Need advice from yall
I own a cva optima (2 yrs old) with a 3x9 leupold, last year i was shootin it with winchester 209 primers, 2 triple seven pellets, and the 245 grain powerbelts green tip. I shot a few deer with this set up and have never gotten a good blood trail, even with double lung shots. I even lost a few deer due to no blood. I have lost all confidence in this gun and ammo. After sum research alot of others have had similar complaints about PB. I recently bought sum hornady xtp mags. Any experience with the xtp mags? I hear alot of yall talk about blackhorn. Should i switch to BH? Also does anyone own a Thompson Center and have any suggestions, i want to get rid of my optima b/c of lack of confidence in it. Sorry for the long post guys
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Its probably not the gun. The first thing is the Power belts many of us have had bad experiences with them , everything from fragmenting on the surface to very poor accuracy. The second major cause of no blood is high hits, when you get a high double lung hit they bleed inside and you are left with a difficult situation.
Suggestions: First the bullet Lehigh Bloodline 250 grain has done extremely well for me, expensive but the best for hunting[my opinion have used them since they came on the market. next the powder , try Blackhorn about 110 or a bit more this would increase your velocity considerable which increases the damage done with a good bullet. The Harvester 300grain or less sabot is usually a good match for the CVA guns and that bullet if to tight use the crush-rib. For practice the XTP 250 grain is low priced and a good bullet. PS study deer if you place your bullet just over the top of the heart in the large arteries there your problems will be much less. |
It is not the rifle. I have the same rifle. I am going to make a guess and suggest you were pushing the PowerBelts too hard. Most suggest a 80 grain max load. Also ditch the pellets. It is much more cost effect to shoot loose powder. Now that Hornady XTP is a good bullet. From all I read it is a real deer taker. With my Optima I shoot a 260 grain Scorpion Funnel nose made by Hornady. But the funny thing is, I have never taken a deer with them. Not from lack of trying mind you. It seems when I hunt with an inline I never see anything. I take a traditional round ball rifle out and always see deer.
Here I my suggestions. Get loose powder. My Optima likes 90 grains of powder with an XTP. Shoot that at a deer and then let us know what happens. Now I have shot a lot of powerbelts. And I have seen a lot of deer taken with them. I find them very accurate. But I do think there are better bullets. One of my favorite bullets (but they are expensive) is the Barnes MZ 250 grain. |
A 50cal 245gr bullet is going to have a horrible sectional density no matter what you try. Why people even try to use a 50cal lead bullet that light is beyond me.
There is a reason you dont see lead bullets that light loaded in 50A&E or 500S&W and you found out first hand why. No matter what you try you will end up with a pancake and/or just fragments after impact. If you just cant resist the overwhelming urge to use a PowerBelt, move upto a 300gr or heavier and don't push them too fast. Going to a XTP MAG might put you on the other end of a 2 pellet load. Not enough fps for reliable expansion. The 240gr XTP MAG is far tougher than the regular 250gr XTP. There is a huge difference in jacket thickness. If you cant resist the overwhelming urge to use 2 pellets then get some regular 250gr XTPs and the Harvester Smooth Black Sabots for upto 300gr bullets. |
Originally Posted by lemoyne
(Post 4305963)
Its probably not the gun. The first thing is the Power belts many of us have had bad experiences with them , everything from fragmenting on the surface to very poor accuracy. The second major cause of no blood is high hits, when you get a high double lung hit they bleed inside and you are left with a difficult situation.
Suggestions: First the bullet Lehigh Bloodline 250 grain has done extremely well for me, expensive but the best for hunting[my opinion have used them since they came on the market. next the powder , try Blackhorn about 110 or a bit more this would increase your velocity considerable which increases the damage done with a good bullet. The Harvester 300grain or less sabot is usually a good match for the CVA guns and that bullet if to tight use the crush-rib. For practice the XTP 250 grain is low priced and a good bullet. PS study deer if you place your bullet just over the top of the heart in the large arteries there your problems will be much less. |
Originally Posted by Gm54-120
(Post 4305970)
A 50cal 245gr bullet is going to have a horrible sectional density no matter what you try. Why people even try to use a 50cal lead bullet that light is beyond me.
There is a reason you dont see lead bullets that light loaded in 50A&E or 500S&W and you found out first hand why. No matter what you try you will end up with a pancake and/or just fragments after impact. If you just cant resist the overwhelming urge to use a PowerBelt, move upto a 300gr or heavier and don't push them too fast. Going to a XTP MAG might put you on the other end of a 2 pellet load. Not enough fps for reliable expansion. The 240gr XTP MAG is far tougher than the regular 250gr XTP. There is a huge difference in jacket thickness. If you cant resist the overwhelming urge to use 2 pellets then get some regular 250gr XTPs and the Harvester Smooth Black Sabots for upto 300gr bullets. |
In CVAs you are far better off getting the Blackhorn209 breach plug from either CVA or Western.
Carlos at Eds Gunshop in Vass NC can sell you a Western Powders BH209 plug with everything you need. The regular plug works fine with pellets and other brands of loose powder. |
Originally Posted by FlaBoy18
(Post 4305973)
Ok yes i did buy sum xtp mags a few months back. What does a diff sabot change about the shot?
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Originally Posted by Gm54-120
(Post 4305974)
In CVAs you are far better off getting the Blackhorn209 breach plug from either CVA or Western.
Carlos at Eds Gunshop in Vass NC can sell you a Western Powders BH209 plug with everything you need. The regular plug works fine with pellets and other brands of loose powder. |
Originally Posted by Gm54-120
(Post 4305976)
The Harvester smooth black for upto 300gr bullets is normally the best fit for the newer CVAs. The sabot the comes with Hornady or T/C ML bullets is made by MMP and it will load much tighter than the Harvester sabot.
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