afilko

I have a few questions that I would really like to get some information on as I was bought a CVA Silver Trophy Hunter III .50 with a 1:48 twist about 15 years ago and moved out of the state of Pennsylvania before ever using it.

1. What is the powder to use in it 2F or 3F (I currently have 3F)?
2. Can pellets be used in this side lock?
3. Can I use the same 3F powder in the pan? All shops in PA are currently out of 4F being that it is their muzzleloader season, I do not intend to hunt with it this year I would just like to get more familiar with the gun and do some shooting with it.
4. Can I use powerbelts in this gun & if not what is the recommended patch & ball size to use?

Thanks in advance for any and all information

muzzlestuffer

2f loose in barrel 4f in pan you may get away with 3f in barrel have to try out both. 495 ball with 15 thou patch but try different thickness patches based on barrel size.not sure on powerbelts maybe someone else would know.
Ms

cayugad

3f will work fine in your rifle. But no pellets. Because of the drum ignition system and the #11 caps, there just is not the spark for pellets. Besides they are costly and loose powder IMO is better.

This is a flintlock, and yes you can use 3f in the pan. Just a small amount. If you overload the pan it can fuse on you and ignition will be very slow.

You can shoot powerbelts in the gun but use low charges. Also you might not like the accuracy, although a friends 1-48 twist traditional rifle shoots Powerbelts very well. I would get some .490 round ball. Then some .015-.018 patch material. Start your loads with 70 grains of powder and a patched ball, then work the amount of powder up from there until you get the best and tightest groups.

I see that muzzlestuffer suggests a .495 ball. From my experience I would be careful with that ball in a CVA rifle. If it were a Lyman I would say ... sure good choice. But most shelf patches are .010-.020 and with the smaller ball you can fit the patch to the ball. In all my traditional CVA rifles I use a .490 round ball.

afilko

Thanks you two I really look forward to shooting this again. It's been years and thanks for all the advice. I didn't think you could use pellets but I have a pile of them since I now live in Virginia and can you a inline TC Encore pro hunter but I really want to kill something with the CVA that my grandfather bought me for PA muzzleloader season years ago

muzzlestuffer

Let us know how it goes !

afilko

I definitely will. I won't shoot it until next week as I am going on a Ohio inline hunt this weekend. But the following weekend I'm going to begin experimenting with it.
Thanks again guys

muzzlestuffer

word of advise make sure you have several options with you if possible nothing worse than getting to the range and finding out real quick you can't shoot more than a round or two if all you have doesn't work not that it's ever happened to me ! lol

MountainDevil54

2fg or 3fg will work fine in the barrel. I prefer 2fg.

Thatrifle is NOT designed to use pellets.

3fg in the pan will work, you can even crush it up to a finer grade since it is only used in the pan, if the 3fg gives you any ignition issues.

That rifle will shoot powerbelts extremely well. I'd suggest either the 295gr aerotip copper series or the 250-300gr AEROLITE with say 80-90gr 2fg black powder.

Patched round ball I would highly suggest .018-.020 patches (Yes they will be tight) a .490" round ball and 70 to 90gr 2fg black powder.