You have a gun and a good bullet, the thing to remember about sabots is the they come in different petal thickness, having the right petal thickness is one of the keys to accuracy to loose is dangerous as the circumstance can arise where the bullet can slide out of the sabot. You should need both hands to push it down the bore but you should not need to pound on it or even feel like you want to. Each gun is an individual because the tolerance is fairly large for muzzle loaders in general particularly in certain brands. You once find the right thickness of sabot and you could set up a few targets and run the powder ladder. I suggest starting at 80 gr. and going to the recommended max. If you don't have an operators manual go to CVA web page and ask for one most brands supply them free.