What are these scratches on my bore?
 

Ok, I have got a cva optima and shot it 13 times , and have noticed that there are circular scratches going all the way down the riflings and I don't know what it is! Do I have to break in my gun? Did I scratch it while cleaning? I just need some help! Anything helps!

It's possible that they're a minute trace of machining marks left behind after the bore was drilled and finished but before the rifling was cut. Are you using the proper size jag to push patches through? I doubt if it's something you've done but you could always run 50-100 strokes through the bore with a snug patch and some JB Bore Paste, then clean it and see how it looks. If your not having a problem with accuracy I wouldn't worry about it.

BPS

Tool marks, quality problem.

Most likely tooling marks and nothing to worry about. Just keep it cleaned and lubricated and it'll be fine. After you put enough rounds through it, you'll wear it out.

Buy yourself one of these but, don't worry about minute scratches or tooling marks. Just know that these magnify everything:

Thanks everyone
 

I am currently getting about 1.5 inch groups at 50 yds / does anybody have any reccomendations on bullets and pellets / I am currently using 2 imr white hots and a 245 grain powerbelt copper hollowpoint

Well your first problem is with using powerbelts. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting good groups with them other than the flag toters for the Powerbelt company. Many bullets out there that are MUCH better performers both in flight as well as terminal ballistics. You are going to need to search around and try out different loads, powders, sabots vs. full bore, all kinds of things to find that perfect combination.

\

That's a "loaded" question....... :)

There are so many different combinations available, however the one thing I would recommend, being that you asked, is to dump the powerbelts. Shoot them up at targets or make sinkers for fishing.

Hornady XTP's, Scorpion PT Gold's, or you could shoot a premium bullet.... the Barnes T-EZ.

Can you shoot sabots in your state? Open sights, or scope? What animals are you hunting? What's your max distance you'll be hunting?

Off the top of my head i'd recommend the Barnes 250gr T-EZ. You can use the White Hots, but BH 209 is better in your gun.

I have a tasco 3-9X50 and am hunting whitetail anywhere from 25-150yds and yes can use sabots / should I be using 2 or 3 pellets?i your opinion just tell me a set-up you think I should use , thanks!

Ok, that's good. Go ahead and switch to the Barnes 250gr T-EZ. It's a much better bullet than the Powerbelt. It should load perfect in your gun.

For what you're hunting, and your distance the two White Hots will be fine with the Barnes bullet.

Give it a try, and let us know how the Barnes do.

Thank you!! , I'm new to muzzleloading and I most certainly will!

That's why I tried to keep it simple for you. Using the pellets is easy, and you can't make any mistakes. :)

What primers are you using?

In my Optima I went to a Blackhorn 209 breech plug from CVA, and I have been shooting BlackHorn Powder. Because of some recommendations on this bullet for whitetail, and getting a heck of a deal on the bullets, I have been shooting the .40 caliber 200 grain Shockwave in the dark blue sabots. I too have a scoped rifle. This is what mine will do with that bullet at 52 yards.

At 100 yards I have really not played with the rifle that much. Other then shooting some paint cans, shooting oranges off a stump, that kind of thing. The Optima seems to like 90-100 grains of powder. And its a great shooting rifle. I never shot the TMZ barnes out of it. I have shot some Hornady PT Gold in 260 grain and they did real well.

As for powerbelts.. a 245 grains aero tip powerbelt is crazy accurate out of this Optima. I was sent some to play with, and theh accuracy shocked me. I really think I could take a deer with them. Even though everyone else will tell you they are horrible bullets. But deer hunting has been ruff around my place the last couple years.

Thanks man! I will give both of those a try too!

If you listen to everybody you'll be confused. Keep it simple. The Barnes is the best bullet you can use.

cayugad, I have to say you may be the absolute FIRST person, not waving the company flag, I've heard (read whatever) say that they got extremely good accuracy out of any ML'er with those fishing weights. I can tell you from experience that they perform HORRIBLY on whitetail. I watched a buddy of mine hit 2 nice fat doe in one week. I Saw the hits and they were spot on perfect right behind the shoulder shots and lost BOTH deer. Both were less than 90 yards. I looked for those deer for 2 days. Finally found one that had made it around 600 yards over a hill and into a ravine and it looked like it was taken down by either a fairly large yote or a dog. Never found the other one. Both left a small damn near untrackable blood trail for about 30 yards then nodda, nothin, zilch. Hoof trailed them for about another 60 yards till they ran into a heavily traveled part and couldn't pick out the tracks. I'd have to say performance wise they are the absolute WORST bullets on the market. Hell I got better terminal ballistics from a ball and patch!

Ok, I'm gonna give the Barnes a try first , then go to the hornady , then powerbelt aero top

Personally I agree. There is no other muzzleloader bullet made, that has such a bad reputation, which is easily backed up by a simple search. Its not because the hunters made a bad shot either.

