Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders First Muzzleloader on its way!

Took the shallow plunge and decided to buy a CVA Wolf. Never muzzleloaded before and trying to get some info on "must haves"? From what I have found, seems that triple 7 pellets, 250 grain shockwaves, and winchester or remington primers would be a good start? What do I need to clean my muzzleloader anything specific? I heard the rods in the CVA are junk and to replace it with a T/C rod? Any suggestions for a scope? Thanks.

Pellets are a waste of money

Cleanup depends on powder.
Triple7 cleans up fine with Windex and rubbing alcohol mixed 50/50 for between shot swabbing or field cleaning. Generic brands work fine. Pre-soak the patches, ring out the excess and keep them in a sealed container. Its way cheaper than treated patches.

Dawn dish soap and hot water works good for a thorough cleaning of Triple7 or Pyrodex. Make sure to oil well after its dry. Avoid products like BoreButter. There better products to preserve/protect your bore such as Montana Extreme Bore conditioner.

You might want to try some Harvester Smooth black sabots. They are quite popular with CVA owners. Shockwaves come with MMP sabots which might be tighter.

I would look at the Knight Ultimate Range rod too if you like to shoot for fun, its a great product at a great price. SpinJag makes some very nice field rods and loading/cleaning jags. You will also need a bullet starter. CVA offers a cheap one with several tips that works ok.

Other misc. items for loose powder
Powder Flask
Powder measure
Powder spout for the 1lb bottles helps too.
Powder tubes (for both loose or pellets)

I got some more buying to do! Any suggestions on a decent scope? I'm shooting to 100 yards doubt much beyond that? Thankyou.

Burris Full Field II 2x7 is usually a good deal for the money.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/burris-2x-7x-35mm-fullfield-ii-scopes.html

The main things i suggest for a ML scope are:

Make sure you have enough eye relief, i prefer around 3.5-4"

2x7 or 3x9 power is enough for most applications. Even less if you don't expect a long shot. I prefer the larger field of view over max magnification but i never shoot past 200 yards. Most of my kills have been under 100 yards so.....

Yes I don't imagine shooting much beyond 100 yards with my muzzleloader. Thanks for the help again.

I got my Wolf CVA today! I couldn't find loose powder at Dicks and ended up buying some pellets to see if it would work. Looks like I need to change the breech plug to shoot Black Horn in CVA? I did get some 250 grain shockwaves but wanted to see if this would work before buying other powder/bullet combinations. I plan on using loose powder when I can find it. I need to go to a real gun store. I saw a post online stating triple 7 max load is 120, because it burns hotter than the others? Not sure if this is correct.

Esox357,

This comes straight from the Hodgdon site. I have shot T 7 for a long time. It's a very good powder that shoots excellent groups out of my Omega .50 cal. Especially the FFFg.

Triple Seven is a high energy product designed to provide the muzzleloading hunter with higher velocities when used in the same VOLUME as blackpowder. To duplicate a blackpowder load velocity using Triple Seven, you must decrease the powder charge by 15%. *See WARNING below.

Here's the link to Triple 7 load notes: http://www.hodgdon.com/loading.html

Hope the helps.

Paul

Thanks i didn't bother to check the website never seen blackpowder listed on it. Thanks again.

Use 100 gr of 3fg T.7 an your sabot bullet works great . That load will kill out to 200 yards no problem .Enjoy an good luck shooting this summer.Also a Redfeild 2x7 or Swift 2x7 scope works great

What Overkill suggested. Burris FFII 2x7 is a great ML scope..and durable!

Thanks guys I picked up a Nikon Pro Staff 3x9-40. Did locate some loose T7 powder so I won't need to use the pellets I purchased. Think I almost have everything I need to get to the range.

You're welcome, not a problem. Here's the data for BH 209.

http://www.blackhorn209.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/b209muzzleloaderdata.pdf

Paul

Awesome, If Triple 7 doesn't shoot then I will get the BH209. Unfortunately my manual says I need to order a "special" breech plug to shoot the BH out of or at least the loose powder? Thanks though I will save it for future notes, may end up buying another blackpowder down the road!

What do you use to wipe down your rifle and lube the parts with? Will CLP work for this? I see that petroleum products are a no no? Guessing it attracts the fouling and powder? CLP has petroleum distilliants in it so not sure what to use for the metal?

Also when using products like Motanna Extreme Bore Conditioner do you leave it in the barrel or does it need to be "wiped out" first before firing? Seems like it lubes to make it easier to seat bullets is that correct? Thanks from a newbie.

You will need a different breach plug for better BH209 reliability. I would get the plug Western sells instead of the CVA BH209 plug.

For storage you can use any regular bore oil if you swab out the bore before shooting it. Rubbing alcohol or any good degreaser works. Some solvents are not stock friendly so use carefully. CLPs are ok for a wipe down, Synthetic oil CLPs are better

Ballistol is ok for a older product and its actually BP friendly to some extent. MX Bore conditioner is also fine with subs and real BP. Both products are mineral oil based. I use the Montana Extreme products and just pop a couple of caps. Then run a single dry swab and its ready to shoot.

The primers simulate a little bit of fouling and insures your breach plug is clear/dry. If you store your ML with the buttstock down, there is a good chance oil ran down into the plug. Leave it out during storage or store it muzzle down.

Thanks again. I was planning for long term storage to use the Montanna Extreme and leave it in til hunting season arrives. I plan on cleaning between shots and using T7 for now. I know you recommended windex and alcohol. Some are using straight alcohol, can you explain what the windex does? Thanks for all the help.