All this talk about Spanish Barrels, I decided to give the Spanish barrel CVA Staghorn Magnum a run today. The rifle has a RED DOT Bushnell Trophy Scope. I shot all rounds with a 3 MOA dot setting.

The groups in blue are old groups from a few days ago. They were not shot today. I had my bench rest set up at 70 yards and figured that would be perfect. First off, that 3 MOA dot covers almost the entire green circle of that target at that distance.

I started shooting 405 grain Remington Flat Points on top of 90 grains of Goex 2f. This load was approved by CVA when I discussed it with them. The lower hits in the green circle are those Remington's and also I shot a couple maxiball just to see how they would do.

I then got out some Thompson Center Cheap Shots. This rifle with 90 grains normally shoots them real well. The two red circle groups indicate the difference between Goex 2f and Pyrodex RS. I was very pleased with the way the rifle shot the Cheap Shots. Especially with Goex 2f since it hit the bulls eye three times. For a five shot group, I was real happy.

Surprising was the Pyrodex actually shot them higher then the Goex. Any of them would have been good enough for hunting if that had been the case. So over all I was pleased. Especially since the temperature was in the high 80's and there was a moderate wind from the side. A two inch group with my eye sight is not all that bad from a non magnified optic.

Yes I own more than a couple guns with Spanish barrels and they do not disappoint me either. My $50 Bobcat is one heck of a good shooting rifle that with little work is giving me sub 2" at 50 yards with roundballs!! My old Missorri Is still chucking them down range as good also. The Crockett I own is a virtual tack driver as well.

cayugad

I have to agree - I do not shoot it that much anymore - but I have a firebolt that shoots great and certainly the A&H is really good - use to be my favorite gun to shoot and you have seen the targets it can produce - but in an effort to reduce some inventory to I took it to Kennewick last week and gave it to my son-in-law... + now when I go over there I will have something to shoot...

sabotloader quote, "+ now when I go over there I will have something to shoot... "

Yea, like you won't bring your White, or have mine to shoot.

Cayugad-That's some pretty decent shooting, especially without magnification.[8D] The only gun I have a red dot on is my 11-87 slug gun. Now, you're making wanna go out and see what I can do with it @ 70 and 100yds! Oh, btw, you people who buy cheapie CVA's and shoot tight groups with them make me SICK. I'm not even gonna say I how much I unloaded my wallet for my Encore, but it was a hell of lot more than my Kodiak.[&o]

Doegirl..

In Wisconsin we are not allowed scopes during the muzzleloader season. I hunt in cedar and alder thickets where most shots are 50 yards and under. So I mounted a RED DOT on my $89.00 CVA Staghorn Magnum. Actually it is a very good shooting rifle. For some reason if you load in the neighborhood of 90 grains of powder the accuracy is exceptional. The rifle can bea little fussy compared to some of my other rifles. It likes very light projectiles such as 240-250 grain projectiles, and it likes the 245 grain Powerbelts.

I have two Traditions rifles, a .45 and a .50, both "Lightning" models. Naturally, both have "Spanish barrels".

I use Pyrodex and a 295-grain Power Belt in the .50, and the Lyman 457122HP 345-grain Gould sized .451" with T7 in the .45. Both are quite accurate, shooting generally into less than 2" @ 100 yards. Neither of course is as accurate as the .45 and .50 caplocks I have that have Bill Large barrels, but I didn't expect them to be!

FWIW, I don't use "maximum" (150-grains of Pyrodex pellets) in either of them, not because I think it'd be dangerous, but because they shoot better with less powder (120 gr. of loose Pyrodex RS in the .50, 90 gr. loose T7 in the .45).

The only problem with "good shooting" is that it lags behind "very good" and 'excellent shooting".

I own three Spanish-barrel guns. Two were purchased early-on/years ago. The other was a garage sale item with only 8 lifetime shots that I purchased for $35 -- then accuracy/components-corrected. All are serviceable in the field with moderate loads.

However, I will never purchase a 4th Spanishgun from BPI or Traditions. Too many better models out there for modestly more money ($100-$250). I will eventually move two of these guns (charity donations)-- while keeping the longrifle Shenandoah as a wallhanger.

All too often, people get this magnum mentality that more powder means better shooting. I had the same mind set going on for a while and then kind of passed out of that stage. I never shot a magnum load out of the Staghorn because I discovered it liked 100 grains, in that range and it shot so well that I never looked further.

Now my Knight and Thompson Center can take a magnum charge and do some Very Impressive shooting with the extra powder. But as Triple Se7en points out, many of the Spanish barrels with lighter loads are "serviceable."

The biggest problem with these guns is that they do not hold up as well when shooter errors occur.

Most common shooter error?..... improper/short seating of bullets and-or continuous broken pellets that slowly/gradually weaken steel wall. Strength issues also with bolt/plunger actions & breechplugs.

So if you are a new ML user that's clumsy, absent-minded, forgetful, lacks concentration... etc....buy a T/C,White, Savageor Knight instead.