Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders First Blood with CVA Accura

I had fun setting up my muzzleloader for an Idaho elk hunt, so I thought I'd share the process with you. My previous experience with muzzleloaders was much different. A few years ago I built a CVA Paramount .45cal. I put a Nightforce on it, and with 105gr by weight of Blackhorn 209 behind a 285gr powerbelt ELR I was ringing steel out to 1000 yards with it. Drawing this Idaho tag, I knew it was going to be a much different experience, considering everything about my paramount was illegal in Idaho, including the .45cal for elk.

After some research, I opted to go with a .50cal CVA Accura MR-X northwest edition. Being limited to lead, I decided to go with a 460gr No Excuse bullet. While I wish I could have used my stash of Blackhorn 209, I read mixed reviews on the reliability of a musket cap igniting 209 powder, so I went with Triple 7 FFG and RWS 1081 Musket Caps. The sights that the muzzleloader shipped with probably would have sufficed, but after reading about the Williams FP adjustable peep I had to give it a try. Williams was fast in getting me the front globe sight and FP peep. I decided to shim to get a little more elevation out of the sight and off to the range I went.

I realized right away that this was not going to be an easy feat. I had a hard time seeing my 1 inch orange sticker at 100 yards through the peep to get it sighted in, much more difficult than the 25x the Nightforce offered me. After some trial and error, I was grouping around 1.5" with 100gr by volume of T7 at 100 yards. More trial and error later, and I had my Williams FP "doped out" to 400 yards. It was time to hunt.

I'll share most of the details of the hunt in the Big game thread, but I will say that I was 288 yards away from an elk and my front fiber optic in the globe covered most of the elk at that distance, maybe some of you will have some ideas but I'm thinking of trying a smaller diameter fiber optic. The next night I was able to close the distance to 180 yards and felt much more comfortable with my sight picture. My sight was dialed for 200 yards, so I ended up hitting her high lung but the No Excuse bullet made quick work and she was dead within seconds.

Nice writeup and congratulations on the elk

Very nice and congrats! Lots of great eating right there!

Congratulations

Congrats !

Nice work! I’d never shoot that far, but you obviously did your homework. Good on you for that.

You might want to try some kind of flat-topped blade front, or something else with a definite outline. F.O. sights appear kinda fuzzy to me in bright light.

Congrats.

👍👍