Single Shot Muzzleloading Rifles Blog

I’m not really positive which came first, modern man, or the wild turkey, but one thing I do know is that as long as these two species have been co inhabiting the same woods, there have been turkey hunters. Through the years, the turkey killing weapon of choice has never stopped evolving. What may have started off as a club, has since evolved into something our ancestors could have never possibly dreamed of.
Since I have started turkey hunting years ago, I have put my gobbler killing faith in “Ol Mossy”. You see, “Ol Mossy” is my 20 yr old trusty 12 ga duck gun that looks a little like a canoe paddle, and weighs as much as an outboard engine. But friends, no longer am I one step above Neanderthal turkey hunter. Enter the CVA Apex. Not only has this little gem put down several deer with my .270/.50 barrels, but now it is truly a 4 season weapon. The 12 ga turkey barrel option makes this system complete. The day it showed up on my doorstep, I tore it out of the box, slapped on a red dot scope, and started making thousands of tiny holes down range. Inside of 3 shots, this turkey slayer was sighted in and laying down some very impressive patterns at 30 yards and beyond. Now if you have ever patterned your turkey loads before, you are well aware that it’s very similar to being kicked in the shoulder by a small horse. Those loads were not designed for an afternoon of clay pigeon practice, that is for sure. In fact, previous patterning sessions with Ol Mossy had me anticipating this sight in session somewhere in between receiving my first prostrate checkup and doing my taxes. To my surprise, the crushzone recoil pad and the stock design made the sight in very tolerable. Dare I say “pleasant”?
Now is it really necessary to have a dedicated turkey gun? Probably not I suppose. From the club, to the bow and arrow, to the blunderbuss- all weapons have the ability to kill turkeys cleanly. But with each weapon comes limitations. Even Ol Mossy was handicapped. It shot almost a foot left at 40 yards with turkey loads. That’s no way to treat a turkey! Besides, those things are tough as nails once they are wounded. After all the time one spends getting up early, buying tags, carrying around decoys and blinds, does it really make sense to go out to the blind with your granddaddy’s rusty duck gun? Well, it depends I guess, if you are comfortable operating with limitations. For me, I would just as soon set down my club for something more appropriate-like my new CVA Apex.
A week later found me huddled in a blind with a youth hunter, trying to kill his first bird. With time running out for the young lad on the last day, we were able to talk a fine gobbler specimen into checking out our decoy spread. Those are some of the longest moments you’ll ever have in the woods. Watching that strutter slowly work his way into your set up. All the time, praying to yourself “I hope I don’t mess this up somehow…..” In this case, our calling was good enough to fool the bird. The silence was broken with one simple sound as the gobbler closed to 30 yards. Click. I’ll have to say, I love the sound of the hammer being cocked.
Then, it’s was as easy as putting the dot on the head, and pulling the trigger. So easy, even a 5th grader can do it. No, I got that wrong. Am I smarter than a cave man? Ugh, I give up. But I know the cave man turkey hunter is jealous of my gun.

Question: Mark, BPI makes Bergara interchangeable barrels for the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. What are the most-popular Bergara barrels that hunters often select, besides the .50-caliber muzzleloader barrels that come with both these guns?

Hendricks: I’m not in the sales department, so I don’t have the exact numbers, but my impression is that for smaller game, the most popular is the Bergara .223 barrel for the smaller-caliber rifle, since the ammunition is inexpensive and plentiful, and it’s a very-versatile cartridge. For larger game, the most-popular add-on Bergara barrel is the .308, because the ammunition is reasonably priced, it’s very versatile, and it has a recoil that most shooters can tolerate well. The .308 is getting a lot of publicity from the tactical shooters in the military, and people have a lot of confidence in it. For big game, we sell a number of the .300 Bergara Win Mag barrels. All three barrels are interchangeable with the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the .243 barrel, which is excellent for centerfire rifles and for shooting deer at close range. It’s a great caliber for a young deer hunter to start with, because of low recoil, inexpensive shells and accuracy. A hunter can use the .243 for modern rifle season, if he or she is a two-season hunter (blackpowder season and modern-gun season).

Question: Don’t most muzzleloader hunters hunt two seasons to get a longer season and be able to take more deer. Hasn’t this caused much of the demand for the interchangeable centerfire rifle barrels?

Hendricks: Yes. By using an interchangeable barrel, the hunter can buy one frame and have a multitude of barrel choices for whatever game and season he wants to hunt. The scopes attach to the barrels, so when the hunter changes from blackpowder season, he can remove the scope off his blackpowder rifle, put that same scope on his centerfire rifle and, in most cases, have the same aim. Bergara has a variety of barrels for the hunter to choose from for any type of rifle hunting he wants to do, from the blackpowder barrels to the .300 Win Mag and many calibers and barrels in-between. A growing number of hunters are choosing the rifles that can accommodate additional barrels. With this system, a hunter can take one gun with a Bergara barrel in place for hunting and a second Bergara barrel with him or her to hunt other game.

Editor’s Note: Tony Smotherman known as the Travelin’ Hunter & is the Editor & publisher of Tennessee Outdoor News lives outside of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has hunted only with muzzleloader since 1994. Tony explains why he is now shooting a CVA Apex with a 300 Win. Mag. 

