cva optima hand gun

[johnson1942]

got one on a trade a while back. ive never had a inline muzzle loader before. loaded it up as per what internet said was good loads. dang near split my skull and broke my nose on the first shot. just too much recoil for me and not fun to shoot. well thats not the end of the story. built a shoulder stock for it, now it looks like a modern 9mm machinegun. i also put a dead mule recoil reducer just infront of the fore stock.i also cut the barrel of about 1/4 inch and recrowned the muzzle so no more easy loading sabot relief was their. i can not accept that a a good muzzle relief for easy sabot loading is good for extreem accuracy. i may even in the future want to shoot paperpatch in this gun and that relief is not good for paperpatch. the load i came up with was 100 grains of triple seven,the fine grade powder and a mmp sabot and a 451 200 grain lead bullet.really snorts but the recoil is now with in reason. i have a good 9 power scope on the gun and have to admit is a really accurate hard hitting gun that is fun to shoot. not going to sell it and want to hunt deer in the future with it. never had a inline before, really like this one. i have a lot of weight lifting equipment in the base ment and all my guns are on the wall. the only one that the high school young men want to look at is that machine gun looking muzzle loader. they think it is really cool and to tell the truth, it is. if any of you have one of these and think it is too much gun. it is as is but it can be made into something way better than it was ever ment to be. i have not run the load through the chronograph yet but will in the future. anybody have a idea of the ft. per second im getting? ive also wrapped a lot of camo duct tape all over it. its one of a kind and really a gun that is useable now.

[Nobade]

When I first saw those my thought was "Would be nice with a liner installed.". I think 375 or 40 cal would make it a handy shootin' iron and wouldn't kick too bad with paperpatched bullets.

-Nobade

[johnson1942]

i was going to do the same thing you thought. however the barrel is tapered and how to put it a lathe and drill it out was beyond me so i decided that as is i will make it work. wanted to do a 40 cal barrel liner with a 1/16 twist and shoot paperpatch. as it is it shoots real good. the dead mule helps a lot as does the shoulder stock.

[Gtek]

I run 90 of 777 in my Omega, it easily removes the life force from everything I've put the sights on. My math comes out to 115 equivalent of Holy. You have my attention Sir! Flash Suppressor, Flame Arrestor ?

[johnson1942]

ive never shot it at night, your probably right, the fire that comes out of that thing would light up the world for a while. i have to use ear plugs as the report is just too much for these old ears. shooters who shoot these things with out a stock or dead mule on it are better men than me. ive got it tamed now though.

[Lead Fred]

I run 90 of 777 in my Omega, it easily removes the life force from everything I've put the sights on. My math comes out to 115 equivalent of Holy.

You flat landers sure know how to waste powder. Thats too much powder for a 50 cal rifle with a 28 inch barrel.

The Davenport Formula was designed to show you how much powder is your maximum load, then you work backwards to find the most accurate load.
My 45 cal with a 42 inch barrel, maximum load is 74.5 gr Holy Black.

I bet 40grs is an over kill for them modern wannabe muzzle loaders

[johnson1942]

lead fred, we dont live in the woods. respectfully the 3f triple 7 really snorts and you ask kroger who comes from the woods to hunt with me. he got his at 125 yards or so and he was lucky and with Gods Grace it wasnt way out their.we saw a lot of deer but you have to be prepared to hit them and knock them down way out their and are happy if one is closer. also this isnt a 28 inch barrel on my gun, probably around 10 or 11 inches. all my guns are side locks and this one i got on a trade. it is simple, well made and yes you have to clean it and load from the front. they dont shoot them selves and one has to learn how to shoot these as one has to shoot sidelocks. i love a problem to work on and i like getting more out of this gun than was ment to be. going to keep it. i do that with every thing, i have 2 five string banjos that i also did every thing in the name of science to get the most out of their sound, and they do sound good and play easy. same with life for me its all worth going after, even my short nosed cva. if i lived in the leaf tree forest, i would cut back the load some, most likely would use my side lock 50. real traditional and would knock anything down it hits. ive hunted those kind of hunts and on snow shoes and it different that here. by the way we are not flatlanders here.rugged country, big and i mean big rolling hills, semi mountains, pine forest and very deep canyons. i dont know where the flatlanders live but it isnt here. western nebraska is a rugged place with more state and federal land that belongs to each and every one of you than most states. look it up, come and hunt here, you will like it. bring a gun that shoots a ways out like idaho ron's. he lives in country like this also. all muzzle loaders load from the front and have to be cleaned to shoot well. never saw one that didnt.

[Gtek]

The 90 grain reference was to my load which equates (old math) to a 103.5 grain load. the 115 reference was in regard to Mr. Johnson. I reliably can place three 45 cal. Sabot rounds in 1.5" @ 100 and not too bad a little farther out, probably could dial it in a little more but I have a life. I am pretty happy with that accurate load Mr. Fred, Thank You though for your opinion. I will have a talk with the two other wannabees and I will also inform the other eight being a mix of flint and side hammers of your caring and support. Flatlander? Glass houses my friend!