Hoyt Bow Hunter

Im going to buy a muzzeloader i was wondering which muzzeloader to buy. Iv heard that TC is overrated for their price. CVA is cheaper and you can still swap barrells. Iv heard many people say to buy a CVA what is your suggestion?

bowbender6

I have both – I have an Omega and definitely better quality but more money. I also found an Optima pro on clearance at Gander Mt. For $220. I shoot under 2" @100 yards and no blowback. I think it will shoot better but I haven’t had time to play with it. It was just a good deal and I wanted to try a Bergara barrel. My dad has an Optima and it shoots 1" group with 250 shockwaves.

cayugad

T/C over rated??? They are more expensive yes, but over rated.. no. Their customer service is excellent all the times I have had to use them. But then so is CVA. I have used their customer service a lot. Almost every new CVA rifle I get ends up going back to them for one thing or another. But they have always fixed it.

Instead of being concerned on price, concern yourself with how each of them fit you, and what you want to do with them. If all you want is a rifle that will shoot 100 yards and kill a deer, then a CVA Wolf will get that done. If you want to start switching barrels, then I would be looking at the T/C. While some people might think they are over rated, they sure are depended upon by the more professional hunters/writers in this sport. That says something . Maybe T/C is a better sponsor.

gleason.chapman

Cost is always a consideration. If you want low cost and good performance go the CVA route, it you want a better quality rifle (some would debate that) with excellent customer service then buy a TC. Buy what you can afford, and learn to shoot what you buy well. I comes down to your hunting/gun buy philosophy, if it is a purchase of a lifetime and your really going to get into it, I would say go with the TC or the higher priced CVA Pro models, if your only going to "try it out, but remain primarily a bow hunter", then the cheaper may be a better deal for you. Since your a bow hunter you may want to go the traditional route with a percussion or FL gun, they are more of a challenge than the inlines. TC still makes an excellent percussion and flintlock Hawken gun, and you will pay about $600 for it, but it is beautiful and very accurate at 50 yards open sights. Do some reading on the Internet with google searches about the gun your interested in.
Chap Gleason

mcawful

As Chap said, cost is always a consideration. Traditional or inline? What are you going to shoot?
If you are going to shoot traditional, I would argue that Lyman is every bit as good a rifle as T/C for less money. I'll put my Trade Rifle up against a TC Hawken (now that I have it dialed in) for looks, accuracy and dependability. Don't know much about their customer service, never used it, but I haven't had any troubles with the rifle.
The Great Plains Rifle is supposed to be a real shooter too. I'm getting the itch for one of those.

Inlines, I'd go with a Knight. It's hard to beat that Green Mountain barrel that comes stock with their rifles.
Once again, I picked up a Knight KRB for under $250. Helluva shooter too.
Knight's customer service is supposed to be outstanding, from what I hear.

There's more out there than T/C and CVA. Look around before you decide.
Just another viewpoint.

oldsmellhound

I think it really depends what you want it for. Like some people have said, pretty much all major manufacturers make decent to excellent rifles anymore. There's not much out there that is complete junk. If you just want a dependable, accurate rifle to go deer hunting out to 100-150 yards, buy an entry-level CVA and I doubt you'll be disapointed.

wabi

Tough decision!
I've always stuck with T/C because I know their warranty service is great, but seldom needed. The few CVAs I've owned were good shooters, though.
Guess I'd buy T/C if I could afford it, but if I was short on cash I wouldn't feel embarrased to be toting a CVA.

falcon

I own guns at both end of the financial spectrum. Got a TC Encore and just love that gun. It is very easy to clean. Only problem: At 8.8 pounds with scope, it is heavier than I like a muzzleloader to be.When still hunting that gun gets heavy. Use it a lot in tree stands and have made some long shots with it.

Also have a cheap old CVA Staghorn. That gun is light and a pleasure to carry when still hunting or just walking against the wind. It shoots as well as any muzzleloader out there and I've killed a lot of deer and about 70 hogs with it. It does get awful cruddy when fired because of the design of the breech plug.

If you buy an Encore or any other switch barrel rifle beware that it can get expensive very fast if you buy several barrels. Every additional barrel needs a scope.

SuperKirby

As oldsmellhound said, anymore any of the major manufacturers make a gun that you can count on to kill a deer. I got a Knight KRB7 in March. Had I not found it on clearance, I was planning on getting the CVA Kodiak. They're both very nice guns. I like my Knight a lot, and will like it even more once I can start getting some groups with it, I just need a day without the wind. Ultimately, get what you want and what fits you best. You'll be much more likely to want to put the time and effort into it if you get the gun you really wanted, rather than settle for something just because of the name or whatever.

Buckhunter46755

lol... T/C rocks! My Omega 50 Z5 is prolly the best $300 I've spent. There's a great inline drop breech rifle at a reasonable price. Overpriced....not really. Overrated ? No way......you get what you pay for. (usually). Yea I coulda spent more, but why? It's as much bp rifle as I'll need.