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: 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.