MLKeith

I have been having email conversations with Mark Hendricks The Technical Manager for BPI. Due to the lower maximum load recommendations held by CVA I have been asking them to consider getting their recommendations equal to the competition. Apparently I was not the only one, as I just received an email from Mark stating that due to my input and several others the maximum load is going to be raised to 150gr. loose powder (probably on the inlines and maybe not the sidelocks). He stated that it will take some time for all the publications to be corrected but I am impressed that they listened and decided to make CVA competitive with the competition on maximum load limits. Maybe this will stop the comments that CVA should not be purchased due to the lower maximum load recommendations. I knew that CVA has to be as high a quality as Traditions even with the barrels not made by Bergara and those have to be of quality equal to the barrels on the T/C and Knight rifles based on the information I have on how Bergara manufactures. The old limits were based on old testing that indicated that more powder would not burn efficiently, with the longer barrels and new substitute powders I suggested that the old data may not be correct as more than 100gr. loose would burn in my Omega according to my chronograph. They did some testing and the result is the change. Cudos Mark Hendricks and BPI!!!

sabotloader

MLKeith

Great news - it is about time that they came out of the dark ages with their powder restrictions. Dis he say any thing about the bullet weight restrictions? I shoot a 460 grain conical and according to the CVA restrictions - I can not shoot it from one of their rifles....

falcon

Thanks for the information. The CVA decision was long in coming.

MountainDevil54

excellent to hear. I am betting the 400gr limit again was orininally due to the older models. UC reported that CVA did testing on the accura and it took 600grs Triple 7 3f and Three 444gr bullets to make it go kaboom. With a 150gr loose powder load, bullet weight should no longer be a worry. I dont know anyone crazy enough to use a 150gr load for hunting with a 400+ grain bullet. That mental picture alone makes my head hurt. Shooting a ramrod gives more than enough kick

lemoyne

I hope they have improved the quality of there breach plug also they were a bigger problem than the old barrels. Lee

MLKeith

No; we did not talk about bullet weight, but I suspect the increase in powder would go hand in hand with higher bullet weight. As already stated I certainly would not shoot 150gr. powder with a 450-500gr. bullet. I hate recoil!!!!! You could contact Mark directly if interested. He will probably hate me for opening up his name on these sites but I just found him off the CVA main site; I think it was a customer service link. SL: pm me at [email protected] and I will give you direct email for him. I am not going to publish that here.

Underclocked

and, although I agree they needed to clarify the load recommendations, I don't think it makes one iota of difference so far as how or what I will load in my Accura(s).

How about this for an industry standard load recommendation - "no more than 120 grains of loose Goex FFg or equivalent substitute and no more than two of those damnable pellets, sticks, or whatever geometric shape the powder producers can make to confuse the issue. Oh, and try very hard not to hurt yourself or any bystanders - it can still be easily done."

dmurphy317

Years ago I had a similar email exchange with BPI about heavier bullets. Back then they told me that in magnum rated gunsbullets up to 550 grains were OK as long as the powder level did not exceed 100 grains. I've been shooting 460 conicals over 90 grains of 777 for years with no hint of a problem. I have also tested a sidelock barrel to much higher loadings than recommended with no apparent issues. While things can and do go wrong no matter who the manufacturer is, it is far more likely that operator error comes into play most of the time when something does go wrong. Be safe out there no mater what you decide to load.

marshall9779

That is some great news. That will give me some more load combinations to try, especially when I switch to BH. I am only shooting 90gr right now as that gave me a better group than 100gr, and since I couldn't go any higher I stuck with it.

tommydelvis

all this and all i can say for anyone of you who want to know about the amount of charge.read articles posted by randy wakeman before you shoot any cva/bpi made guns,I say this one month after my cva optima pro shooting 90 grains of loose powder with 300 grain sabot blew up in my face. my scope was 30 feet behind me where it was supposed to be is a hole in the entire back portion of the barrel. you said talk to mark,I DID he just wants to get my gun back asap. wondering what was the hurry I started looking for reasons why this would happen.anyone of you can do the same thing on google, look up;;; ''will my cva muzzleloader blow up'',, ''or cva muzzleloader accidents''. i tell you this in hopes someone else does not get hurt.