Optima v2

[Yotehunter243]

8 see midway and a few others have them for $249 right now. If never owned a CVA as I'm a knight guy but would like to get s break action. Is this a pretty good buy?

 

[sabinajiles]

The Optima might be the best value CVA rifle there is. It has a very good trigger and will shoot just as well as the Accura models. If you do buy one, I would strongly suggest getting the BH209 breech plug for it also.

 

[rangerod]

The good price depends on how it's configured. Stainless or Nitride? Thumhole or straight stock? Camo ? The best prices I've seen are usually muzzle-loader.com. You might want to compare prices.

 

[MrTom]

Both of the repliers bring up good points about a good little gun. The Optima is a shooter usually right from the box. If you play with a different plug and the 209 powder you'll probably find a lot more than you expected for accuracy especially if you look towards bulk bullets like xtps or deep curls. Black powder and the subs do ok in the Optima but the 209 powder simply raises the bar way beyond them in the same gun.

Blue/black, black/stainless, thumbhole stock, camo, nitride.....CVA has a super selection of Optima guns to choose from. Lots will depend on your gun care habits. If you're good about cleaning right away after shooting I don't think nitride is worth the added cost. I do think stainless over blued has benefit though. Stocks? Whatever you want. I have a V2 Accura in stainless with a camo stock, not a thumbhole. Very close to a single hole, 5 shot shooter at 100 yards using XTP bullets and the 209 powder. An Optima has the same capabilities if its scoped. I was able to get into this Accura new in the box very reasonably, but had I not been able to do so I would have gone with the stainless Optima. Go buy your Optima. You may find a new favorite in it.

 

[Yotehunter243]

My local FFL guy got me a black/stainless for $235. I do plan on shooting the Blackborn 209 and either Barnes or Cutting Edge bullets. I have a 2.5x10 Vortex Viper PST to put on it

 

[GM54-120]

My local FFL guy got me a black/stainless for $235. I do plan on shooting the Blackborn 209 and either Barnes or Cutting Edge bullets. I have a 2.5x10 Vortex Viper PST to put on it

It would be a good idea to get the Blackhorn209 breach plug too. Both Western Powders and CVA offer them. The Western version comes with the installation tool, cleaning bit/pin vice and orings.

 

[Yotehunter243]

My local FFL guy got me a black/stainless for $235. I do plan on shooting the Blackborn 209 and either Barnes or Cutting Edge bullets. I have a 2.5x10 Vortex Viper PST to put on it

It would be a good idea to get the Blackhorn209 breach plug too. Both Western Powders and CVA offer them. The Western version comes with the installation tool, cleaning bit/pin vice and orings.

Thanks. Are they both equal in reliability? One better than the other?

 

[MrTom]

Either/or. They both work well. You just pay a bit more for the Western plug and get the little tool kit with it similar to what you see in the pictures here. The CVA plug is generally a bit cheaper and if you shop around you can get them pretty reasonably.

Here's a link for the Western product. www.westernpowders.com

www.muzzle-loaders.com offer the cva plug and I think is about as cheap as you will find it unless there's something on fleabay amazon or some other similar site.

 

[GM54-120]

Remember to add in about $4 for the installation tool and a few bucks for a bit and pin vice if you get the CVA version. Price seems like a wash to me. Both will end up close to $40.

 

[Yotehunter243]

Thanks guys

 

[Busta]

My local FFL guy got me a black/stainless for $235. I do plan on shooting the Blackborn 209 and either Barnes or Cutting Edge bullets. I have a 2.5x10 Vortex Viper PST to put on it

It would be a good idea to get the Blackhorn209 breach plug too. Both Western Powders and CVA offer them. The Western version comes with the installation tool, cleaning bit/pin vice and orings.

Thanks. Are they both equal in reliability? One better than the other?

I've got both the Western Powders Blackhorn Breech Plug and the CVA Blackhorn Breech Plug. Both will work equally as far as reliability, but the primers will fit better in the Western Powders Breech Plug. Both in length and diameter.

You can use the Nobel Sport European 209 Primers, or any of the American 209 Primers in either one.

The primer pocket depth in the CVA plug is a few thousandths too deep and the rim of the primer will have a few thousandths play against the firing pin bushing in the standing breech. You can shim the bushing out a bit, but CVA does not recommend going beyond flush with the standing breech.

The Western Plug will give you a flush fit with a 0.298" primer, which is the most common size with the Federal 209A and CCI 209M. It will also give you a slight crush fit with 0.300"-0.302" long primers such as the NSI 209 Primers mentioned above.

You won't be sorry getting the Western Plug, because it includes the seating wrench, drill bit, pin vise, o-rings. Not all of the CVA Blackhorn Plugs contain the seating wrench, and none include anything else.

The Western Plug is the much better overall deal, IMO.

 

[MrTom]

On the different plugs, I'll just throw this out here as an observation of mine.

I have three guns that use the Blackhorn or CVA plugs for 209 powder. I also have the original plugs drilled for vent liners. Most 209 plugs will come with the wrench for seating the new plugs and this is an easy task. I suggest though that the factory plug that comes out of each gun be marked or bagged and marked so it doesn't go into another gun by accident even if that other gun can use the plug. They don't all seat the same, especially these finger-tightened numbers. All of the Accura plugs I have are kept separate from the Optima Pistol plugs and the Optima rifle plugs and the bags they are in are very clearly marked. I got a plug for the pistol in the Accura one morning and got a ton of blow-back. I keep them separated now. Any plug that came or has been seated to a particular gun is specific to that gun now.

 

[rangerod]

On the different plugs, I'll just throw this out here as an observation of mine.

I have three guns that use the Blackhorn or CVA plugs for 209 powder. I also have the original plugs drilled for vent liners. Most 209 plugs will come with the wrench for seating the new plugs and this is an easy task. I suggest though that the factory plug that comes out of each gun be marked or bagged and marked so it doesn't go into another gun by accident even if that other gun can use the plug. They don't all seat the same, especially these finger-tightened numbers. All of the Accura plugs I have are kept separate from the Optima Pistol plugs and the Optima rifle plugs and the bags they are in are very clearly marked. I got a plug for the pistol in the Accura one morning and got a ton of blow-back. I keep them separated now. Any plug that came or has been seated to a particular gun is specific to that gun now.

Your observation makes perfect sense. I've always kept my breach plugs specific to my guns knowing that I won't have a problem.