Single Shot Muzzleloading Rifles Blog

Editor’s Note: Tony Smotherman lives outside of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has hunted only with black powder since 1994. Today Smotherman will tell us how and why he became a blackpowder-only hunter.

Question: Tony, why did you decide to hunt exclusively with black powder?
Smotherman: I started reading outdoor magazines from the Midwest, because that area seemed to be where some of the biggest whitetails were being taken. I began traveling to Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, hunting and trying to learn all I could about taking trophy whitetails. I found out that many of the gun seasons in the Midwest were either shotgun or muzzleloading seasons. Back in the early 1990s, when I first started hunting these states, I quickly learned that blackpowder rifles were far-more accurate than the shotguns that shot slugs in those days. Soon I realized I was spending so-much time in these other states that I wasn’t at home in Tennessee during conventional rifle season. So, I just gravitated away from hunting with modern rifles, because I learned I could take more and bigger bucks in these midwestern states by hunting with black powder.

Question: You were once on the Knight Rifle Pro Staff, is that right?
Smotherman: That’s true. I hunted with Knight Rifles for more than a decade.

Question: Why did you decide to start shooting CVA muzzleloaders?
Smotherman: CVA’s Apex is the main reason I started shooting CVA rifles.

Question: What did you like about the Apex?
Smotherman: I really like its accuracy and adjustable trigger. The barrel on a rifle can be extremely accurate, but if the trigger isn’t smooth and crisp, the shooter will never be as accurate as his gun.

Question: How much pressure do you like to have on your trigger?
Smotherman: The Apex has a trigger that’s adjustable from approximately three to five pounds.  You can customize the trigger to suit your trigger-pull preference. All you need is a flathead screwdriver.

Question: Why do you like a light trigger pull on your muzzleloading rifle?
Smotherman: If your trigger pull is not crisp and clean, the hunter will have a tendency to jerk the trigger rather than squeeze it. When you jerk that trigger to make the gun fire, in most instances you’ll pull-off the target.

Question: How far out do you feel like you’re accurate when you’re shooting the CVA Apex?
Smotherman: I never hesitate to take a shot out to 200 yards. I use the Alpen Apex 3-9X42 riflescope on my CVA Apex rifle.

Question: Tony, why do you like that scope?
Smotherman: First of all, this scope is easy on the pocketbook. You don’t have to spend next month’s mortgage payment for your house to buy a quality riflescope. I’ve found that the Alpen riflescope has just as high a resolution, brightness and accuracy as much-more expensive riflescopes do. With the naked eye, you’ll never know any difference between the Alpen Apex and that riflescope that may seem as though it costs the same as your monthly mortgage.

Question: Tony, where are you headed this season?
Smotherman: We’re headed to Casper, Wyoming, for an elk hunt. We’ll be hunting during gun season. However, instead of using a conventional rifle I’ll use my CVA Apex.

Question: Have you hunted in Casper, Wyo., before?
Smotherman: Yes, I have. I took a 320-inch 6×6 bull out here 2-years ago. I took that bull at 120 yards with a blackpowder rifle.

Question: Why do you choose to hunt elk with a muzzleloading rifle instead of a conventional rifle?
Smotherman: Because I’m a 100% blackpowder hunter.

Question: Tony, how are you loading your CVA Apex?
Smotherman: I’m shooting 110 grains of Blackhorn 209 powder, because this powder is extremely accurate, and it’s clean burning. This powder is not available in pellets and only comes in loose powder. Too, I just prefer to shoot loose powder. I believe that loose powder is always the most-accurate charge, because it’s always consistent when you compress it. Once you pack the bullet on top of the powder, there are no air pockets. This is not to say that pellets aren’t accurate, but I’ve found that to be the most accurate I can be, I prefer the loose powder. If you use pellets, you can get air pockets in the barrel between the powder charge and the bullet, because those pellets don’t always stack exactly perfectly in the barrel. But when you pour loose powder down a barrel and seat the bullet on top of that loose powder, you’ll have no air pockets in the barrel. And, the powder is always packed the same, and you can shoot more consistently.

Question: What primer are you using?
Smotherman: I prefer the Winchester 209 primers. Many primers on the market today are a weaker form of the 209 primers. But the 209 Blackhorn seems to have a higher-ignition point. I prefer a standard 209 primer to any other.

Question: Tony, you’ll be gone for 7-10 days. How will you clean and care for your CVA Apex?
Smotherman: The weatherman’s predicting 2 inches of snow for the area we plan to hunt. If that’s true, I’ll dump my powder charge every day. When you spend the time and money required to go from the East to the West to hunt elk, you want to put all of the odds in your favor when you get the opportunity to take a nice elk. That’s the reason I’m so meticulous about the rifle I choose and the powder charge, bullet and primer that I use. I’ve learned that the CVA Apex, loaded the way I’ve described and using the Alpen optics, gives me the best chance for success afield.

To learn more about Tony Smotherman and his hunting adventures, visit www.camospace.com/travelinhunter.

Editor’s Note: Rick Wood of Buford, Georgia, a CVA pro staffer, consistently takes deer and other game every season and has been shooting muzzleloading rifles for over 25 years. Wood isn’t satisfied with just shooting a good group of three shots at 100 yards with his CVA rifle. To consistently take game, Wood believes he needs to formulate a powder charge and select a bullet that will deliver the most accuracy from each of his CVA rifles.