I tried them once. Took a doe right in the "sweet spot" from a blind, which I'd taken many deer from. Shot was perfect. Even with a light coating of snow on the ground, there was NO blood to track. Had the deer not been in a picked corn field and I seen it fall, I'd have thought I missed it. I dug the bullet out of the ground, shot with 120grs 2f.



Now Barnes on the other hand.... well...........

Please forget the Powerbelts. It's not a dependable bullet. Too many bad reviews to trust it.

You don't see bad reviews on the Barnes muzzy bullet. They just work.

I would second that.

Since you already have the pellets, try 2 pellets with the Barnes, I bet you have a winner. :D

ok, I'll definatley check those off my list😂

I know you'll love the Barnes. They'll put the smack on your whitetails.

That load will kill a bull elk, so deer don't have a chance.

Ok,I'm going to order them / what is specific one / is it a sabot?

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Barne...ots/740899.uts


http://www.barnesbullets.com/product...pit-fire-t-ez/

Thank you!
 

Thank you for all of the help , I really appreciate it!

Better prices at Graf's.

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...tegoryId/3402?

Oh and what kind of primers , I'm using winchester triple seven

Hang on. Don't order yet.

Ok, here. Ask for Carlos. He'll give you the best deal on the Barnes. Anything else too. You want the 24 pack of Barnes 250gr T-EZ. $22.00 Tell him Pete sent you.

Ed's Gun Shop
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I am hearing all this flack about Powerbelt bullets and quite frankly I don't know which way to go. I no longer use them but I have in the past. I used 245 gr HPs pushed by 100 gr of FFFg from my flinter and shot 2 deer with them. The first one, an average 120# doe went about 50yds before piling up. The second, a very large old mature doe went about 75 yds. Both shots were pass throughs through both lungs. So I have no complaints. Currently I almost exclusively use Hornady XTPs because I get good accuracy and performance from them.

IMO, the XTP is MUCH better than the PB bronko. They have a very good reputation for both accuracy and terminal performance. The thing with PB's, they usually fly well, but terminal performance is spotty. Way too many reports of failures. I don't want to take that chance, even if its a small one. My .02 fwiw

If Powerbelts were the only subbase bullet on earth for MLs, I would use the Platinums, nothing else. They hold together better than the rest in their lineup.

Holding together better than something bad is what...sort of bad?

best use for powerbelts: drill a hole all the way through them, use them for weighs when Carolina rigging for bass.
they are undersized, no way will a black powder gun create enough pressure to expand them to fill the rifleing
RR

Not to start a powerbelt tread, as they get long and the horror stories are numerous. All I was saying in my post was, I shot 245 grain powerbelts out of my Optima and the accuracy was very good. The person who sent me them did so because they would not hunt with them due to a bad experience. But again, they shot excellent out of my Optima. But that is not saying I would recommend them. There are too many other bullets out there, that work better and cheaper. One bullet I especially like is the .452 300 grain Hornady XTP in a MMP HPH24 sabot. Cost effective to shoot, and accurate.

But let me state, I have NEVER shot a deer with a sabot load yet. The buggers just would not cooperate on days I was hunting with a sabot. Conical bullets and patched round ball, you bet.. killed a lot of them. And I intend to shoot a deer with a sabot, before my hunting days are done. I will probably use a XTP or a Parker Extreme, if I hunt the hay fields it will be a 200 grain Shockwave pushed hard. I have a lot of those bullets in stock.

But due to lack of field experience I can not endorse any bullet for hunting yet. Only for accuracy. The fun of a muzzleloader is trying different bullets and doing tests on media.

I especially like the water jug tests that people do. Does that mean if it goes through three gallon jugs of water its a good hunting bullet? Well I can't say. But it sure is fun to watch the jugs bounce.

:lolabove:

Powerbelts are great for killing paper. The Areolite is one of the most accurate bullets i've ever shot from a CVA.

I'd use them if I was hunting paper. When is that season anyway?

It began when you picked up your first muzzle loader; it hasn't ended yet.

I have taken many deer with saboted bullets, my favorites are the 260 gr, MML lead saboted bullets, the shockwave and its hornady counterpart, and the APB by Parker (I think was sold by traditions)



from 16 to 267 yards my results have been very acceptable as far as accuracy and terminal performance, sadly I don't hunt much with my mzzldr anymore due to no time off during season so haven't gotten to test many of the newer bullets.
RR

I would agree on not using PBs but not because they wont obturate. You may find that people shoot jacketed bullets sabotless and win matches at Friendship quite often using Blackhorn209.

Mark Miller used a Knight Mountaineer 45cal in the most recent Inline Hunter match and did very well with a sabotless jacketed Parker Ballistic Extreme. This match goes out to 300 yards IIRC.

The Unlimted match was won by a sabotless Parker with Blackhorn209. 2nd and 4th places were also a sabotless Parker


I really enjoy the Parker 275gr BEs for deer hunting but i wish they held together a tiny bit better. Expansion can be very violent and damage quite a bit of meat unless you wait for a good shot angle. Accuracy though has been outstanding and putting a BE were it belongs has been great for me.