Today is the first time in 14 years that I have been behind a center-fire rifle at my shooting range. Years ago I adopted muzzleloaders as my main hunting weapon, mainly because of the great seasons they allow me to participate in, but also I like the mechanics of building my own hunting load by picking the powder and bullet to make my next hunt a success. But now that the CVA Apex has been introduced in to the hunting world, I am going take the wrath of the 300 Winchester single shot to the Wyoming mountains for an elk hunt that in years past I have hunted only with a muzzleloader. The elk up in those mountains know my pretty well but they also know that they needed to stay only 250 yards away from me and my crew to stay safe. I got one thing to say to them starting next Monday…..Surprise boys! That 250 yard finishing point I had with my .50 caliber CVA’s has now turned into my starting point with my 300 Win. Apex.

One of my biggest fears when the guys at CVA and I talked at SHOT Show about this hunt and gun combo was the fact that I did not want to have my retinas knocked loose when I lit up the 300 Win. The response that I got from that was that CVA can now put on a custom muzzle break right in the CVA factory. “I’ll take one”, was my immediate response and I am glad I did. I put 25 rounds through it today with NO problem other than I wanted to shoot more but ran out of daylight.

I now have a killn’ machine that does not kick and I don’t have to swab after every shot like I have been doing for 14 years……… I might just be turning a new leaf.

Editor’s Note: Outdoor TV personality Chad Schearer of Great Falls, Montana, has guided clients to mule deer and elk each season as well as hunted on his own. Today, he’s the host of the “Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer” television show presented by CVA that airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports South, the Lonestar Network and CBS Montana.

Question: Chad, you hunt all over the West. When you owned Central Montana Outfitters, you guided hunters to elk, as well as mule deer. What gun and powder charge do you recommend for taking elk?

Schearer: I suggest using either the CVA Accura V2 or the CVA Apex. But if you’re looking for a less-expensive Muzzleloaders, you can take elk with a CVA Optima or even a CVA Wolf. One of the advantages CVA has over many other Muzzleloading-rifle companies is CVA has quality, accurate rifles to accommodate every hunter. The load I suggest for elk is 150 grains of powder. However, I once took a moose with only…

Like what you’re reading, click here to read the rest of the artilce.

http://elkhuntingblog.com/

Editor’s Note: Chad Schearer of Great Falls, Montana, former owner and operator of Central Montana Outfitters, guided clients to mule deer and elk each season as well as hunted on his own. Today, Schearer is host of the “Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer” television show presented by CVA that airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports South, the Lonestar Network and CBS Montana.

Question: Chad, which CVA rifle are you hunting with now, and how are you loading it?

Schearer: The situation and the game I’m hunting dictate the rifle I use. I hunt with the CVA Apex quite a bit, because it allows me to change barrels and keep the same rifle frame. With the Apex, I can hunt for deer or varmints, just by using different barrels. But when I’m using the Apex as a muzzleloader, I’ll load with either 100- or 150-grain PowerBelt bullets. I like IMR White Hots pellets. If I’m doing a whitetail hunt, I’ll use either a 245- up to a 295-grain PowerBelt bullet. If I’m hunting elk and shooting a .45 barrel, I’ll use a 275-grain bullet. If I’m shooting the .50 barrel, I’ll use either a 295- to as large as a 348-grain bullet. I like either the PowerBelt or the PowerBelt Platinum bullets the best, and I really like the Winchester 777 Primer. I’ve experimented with all different types of primers, and the Winchester primers give me the most-consistent ignitions. I’ve been extremely successful using that primer the last several years.

Question: One of the selling points with the CVA rifles is the Bergara barrels and the accuracy they deliver, even out to extended ranges. What’s the longest shot you’ve ever taken successfully with a CVA rifle?

Schearer: The longest shot I’ve ever seen with a CVA rifle was made by….

Like what you’re reading, click here to read the rest of the artilce.

http://muzzleloadinghunter.com/

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: Although Dudley McGarity has only been chief executive officer (CEO) for Blackpowder Products, Inc. (BPI), the owner of the CVA brand, for 3 years, he’s been a part of CVA/BPI for many years, starting out as the national sales manager for CVA and then moving through the ranks to his current position of CEO.

Question: Dudley, I’ve been hunting for several years, and I really enjoy blackpowder hunting. I’m ready to step-up my game and purchase a quality blackpowder rifle. What CVA muzzleloading rifle do you suggest?

McGarity: The Accura is our top-of-the-line muzzleloader. If you’re looking for a pure muzzleloading rifle, the Accura is equipped with a Bergara Barrel, which is a very-high-quality, very-refined barrel that has the quality of a custom barrel, even though it’s built in a high-production environment. The Accura has clean rifling, and there’s no essential difference in barrel diameter, which relates to more-improved barrel accuracy. We guarantee the accuracy of the Bergara Barrel to be better than any other blackpowder barrel on the market. The fluted Bergara Barrel in either stainless steel or matte blue features finished stocks with an ambidextrous solid-composite stock that comes in standard or thumbhole designs. The hammer spur can be used from the right to the left side, so the gun is exactly the same for a left- or a right-handed shooter. The gun also comes equipped with a Quake Claw Sling, another important and added value with this particular rifle. If you want a quality gun that functions as a muzzleloader only, the Accura is our top-of-the-line choice. But, if you want a gun that can convert from a muzzleloader to a conventional rifle, consider the CVA Apex.

