ejpaul1

Howdy all, I bought a new frontier wind river 50 cal synthetic stock rifle some time ago and my pal insisted that it is a CVA product and will blow my face or hand off. We shot it once putting 20 rounds through it and not only was it safe but accurate as can be at 100 yards. He still is afraid of it and wont shoot it. I checked into it and I cant find anything that supports an unsafe condition. Please ring in on this if you have opinion or know anything about it. Thanks, EJ

J Bolt 7mm

The New Frontiers are made by CVA. I have the Beartooth Magnum and on the recoil pad there is the CVA stamp. As far as safty goes I really havn't heard anything that can be backed up with actual data providing these guns are not safe. I guess that CVA and other inline manufactures do not have the same pressure testing as companys like Thompson Center or Knight. You will hear different horror stories about inlines blowing up but who is to say where the fault lies. There is even a story with pictures floating around the web showing a savage blown to bits. The savage goes through the most extreme pressure testing up to centerfire standards. For example I was shooting the other day in the rain rushing my shoots. By mistake I loader powder twice. I caught my mistake because I have a mark on my ram rod that lines up with the tip of my barrel when loaded correctly. Also I think these guns get a bad rap because the barrels are made in Spain. To each their own. Enjoy your ml.

missed_another

can you imagine the law suits and legal battles if these were not safe. cva makes a very good product. if your pal likes to pay 3 or 4 times more than he should for a product let him go. he can cry all the way to the bank while you are smiling. why pay extra just for the name. i have two cva's and a thompson. they all shoot good.

cayugad

I am sure that the issue your friend was making reference to is the fact that Wind River, Beartooth, CVA, Traditions, and a number of other companies get their barrels made in Spain by a company called BPI. There have been cases where BPI barrels have blown up. The cause of that happening I do not know. Just as there is cases of almost every other manufacturer barrel blowing up. I think in many of the cases it is caused by operator error.

Granted BPI does not do the most extensive barrel pressure testing in the industry. That might be because there are no set standards in the black powder industry for barrel testing as I was made to understand. BPI has to have barrels able to withstand a certain pressure rating in order to ship them, the way it was explained to me. I could be wrong. Would not be the first time.

So In my opinion, and this is only my opinion.. Load your rifle according to the recommendations of the manufacturer. Keep track of the loads you use and do not exceed the max amounts. Clean and maintain the rifle well. Keep an eye on breech plugs and anything else that might fail in the rifle, checking for cracks, bulges, or worn threads. But above all have fun and enjoy the rifle.

If your friend does not want to shoot it, that's their choice. Honor that choice and you get to shoot more that way. From what a lot of people say the rifles are real accurate. Glad you're having fun and getting a good load worked up.

ejpaul1

Yeah, i used to work as a welder in a fab shop and I am now a licensed power plant engineer. We have to be able to identify stressed metals, and I dont see anything like that with this rifle. It looks perfect. Anyway, I dont shoot it too much and just wanted some insight. I cant believe how accureate it is! I wish they let us use scopes here. That would rock! By the way, I am new to this sport. Can a 350 grain conical with say 80 grains of powder kill an elk at 100 yards? EJ

cayugad

We are not allowed scopes in our muzzleloader season also. Since I also use them for modern hunting I have one inline with a scope and two others without. One has a RED DOT and one, some excellent Tru Glo Fiber Optic sights.

As for your question about elk.. I have never hunted them with a muzzleloader yet. I see no reason why it would not kill an elk at that distance. Shot placement will be critical, but I shoot a 460 grain conical all the time with 85 grains of Goex 3f or Triple Se7en 2f and the accuracy is outstanding. The conical will get some excellent penetration. If you put a half inch hole through the vital organs of any animal, they are going to die. It is just a matter of when and how far from where you shot.

Take a cardboard box that is at least 1.5 feet square and pack it with dirt solid. Then put that up at 100 yards and shoot for the center of the box. After ... go see how far that conical penetrated into the dirt at that distance. I think you will be surprised. And body tissue although solid enough can not be more so then packed dirt. It will also give you an idea of the expansion you will get if you put a 1" pine board in front of the box and shoot through that. I have done a few of them just this week and am really impressed at the distance I can get in that box.

Being your rifle has a BPI barrel you might want to consider using powerbelts. They normally shoot them real well. The problem is the cost of the darn things. Many elk are taken with powerbelts and you can push them all the way up to 100 grains without problems.

Good luck with your rifle. Seeing your qualifications in metal fabrication I would think you are a real good judge of metal under pressure and stress. I would shoot the rifle and have fun. Have you tried any 240 grain T/C Mag Express XTP's with about 90 grain of FFg under them? The reason I ask is my CVA Staghorn Magnum with that load is excellent and the bullet performance is outstanding for a deer type animal. I do not think I would use them on elk but you never know. Others might have a better opinion since they might have hunted them with such a load....

H2OmAn

I bought a New Frontier Beartooth Magnum about three months ago
and I find nothing wrong with the workmanship. Yes there have been
threads posted, both pro & con about the barell making process.
I have shot mine several times using pyrodex & 777 pelets. But I
only load 2-50gr. pellets. Mine is a 45cal. annd in Kentucky we can
use scopes, so I put a 1.5 to 4.0 on mine. I have also found it
to be deadly accurate with 195gr. & 225gr. powerbelt aero-tips.
Are there better ML to be had? Sure there are! But taking into
mind the price, the ease of cleaning, I think they are good
for the Dollars that you spend on one. Like some of the guys here
who have far more knowledge than me have stated. Read your
owners manual, ask questions, read your owners manual, ask some
more question. Apply a generous amout of good common sense.
Then using all these factors be safe, have fun, enjoy.

ejpaul1

Thanks guys! I do feel pretty well about it and I have learned a ton about the accureacy and loads available. I am definatly going to shoot it more in the future. I still flinch pretty good. She kicks like a mule! Worse than my 30-06! But it is fun! EJ

MLKeith

I have killed elk with 80gr. of Clean Shot (old goex synthetic) and a 348gr. powerbelt. shot almost completely through the chest and the bullet traveled most of the way sideways. I have killed elk with 300gr. bullet in sabot (SST by Hornady) and 90gr. of Black Mag'3 which shot completely through chest cavity at about 100 yards. Your 350gr. bullet will do the job and depending on the powder 80 grains should be enough. If it is Black Mag'3 and you have a long barrel (over 24 inches) it will likely be about 1680fps out of the barrel (I am suggesting using a 350gr. bullet in a sabot as BM3 likes the resistance of a tight fitting sabot along with the long barrel to get maximum velocity). If you have to shoot conicals the Powerbelts should work well for you also.

ejpaul1

Yeah, I think that we will have the option of a second antlerless tag this year, I would like to try the black powder season this year. I kinda stinks that we cant use sabots, scopes or pellets in co. It would make me feel a bit better if we could. EJ