ORIGINAL: Lordgunner
About 5 years ago I purchased a $100 dollar CVA from Wal-Mart as my first muzzleloader. I bought it when I was 13 so I could expand my deer hunting season. Ever since then I've fallen in love with muzzleloading. Well, that muzzleloader has kind of fallen apart and I'm needing to get a new one for this year.
I was looking at the T/C Triumph and that looks like one heck of a gun! I was wondering how it compares to other ML's such as the Omega, which is a tad cheaper. If I were to get it, I would no doubt get the weather shield. So roughly it'd be about $450. Is the Triumph worth the cash? I'm a senior in high school so money isn't easy to come by. Also, one more question, how does the weather shield compare to stainless steel?
Thank you
Lordgunner - you ask some very good questions. Is the Triumph all that it can be? The Triumph appears to be a better designed Omega to me. The Omega complaints were the trigger guard being too small for gloved fingers, and crud rings from certain powders being used. Well the Triumph solved the trigger guard problem by simply making it more user friendly to us northern climate people who wear gloves. Some still report the crud rings in the Triumph, but again, an easy fix/control with the right powders, primers, and swabbing.
The Omega owners report excellent out of the box accuracy, like the Triumph owners. Some of the targets posted by Triumph owners are simply outstanding to say the least. Also the Omega.
The nice innovation of the 45ยบ twist and turn breech plug in the Triumph is a nice feature without a doubt, but is it worth the extra dollars? I've been taking breech plugs out of rifles for years now, and it has not slowed me down on shooting or range cleaning. Is this Weather Shield better then Stainless steel? That is a question no one yet can answer. Is the weather shield a baked in process like a bowling ball finish or something? Will it wear in time? What of discoloration? We know how great the stainless steel rifles are. We are entering an unknown when we play in the weather shield ball field. And remember, Thompson Center is trying to sell rifles. So their claims will make the weather shield appear as perfect as it sounds.
Here is my view on this, and again this is just my opinion. The Omega is a time tested, in the field known performer. It has been around for years, It has been the one of the best selling rifles for Thompson Center and high in customer satisfaction. It was the innovation that many other companies then copied. So you might say it was the first and one of the best in its design. The Triumph looks real good right now, but is not time tested. Are there flaws that we do not know of yet? Willthe breech plugs or weather shield change with time? Also the breech plugs are expensive should you ever replace one.
WhileI really like the Triumph rifle, I would not purchase one for myself just yet if I were in the market. I would give it a year or two and see what those that have purchased and shot them really say. The Omega on the other hand is offering some outstanding deals, based on the Triumph technology. This might be the time to take advantage of that, and get a top of the line Omega with a good stock, stainless steel barrel, that you know is a great rifle with a great track record, for much less money then just a year ago.
I would stay away from the Omega Z5 just because of the stock. Although some of the people have learned how to tame that dog too. Also if conicals were what I wanted to shoot instead of sabots, I would shy away from the Thompson Center line. Too many report them not shooting conicals well, other then powerbelts. (although Frontier Gander showed us what a .45 caliber powerbelt can do) I might be looking at the Knight Rolling Block of a White Rifle.