hunting2288

Ive got a cva optima pro .50 cal. I just took it out of the box today and have never shot a muzzleloader. The instructions said put breach plug grease or some type of oil (i forgot exactly what it was called) on the breach before firing. Do i need to go somewhere and buy this grease or is gun oil ok? Also i would appreciate some advice on what to shoot. I bought Powerbelt bullets .245 grains and pyrodex pellets. 100 grains of pyrodex should be enough shouldnt it? If anyone has shot a load like this how far can expect to be able to accurately shoot, just to get an idea before i go to the range?

cayugad

You need to apply a quality breech plug grease to all the threads of the breech plug then screw it back into the rifle BUT DO NOT TIGHTEN IT DOWN HARD... FINGER TIGHT IS PLENTY. The reason for this is as you shoot the gun the plug itself with tighten. In fact many times after 10 shots take your breech plug wrench and just be sure the breech plug is still free and able to move back and fourth. It will save you a lot of headaches down the road if you wait too long after shooting. In fact if your range is any distance away from where you clean your rifle, remove the breech plug from the rifle (I keep a zip lock bag in the gear bag for just that purpose).

The best breech plug grease I have found out there is CVA Slick Breech Plug and Nipple grease. It has worked better then all the others I have tried, and I have tried a lot of them.

As for your load, only shoot 2 pellets with the powerbelts. They do not like a lot of push. Also before you shoot remove the plastic wad on the bad and take a dab of your grease plug grease (just a very small amount) and paint the lead spike. Then put the plastic wad back on. This will help the projectile shed the wad faster out of the barrel and give you better accuracy.

Good luck with your rifle

Mark whiz

I'll second everything cayugad said.

And I'll add you will probably want to try the 295 and 348gr powerbelts as well...........typically they'll end up shooting better with those 2 pellets.

Underclocked

Have you guys tried the Slick 50 ONE Grease? I've been messing with it and it seems to do an excellent job. Doesn't take much of the stuff. I can see a 3 or 4 dollar tube lasting a VERY long time.

eldeguello

By all means, use several dry patches and make sure the BORE AND THE INSIDE CONE of the breechplug are COMPLETELY DRY AND OIL AND GREASE-FREE WHEN YOU HAVE THE PLUG OUT! Put the grease on THE THREADS OF THE PLUG ONLY!! Don't allow any oil or grease to get any place where it can contaminate the powder or primer/cap!

sabotloader

Cayugad & Mark, I would respectly like to disagree with your assement of the operation of the breech plug.

The face of the breechplug is designed to mate with the rear flange in the barrel. The face of the breech plug needs to be seated firmly against this flange to reduce the amount of gasses blowing by this seal and back into the threads. Both Remington and Austin & Halleck technichians recommend that the plugs shouls be snug and unmoving.

Breech lubrication of some sort should be used to help insure what blow does occur is reduced by the lubricant taking up space and to provide some lubrication when removing the the plug.

If the breech plug is loose or not tight you may, might drive the plug forward with the fall of the hammer and then it will be driven backwards by the ignition of the charge. This movement could prove to be a problem with weakened threads.

I believe you should check the mating mating surface of your plug with the mating surface of the barrel. This is pretty easy to do with a black felt pen or a surface blackening compound. Cleaning of both surfaces is critical. Most people clean the flange of the plug without a problem, most often the build-up on the barrel surface is ignored because it can not be seen. Screwing a cleaned and dry plug back into the barrel snuggly will knock off, clean off a lot of the debris that may be lodged on the barrel suface a turning bronze brush does wonders.

I use Teflon tape on my plugs, with the tape over lapping and patted down on to the plug flange/face even to the point of covering the flash hole, then screwed tightly in place. I will shoot 30-40 rounds each trip to the pit, never loosening the plug and often not even cleaning the gun until the middle of the week. Breech plug removal is not a problem.

Again I suggest to you as has been told to me, the gas seal is suppose to be the face of the plug to the rear of the barrel. If the surfaces are clean and mate perfectly, blow back is not a problem - to insure this seal greese/teflon is the way to go - not just on the threads but the face of the plug also. A ignited cap or a fowling shot will take care of the excess greese. If you are using teflon tape you do not need to worry about fowling the powder. The first shot will drive your sealing compound either greese or teflon back up an into any space that would not seal.

When I remove my plugs the teflon on the threads is still pink and shows little sign of being burnt or heated to any any extreme.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...BreechPlug.jpg

Class is starting so gotta go....

All of this is just my opinion as I use my guns.

Triple Se7en

Sabotloader

I've loosened my Omega plug 1/4 turn -- then magic-markered it to see if it move after a dozen shots. The answer is it never budged.... that was with 110 gr. 777 FFF - equivalent to 125 gr. Pyrodex.

Also, your theory on the teflon wrap sounds fine with flat-faced breechplugs, but your method could cause pellet breakage/increased bore pressure with concave plugs.

Also again.... the concave plugs cause more shooter plug seizure headaches than flat-faced ones. I spent a whole afternoon one time at the range playing judge & jury on that decipher. The generated heat & pressures bite onto the plug threads hardest where the threads encircle the hollow cavity of the breechplug.

cayugad

Underclocked I did buy a tube of the Slick 50 ONE Grease. I have not tried it. I bought three tubes of the CVA and have had such good luck with the method I am using that I have not changed. If I should run out of the CVA grease I might give it a try. Or if I need the truck greased... It sure would work better then the auto parts anit seize I tried. What a mess that was to work with.


Sabotloader I know you have had excellent luck with the teflon tape. I saw some pictures of your breech plug I think it was, posted on a site I forget which one.

I was told by a Thompson Center Arm Tech when I talked to him on the phone about a seized breech plug problem I had. I questioned him about the teflon tapes, breech plug grease ( he suggested the T/C was a great grease. Well that's what seized on me) and he said not to use the tape. I even have a roll of it around here somewhere. He was the one that told me to finger tighten the breech plug in and then check if during my shooting to make sure it was still not seized. After the trouble I had the first time I shot the rifle with a seized breech plug, I have followed his advise to the letter and it has never failed me. I have marked the breech plug with a black magic marker as Triple Se7en did because I was concerned that it might be moving. In in T/C, my CVA, and my Knight, they have never moved after just a finger tighten (and I even back them off a little from there). My theory is, if it is working, don't fix it. I guess thats why I never for out the Slick 50 ONE Grease and tried it.

Mark whiz

And I'll add that the Knight manual says to tighten the plug until it stops turning an NO more........finger tight in otherwords.

The thing is sabotloader, I never had a problem getting the plug out when using Pyro, Goex, or CleanShot and I just used the Knight Breech Plug Grease. But when I switched to 777 the Knight grease did NOT get the job done. I tried automotive anti-sieze......messy AND the plug siezed harder. Then I tried the tape and bingo, no more troubles. Then for grinskis, I tried the CVA Slick grease after hearing cayugad's success with it and it does the trick too and less cleanup than the tape.

I clean the breech area, & the threads meticulously after each trip to the range and clean the plug & nipple with ultrasonics followed by a good scrubbing - so build up is not an issue on my rifle. And as Triple seven alluded to, I do have a concave plug.

VAhuntr

Give this stuff a try. The best breech plug grease I have found is Militec. Here is a link, they will send you a free sample:
http://www.militec-1.com/


I shoot 110 grains of 777 in my Omega and have not had any problems.