joetc

I'm looking into purchasing my first muzzleloader but I'm not very familiar with all the choices out there. I've been looking hard at getting either a CVA Wolf or a Remington Genesis. I've read good reviews on both but I still have a couple concerns. I like the Wolf but am concerned about the plastic sights, a salesman was telling me that in cold weather they tend to crack and easily break and hunting in northern MN this is a big concern during ml season. I really like the remington but its a little more pricey and I just don't know if I want to spend that much if the Wolf will perform just as good.Being a college student I would like to spend as little as possible whilestill getting a reliable gun. So could anyone help me out with this or suggest any other ml's that I should be looking at? The gun will be for deer hunting in MN where scopes are illegal.

Thanks a lot,
Joe

cayugad

First off welcome to the forum...

As for a choice of rifle. That is a very personal decision. Whether the plastic sights will break.. well I have plastic sights on my CVA Staghorn Magnum and they broke the very first day I had it out. All it did was bump the wall as it slide a few inches. But I fixed that. And CVA sent me a new sight.

The Remington Genesis.. that I am sure would be a fine rifle.

Have you considered a NEF Sidekick? They are made by Marlin Rifle Company/Harrington & Richardardson through New England Firearms. I am not sure of the sight they have but it is a Tru Glow Fiber Optic. Also they have some excellent reports of out of the box accuracy. They do require a primer holder. The others do not.

Any of them would do the job. Maybe since you only want to see if you like this or not, get the cheapest. The Wolf has been getting some excellent field reports. That might be the way to go.

sjsfire

Go for the Wolf, I got one and it's shoots great, cleans easy, and I haven't really shot any sabot it didn't like. The first thing I did with mine was to take the sights off because I've had eye surgery and can't focus the front and rear sights together. I put on a Nikon Pro Staff scope. The Wolf works real nice for me.

IndyHunter83

Go for the Wolf. I bought a wolf last year and am also a college student. Having had other muzzleloaders in the past I wanted to get my first inline. I've killed afew deer and coyotes with it. Works great and easy to clean. For the $160, which is what our gander mountain has them price for, there just isn't a better rifle out there. I shot magnum loads with powerbelts through mine last year. I probably wouldn't suggest doing that. It didn't hurt the rifle any but it hurt me plenty. If you're hunting in north woods territory, you may or may not need the magnum capabilities.
CVA says the Wolf will handle it, but if that type of load you'll be shooting day in and day out I would go with a better rifle such as the Remington Genisis, TC Omega, Knight Disc, or CVA Optima. I'm not sure about the others but the Optima is just alittle more expensive than the wolf.

If you're just lookin to shoot regular loads (80-120 grains of powder with a bullet)I'd say go with the wolf. I haven't seen one fail yet.

2 more things.
1.Powerbelts are recommended by CVAbut dont seem to perform well. You may want to try afew different types of bullets
2. If ya have any questions or need help ask the forum. There are some guys in here that really know there stuff.

arcticap

The Remington is longer and heavier, and even heavier to lugthrough the woodswith a scope mounted. Longer cansometimes bean advantage, but being handier isn't usually associated with the Genesis. Unless you really need the longer barrel, why carry it around?

What's nice about theNEF/H&RSidekick is that astainless ML barrel can be fitted toany of their post '87 shotgun receivers andit has awood stock.

TNHagies

My suggestion would be to go to your local gun shop and handle all of the ones you think you might be interested in. Then make your decision. Holding one in your hands will tell you a lot about a gun. All 3 mentioned will kill deer just as dead as a $700 gun and will serve your purposewell. Best of luck toya-hope you find what you're after.

Bigtimer

I bought a Wolf for my son at wal-mart for $80.00 last December. That is one tough little gun. He took a nice doe with it this year. But, as other's have said, it's a personnal choice. Go to a dealer and pick a few up and see how they feel. The CVA Optima is a built a little better and goes for $210.00 at our Wal-Mart.

Ideaman

I say NEF in Stainless. Simple to clean, shoots great, simple, reliable, priced reasonable, and Made In USA.

I own an Encore, and a Savage, woul recommend either, but price is high. Just sold a NEF to buy the Savage(shoots smokeless powder) but loved the gun. Knight also makes fine rifles. Stainless in whatever you buy will be worth the added price.

coryj

I just bought a Traditions yukon. It was around $200 with starter package at walmart. The package included a 4x scope, short starter, and a few other odds and ends. For the price it is a great little gun. 9 shots at 50 yards yielded 7 touching in a big hole. It really liked the sabots that came in the starter kit and also shot t/c cheap shots really well, but not as good. It has an interesting action, similar to a rolling block, traditions calls it a drop breach.

Well worth the money.