins up here too.

 

[meddlingmom3]

Thank you both for responding! I did go ahead and order the Triple 7 pellet 50 cal. that the manufacturer recommended. I was able to find it at Cabela's, just wish the store was closer and didn't have to have it shipped. At this point I'm so overwhelmed it's ridiculous.

So, I think all I need now is the cleaning supplies. The little brushes and so forth. I am a quilter and was told that cotton fabric will do...I have plenty of plain muslin that should work. ?

I am going to write down EVERYTHING you guys have suggested and I'm going to have it for my own research and to give to my son for going forward. Definitely going to have him sign up here....he's going to have a LOT of questions too.

I'm super excited to have this for him, just wish I'd known a bit more before and had a bigger budget too. This will be a good start for him though. We are going to join the local gun club for sure. Well, he is at this point. He's 20 yrs old so he can do that on his own.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

You should join with him. Its fun shooting with someone.
MrTom is right about the loose powder being better than pellets. For a beginner pellets can be easier. And the loose powder setup can easily be added later.

 

[meddlingmom3]

I absolutely plan on it! It will be a great way to spend some time together. I have 3 sons so major opportunity for bonding time with them and for them with each other.

 

[sdporter]

Here’s a little instruction video from the guys at CVA. The first step is the most important. As was stated above. Make sure the thing is unloaded before loading it. Read the owners manual cover to cover before taking it out as well. That should clarify any questions you and your son may have. Good luck and you’re in the right place!

 

[meddlingmom3]

Here’s a little instruction video from the guys at CVA. The first step is the most important. As was stated above. Make sure the thing is unloaded before loading it. Read the owners manual cover to cover before taking it out as well. That should clarify any questions you and your son may have. Good luck and you’re in the right place!

Thank you! I will be watching this and sharing it with my son! I'm really excited about this now. Never thought I would be that excited but now that it's a challenge and I've been reading so much about it, I can't wait to get started!

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma. Shooting muzzleloaders is great fun and beware that it can get addictive, Lol. You could end up buying another gun or two!

 

[weltech1]

Welcome from WV

 

[Boston Bill]

You are not meddling. I liked momof3 better! I never got a muzzle loader for Hanukkah

 

[deerlessbob]

Make sure he knows all the gun safety rules. They’re easily available on the net.

 

[MSalyards]

You still have not stated where your from. Is this going to be a hunting weapon or plinker? Some states have certain rules as what your allowed to hunt with. You mentioned Blackhorn 209 powder, that requires a special breech plug. Welcome to the forum!

 

[MrTom]

You still have not stated where your from. Is this going to be a hunting weapon or plinker? Some states have certain rules as what your allowed to hunt with. You mentioned Blackhorn 209 powder, that requires a special breech plug. Welcome to the forum!

I was going to offer that but thought to keep it simple it could wait until Blackhorn became more of a reality. There are a couple real available 209 plugs, one from CVA and another from Western Powders that work very well and are quite affordable. More plugs can be had that have a couple more features that are more expensive, but again my suggestion is to keep it very plain until the gun has been shot a bit to get acquainted with it and more of the terminology we use is better understood so he can relate to what we are saying.

 

[GM54-120]

Just for the sake of KEEP IT SIMPLE atm because of time/availability......Just go with Triple7 FFG loose powder. Get the powder measure. Pellets are easier but fine tuning the load is not as easy.

Triple7 LOOSE powder should be one of the easier powders to find atm. Clean up is simple using just dish soap and water.

Triple7 LOOSE powder will ignite fine with any 209 primer and in the plug that comes with the rifle.

There are way better bullet choices but the Hornady 250gr SSTs or MonoFlex ML bullets have a good chance of shooting ok. Places like Cabelas normally stock the HARVESTER sabots in 50packs. You can use those to replace the sabots that come with the Hornady ML bullets. They will more than likely shoot better.