Been browsing for hours and have only come up with a couple names to take to the local store. I am deer hunting in Arkansas shooting 30 to 150 yards with a CVA Optima .50. Would like a few recommendations for primers/pellets/bullets. In rifle hunting I prefer a lighter flatter shooting bullet but am concerned with knock down. Not much worse than loosing a deer...

I'm not a fan of pellets. I recommend this load.

BH 209..100gr
CCI 209M primer
Thor 250gr bullet.

https://thorbullets.com/

Forget the pellets...

Powder=Blackhorn209(110g Vol.)
Bullet=Speer 300g Deep Curl(.452cal. pistol bullet)also shot well for me was the Barnes 250g TEZ bullet with the rest of this combo.
Sabot=Harvester Crush Rib
Primer=Federal 209A'

Lots of great info. and guys over here....come on over and check it out:

http://www.frontiermuzzleloading.com/

Is this the new style optima with hand removable breech plug?

Im a ark hunter myself I would use powder for me its blackhorn209 very good powder and CCI209M primers for bullet barnes 250gr TEZ and black harvester crush rib sabot over 100gr to 110gr powder and the barnes 290gr TEZ with same sabot as above but 110gr to 120gr powder this is what my optima likes with QRBP from blackhorn

The gun does require the wrench to remove the plug. Shot it yesterday with a load that was in it (pellets and ??) shot dead on but not sure the load.

Pellets just seem so easy to use verses loose powder and was really appealing when I bought the gun. Is the powder that much better to override the ease of use?

Blackhorn 209 is the only loose powder that has an advantage over pellets. Its advantage is in how clean it is. You can shoot 10 or more shots without swabbing the barrel.

In a hunting situation you are never going to need more than a couple of shots on live game. With pellets on average you can easily get 2 or 3 shots before swabbing the bore.

Also, many guns have ignition problems with blackhorn, it requires a lot a spark from the primer to ignite it. Many guys end up opening up their breech plugs for their gun to be reliable with it.

I have had nothing but great success with magnum charges of pellets in several guns. Their ease of use is great.

I am currently using the triple 7 magnum pellets (two) for just over 2000 fps (just as fast as a magnum charge of blackhorn) with either the Hornady 250 grain SST or Barnes 250 grain TEZ in my CVA accura v2. Shooting MOA groups at 100 and 200 yards.

I used 150 grains of the original pyrodex pellets in my last gun for around 10 years with no complaints.

I stopped counting at 63 or 65 shots before i decided to clean the bore. Blackhorn209 is the winner

There is no ignition problems on CVA guns using BH 209. It's as simple as getting the breech plug that is designed for BH 209. $23

I just got my first inline and have made one trip to the range. I used Blackhorn 209 and fired a dozen shots with no swabbing between shots. Accuracy was good with the first load I tried.

110 Grs. Blackhorn 209
250 Gr. Hornady SST-ML with red sabots
Fed 209 (not 209A) primer

Accuracy was 1.5" @ 100 yds.

Thanks for the info... Now I can go shopping.

get some cci 209 magnum primers if you can.