A friend and I both bought CVA Optimas in preparation for a Colorado Elk hunt this fall. We read the book that recommended Power Belt bullets and FFG powder. Have been to the range twicenow and the bullets from both guns are all over the place.No matter what we tryneither of us can shoot a three shot group better than 7" at 50 yards using a sight in vice and peep sights. Here's what we tried...Triple 7 in both FF & FFF grains, Pyrodex in FFF loose and FF pellets (not legal in Colo)...standard winchester 209 primers and winchester Triple 7 primers. Powder charges have ranged from 90 to 120 grains by volume. Has anyone else had this problem with the Optimas and power belts (290 grain lead hollow points) and found a solution?

I have 2 CVA's in 50 cal. Both seem to like Pyrodex better than 777. They also seem
to like lower charges versus higher. 70-90 grain range I'll see sub 6" groups @ 100 yards
open sights shooting 295 grain aerotip powerbelts. When I load 90-100+, they my grouping
goes wild. FYI - at 80 grains, 295 grain powerbelt, I'll see an 8" drop at 200 yards.

First off, the 295gr Powerbelt is NOT an elk bullet! Its to small. Powerbelt recommends the 338 Platinum or the 348-405-444 Copper series.

I'd recommend the 348's with 90gr Pyrodex P and either the Winchester T7 primer or the Winchester W209 Primer.

CVA Optima - 348gr Powerbelt - 90gr Pyrodex P - Winchester w209 primer @ 100 yards. That TINY hole is 3 shots, giving the barrel 3 minutes to cool down between shots. The bigger group was with 80gr pyrodex P.


And if you find that your rifles like the 348's - Let me know and i'll send you (Free of charge) some experimental inserts that ive been making for the past 3 months. Its basically an Anti-expander that doesnt allow the Powerbelt to over expand/fragment when used with a heavier charge above 90gr Powder.

348gr Powerbelt with my experiment insert . 100gr RS @ 100 yards. This bullet went through 12+ inches of damp sand. It went clean through my sand box.



Powerbelts Aerotip is a smooth shaft that often times does more damage to the bullet than it does good. The smooth shaft allows their tip to turn sideways on impact and smash into the face of the bullet, weaking it. My threaded insert bonds the soft lead to the hard alloy insert and holds upright and controls bullet expansion.



This is a 245gr Powerbelt with my tip installed. This was shot into wet sand @ 20 yards with 100gr Pyrodex RS. This bullet only lost 3 grains of weight.


More info - http://thepowerbeltforum.powerguild....powerbelt-f23/