New Real New

[Pathfinder Ops]

Hello all,

I'm checking in to say hello and thank you in advance for any assistance I intend to glean.

I am an avid hunter

I am well versed in firearms BUT absolutely zero experience with or formal understanding of the muzzle loading firearms.

I just received a (very lightly used) CVA Apollo as a gift. Yes I instantly googled it and no the SN on it does not end with the notorious 95 or 96. It's last 2 digits are 98 which I presume is a year of manufacture.

Anyway, It came with an owners manual a couple sabot rounds, a prescription (Rx) pill bottle with preformed "powder" pellets. The cap of the bottle has "use 2" written on it in marker pen, but does not say what grain they are) and a few primer caps in what I am guessing is a holder/ tool for putting the cap in the breach. Please pardon if the terms I am using are not accurate, again I am completely uneducated on the topic.

It also came with a "steel bar" i'm guessing is a tool, that is notched at one end and the other a tip that looks like it's designed to fit into a slot. It also has through and through holes on both ends.

And so here I am; fresh new to the scene and I will be culling as much info as I can ASAP since deer season is upon us here and I sorely want to extand my season with a muzzle load hunt.

Feel free to educate me.

 

[hawgslayer]

WELCOME ABOARD :!: :!: :!: You'll get a lot of free knowledge just by asking questions and reading replies. There's a lot of knowledgeable members here that are always willing to help :!: Ask away...........

Ray............... :wink:

 

[cayuga]

Hello all,

I'm checking in to say hello and thank you in advance for any assistance I intend to glean.

I am an avid hunter

I am well versed in firearms BUT absolutely zero experience with or formal understanding of the muzzle loading firearms.

I just received a (very lightly used) CVA Apollo as a gift. Yes I instantly googled it and no the SN on it does not end with the notorious 95 or 96. It's last 2 digits are 98 which I presume is a year of manufacture.

Anyway, It came with an owners manual a couple sabot rounds, a prescription (Rx) pill bottle with preformed "powder" pellets. The cap of the bottle has "use 2" written on it in marker pen, but does not say what grain they are) and a few primer caps in what I am guessing is a holder/ tool for putting the cap in the breach. Please pardon if the terms I am using are not accurate, again I am completely uneducated on the topic.

It also came with a "steel bar" i'm guessing is a tool, that is notched at one end and the other a tip that looks like it's designed to fit into a slot. It also has through and through holes on both ends.

And so here I am; fresh new to the scene and I will be culling as much info as I can ASAP since deer season is upon us here and I sorely want to extand my season with a muzzle load hunt.

Feel free to educate me.

Welcome to the forum. Its good to have you here.

Reading your post and since your not sure of terminology, I will play this by ear. So the package included pellet from of powder. That is not is loose (like salt) form. That means they are 50 grain pellets, so two of them is 100 grains of powder. A very standard load.

The primer caps,,, do they look like a shotgun primer or are they very small, copper colored? If they are the small copper colored caps, they are #11 caps. Commonly used to fire side lock rifles, and the older inlines. If you have ignition problems with the rifle, its because the #11 cap is not really meant to shoot off pellets. Normally pellets are shot off with the 209 shotgun primers. And that might require a new breech plug if possible, in your case.

The steel bar you mention. One end will fit over the #11 nipple that is in the breech plug. The other end that looks like a standard screw driver, once the nipple is removed with the slotted end, that standard end fits into the breech plug end. The reason for the holes in the tool is sometimes the nipple and especially the breech plug can be hard to remove. You can stick a screw driver through that hole to give you leverage to turn out stubborn parts.

Read the owners manual. There is a wealth of information in there. It will also tell you how to break the rifle down for cleaning. Be sure the rifle is clean before you shoot.

In the New to Muzzle loading section there are a number of topics you might want to read that will tell you how to clean your rifle, what tools you might need, etc.. and then any questions you have, just ask.

Again, welcome to the forum.

 

[ShawnT]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you found the group!