Moberly bound

my cva firebolt .45 in-line muzzleloader rifle isnt accurate anymore-i thought i would see if anybody has an idea b-4 i have to go deeper in debt by buying a new muzzleloader-i bought it new in 2003-it always held good groups at the shooting range using 2 pyrodex pellets and 180 gr. hornady sabot-but at the range last month,groups were spread 8-12 inches at 100 yards-ive tried everything i can think of-i soaked the barrelwith blk pwdr/plastic solvent overnight,and scrubbed it out as clean as it can get,using patches and wire brush-my leoupoldscope may as well be welded on the rifle,thats how tight all the screws are-i tried another scope,no luck-i tried t/c sabots,no luck-powerbelts,no luck,disasembled rifle and inspected closely,no luck-cva has a replacement barrel for the firebolt for $80-i wonder if i should order a barrel or just give up on cva,and dig myself deeper into the debt hole by purchasing a whole new rifle of a different brand-any ideas?thnx

hossdaniels

I would bet the hole in the breech plug has worn to larger than it was designed.
I've heard 45's can be harder on breech plugs than 50's for some reason. Could be a $20 fix. How many rounds do you have through it? I dont think its barrel unless its rusted pretty bad. Very few actually get "shot out".

sjsfire

Could your powder be the problem, how old is it?

Chasam60

Push a lead slug through it and measure the groove depth. I had my Rem700 fouled with plastic once and wore out a couple bore brushes before I got it shooting right again. I used Hoppe's Benchrest copper + plastic bore cleaner. It took a lot to get it all out. Just an idea from my experience.

Charlie

falcon

Some CVA bolt action stocks warp, especially the older ones. This is why I have floated the barrels on both of mine.Floated the barrels on a couple of dozen guns for other folks including the newer ones. They always shoot better after the barrel is floated.

cayugad

Check your breech plug for wear. Next, determine the age of the powder. Pellets for some reason tend to go bad faster then loose powder. Get some loose powder and try the rifle with that. Have you changed primers? Have you changed your swabbing procedure? Last, check the stock for cracks. Sometimes any small thing can set them off. Also try a different bullet. Just some thioughts mind you.

hossdaniels

Read this from randy wakeman.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/muzzleloading_murphy.htm

"Murphy's inline doesn't seem to shoot like it did last year. What Murphy has never understood is that flash holes erode. Once a flash hole opens up, in as little as 100 shots of Triple Se7en according to Hodgdon's own tests, internal ballistics change, and so do exterior ballistics. The amount of erosion is contingent on pressure and heat. Those three pellet loads Murphy now uses eat away at his breechplug like his old load of 90 grains by volume of Goex never did. Murphy never measured a new breechplug, and he never measured an old one, so he will never know.
Smart muzzleloaders know never to trust their hunt to suspect equipment, and realize that breech plugs are designed to be replaced. While Murphy gets ever more perplexed, the prepared muzzleloader replaces his breechplug on a regular basis.
Murphy never could be bothered to shoot through a chronograph. Velocity changes are invisible to ol' Murphy. It either goes bang or it doesn't for the Murphster; pass/fail logic is the only logic he knows. Murphy thinks that hygroscopicity is some thing like perpetual motion: he knows his bugle bleeds in dry air, humid is rain, but can't really tell much in between.
Poor Murphy. He should have learned by now that if it "cleans up with ordinary tap water," it absolutely must be water-soluble and suck moisture. Those half-empty jugs of Pyrodex and last year's T7 pellets have lost their potency, and are now prone to misfires. Murphy doesn't chrono, so he can't tell. Opened cans of Pyro and left-over partial pellet packs should be disposed of. If you want "new" performance, and "new" reliability, you need to start with fresh product not exposed to air, much less garage or basement air. Not Murphy, he "never had any problem." Few people do, until they finally do.
Murphy feels his sabots are too tight. Forget that Murphy does not know what his bore "

frontier gander

get a new breech plug and ditch the pellets.

Free floating the barrel on the firebolt is easy. What kind of primers are you using?

srwshooter

take some JB BORE CLEANER and rap some 0000 steelwool around an old brush and polish it up a bit while your watching the tube tonight. call CVA they will proply send you a new breech plug free.

Bigtimer

My CVA optima pro did the same thing last year. Sent boiling water down he barrel a couple of times to get rid of the plastic and it shoots much better. Could be a lot of these things but I would contact CVA and see about getting the breech plug replaced.