Speed of bullet, knockdown power and other ballistic ingredients are not nearly as important as being able to place the bullet accurately

Wood says. This week, Wood will show us how to formulate a powder charge and choose a bullet that will deliver the most accuracy for your CVA deer rifle.

Every muzzleloader is different, even if they’re the same caliber and model from the same manufacturer. So, to deliver the most accuracy possible from each of your CVA muzzleloading rifles, you have to formulate a powder charge and select a bullet that can deliver the best accuracy possible. I begin by shooting a fouling shot to remove any oil or residue that may be in the barrel. After you clean your muzzleloader, you coat the inside of the barrel with oil to prevent the inside of the barrel from rusting. To get the oil and the grease out of the barrel, I shoot the fouling shot. You don’t even need a bullet in the gun. Just load the gun, and shoot the powder to burn the oil out of the barrel. Some people use a primer to accomplish the same goal, but shooting a primer won’t remove all the oil from the barrel.

After the fouling shot, I load my rifle with two, 50-grain Pyrodex or White Hots pellets and either a 250- or a 300-grain bullet. I prefer PowerBelt bullets because they’re easy to load and extremely accurate. I’ve been very successful using them. My favorite bullet is a 295-grain copper-plated, hollow-point PowerBelt bullet. I shoot three shots without cleaning the barrel to see how well the gun groups. I may be shooting a 1-1/2-inch group at 100 yards off the bench. Next, I’ll run a dry patch down the barrel between each of the next three shots to see how it affects my three-shot group. Then I’ll use this same load and clean the barrel with a wet patch (often called a spit patch) between each of the three shots to see how this will impact my three-shot group. I’m trying to learn if the gun groups best with a dirty barrel, using a dry patch or using a wet patch between each shot. Some rifles shoot best with a dirty barrel, while others group best with either a dry patch or a wet patch between each shot. If I discover that the particular gun I’m sighting-in shoots best with a dirty barrel, then I know that to deliver the best accuracy, I don’t need to clean the barrel after every shot.

I’ll also start testing different-sized bullets. I may drop down to a 295-grain bullet from a 300-grain bullet to see which bullet shoots the most tight pattern. Then, I’ll drop down from a 295-grain bullet to a 245-grain bullet and shoot a group of three shots to see if I can get the group any tighter. Now, if coming down in bullet size results in not shooting a tighter group each time, I’ll go up in bullet size. I’ll shoot a 338-grain bullet to see if the bigger bullet will deliver a more-tight pattern. After I know which bullet shoots the most-tight pattern with two, 50-grain pellets, I make a note. Then I’ll know the right bullet to shoot to deliver the best pattern with 100 grains of pellets. I’m still not satisfied that I’m getting the most accuracy possible. For instance, if I’m shooting in dense woods, 100 grains of powder may be sufficient. But if I’m hunting on a green field or a power line where I may have an opportunity for a 200-yard shot, more than likely I’ll shoot 150 grains of powder. So, I’ll go through the entire process of cleaning the gun with spit patches, dry patches and no patches between each shot, and I’ll test each bullet to see what-size bullet delivers the most accuracy at 200 yards with 150 grains. I’ve learned that with most CVA muzzleloaders shooting three pellets – 150 grains of powder – generally bigger bullets shoot more accurately than smaller bullets.

Once I’ve determined the bullet and the powder charge that consistently delivers the best group at 100 and 200 yards, then I’m ready to start fine-tuning my powder charge. So, I’ll start shooting loose powder. You’ll be surprised at how much difference 5 TO 10 grains of powder can make in the accuracy your CVA rifle can deliver. For instance, if I’m shooting 100 grains of powder and shooting 1-1/2-inch groups, I’ve learned that I often can change from two, 50-grain pellets to 80 grains of loose powder and bring my group of three shots to within 1 inch. Being able to increase your accuracy by 1/2-inch at 100 yards may help you shoot much-more accurately when you have the buck of a lifetime in your sights.

The biggest change I’ve ever made when I went from pellets to loose powder was when I moved to an elk load from 100 grains of powder (two pellets) to 120 grains of loose powder shooting a 300-grain bullet. The group I was shooting didn’t change much when I increased the powder at 100 yards, and I couldn’t see a significant difference. However, when I started shooting at 150 and 200 yards, the 120 grains of powder enabled me to shoot a much-tighter group than when I was using 100 grains of powder. For instance, at 150 yards, I was able to group three shots in a 2-1/2-inch circle shooting two, 50 grain pellets. When I started shooting 120 grains of loose powder, I was able to tighten my group to a 1-1/2-inch circle. This is the system I use to formulate any load for any type of game. I primarily concentrate on:

• what type of game I’ll be hunting
• what distance I want to be able to shoot to take that game
• what’s the best powder charge to deliver the most accuracy at the maximum range I plan to shoot
• what bullet combined with what powder charge will deliver the most accuracy.

I shoot both .45 and .50 caliber blackpowder rifles. If I’m shooting a .45-caliber bullet, more than likely I’ll want a .225-grain bullet.

Typically with a smaller bullet, I’ll shoot less powder. I like a 100-grain load most of the time when I’m shooting a .225-grain bullet in a .45-caliber rifle. At 100 yards with a .45-caliber rifle, I can shoot 1-1/2-inch groups.