Question: We’ve seen blackpowder rifles before that convert into conventional rifles. What makes the CVA Apex better than the other rifles that can perform this same function?
McGarity: Once you have an Apex frame, we have a wide variety of barrels from which to choose – a .45- or a .50-caliber muzzleloader, a .22 long-rifle rimfire, a .22 or a .50 centerfire caliber or a .300 Win mag. The only difference between the centerfire rifles and the muzzleloaders is they use different forearms. So, if you buy the muzzleloader first and then buy a centerfire rifle barrel, you’ll have to only buy one centerfire forestock. Any additional centerfire barrels you purchase will fit that forestock.

Question: How much does an additional forestock cost?
McGarity: Depending on the store and whether the forestock’s camo or black, it can cost from $30 to $50.

Question: How much does an additional barrel cost?
McGarity: The barrels start at around $250 each, which is a reasonable price if you consider the quality of these barrels. We’re getting bolt-action-type groups out of break-action rifles because of the exceptional quality of the barrels, the stocks and the forearms. We expect to get 1-inch groups at 100 yards from each barrel. Now that doesn’t mean you can take any ammunition off the shelf and always get 1-inch groups. As with any other type of rifle, certain barrels shoot specific types of ammunition made by particular manufacturers, better than they do other ammunition. Or, a barrel may like a certain style of bullet and a specific grain weight. So, you always have to experiment with different loads to obtain the maximum accuracy in performance that you can expect out of any rifle, and it’s no different with the Apex or the Accura rifles than any other bolt-action rifles.

Question: How much trouble is involved in changing from a muzzleloading to a centerfire barrel?
McGarity: Changing out the barrels is very simple. First, remove the forestock, which requires taking out one screw on the muzzleloader and two screws on the centerfire rifle. Then, remove the hinge pin on the frame that holds the barrel to the frame. Tap out the pin with a punch. The barrel easily will come out. Put your other barrel in the frame and replace the hinge pin and the forestock, and you’re ready to hunt. I can go through this process in about 3-1/2-minutes. Once I’ve got my muzzleloader sighted-in with a particular bullet powder and ignition system, and my centerfire barrel sighted-in with the right bullet, my rifle will deliver maximum accuracy.

Question: When I take the muzzleloader barrel off the frame and replace it with the centerfire barrel, I expect the same type of accuracy I’ve had when I’ve initially sighted-in the centerfire rifle barrel, if I use the right ammunition. Is that correct?
McGarity: Yes. Once you have a barrel sighted-in, moving that barrel on and off the frame won’t change your point of impact. The scope is always aligned to the barrel. You can breakdown these barrels for travel and carry your gun in a smaller case than you’ll use if you don’t break them down and have to carry them as one-piece rifles. So, the breakdown capability is really important. Too, with the DuraSight rings and bases quick-detach capability, you can take your scopes off and reattach them. Then they will return to zero and be dead-on. One of the big problems hunters have in traveling with single-piece rifles is they have their scopes mounted permanently to their rifles. The scopes often will get bumped or knocked out of alignment. Then the hunter has to re-sight them. By being able to remove the scope and putting it with your carry-on luggage, when you arrive at your hunting camp, you can reattach your scope to the barrel and reattach the barrel to the stock and the forearm, and your rifle still will be accurate.

Question: How much does the CVA Apex cost?
McGarity: The suggested retail is around $500. If you compare that price to other interchangeable-barrel muzzleloaders, you’ll see that the CVA Apex is much-more affordable than our competitors, and the Apex is a better gun than competitive brands. We’ve made the Apex to not only be a better gun, but to enable our customers to purchase a better-quality gun at an affordable price. There isn’t a better blackpowder centerfire interchangeable rifle on the market than the CVA Apex, and we’re not afraid to say it.

Question: What’s the price of the Accura?

McGarity: The starting price will be around $299. So, if you don’t want the interchangeable barrels and just want the best blackpowder rifle you can buy, I suggest the Accura. If you want the interchangeable-barrel feature to be able to shoot the same rifle during any season and use the same rifle for plinking or taking squirrels, deer or elk, the Apex probably will be a better choice.

Question: Do all the CVA rifles come with an instructional video?
McGarity: No, the instructional video only comes with the rifles that are purchased as a part of the package kits. However, if you want the videos, you can purchase them separately from CVA or your dealer through our customer-service department. Too, you can go online and watch the video for free on our website at www.cva.com.

Question: How much does the video cost?
McGarity: They’re only about $5.99. If you’ve already purchased an Optima or an Accura and you’ve been hunting for a while, you already may own many of the accessories you’ll get in the kit. So, you may not need to buy one of the rifles in the kits. Most of the guns we sell in kits are most likely for first-time muzzleloading customers.