I have the CVA Optima, and I love it. I used to have a Knight, and then I started looking and studying and shopping, and I decided the Break action was best for me...... and I wouldn't change for nothing. I like the Nickle Barrel over the Blued, for durability and corrosion resistance. I am sure that a Stainless would be great, but I don't believe it is much of an improvement over Nickle. The field cleaning of it is a breeze .... Unscrew the breech plug, and use a Bore snake. Lube the breech plug and you are ready to go. I killed 2 8pts last year with mine .... BTW It is the .45 cal. and I love the cal. too. Its shooting the same bullet found in a .50 full sabot ( they shoot .45 cal bullets) and I shoot powerbelts.

I am very happy with my set up, .... BTW I got the camo stock / Nickle barrel .... and I paid less than 200.00 ( 180.00 + tax) for it brand new on sale.

I plan on buying another just like it when I need the next one.

God Bless

MET