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Ronn's Hunterbolt

27K views 108 replies 9 participants last post by  frontiergander 
#1 ·
Well guys as you may have seen, Ronn took me up on the " If you dont like it, send it to me" Offer i made. Hes the first one in 5 YEARS to actually take me up on it and i was surprised as heck when i got mail today and it was waiting in back for me.

Shocked the heck out of me even more when i opened the box and found that it was camo and made me even happier when i saw that it has a 1:32 twist! I love this twist and think that its the best twist that does excellent with Powerbelts.

I stripped it down, cleaned it, drilled the flash hole out to .035" and loaded it up with 90gr BH209 and used CCI 209M primers. Instant ignition and a really clean burning rifle in the primer area.

I put the Durasight metal sights on as the originals were plastic, good for a BB gun but not for a muzzle loader. Sighted them in at 50 yards and decided to get serious and mounted a bushnell 3-9x40 scope onto the Durasight QR mounts. Had to shave off the back of the mount a bit on the rear due to the bolt catching it but no biggy, its fixed and closes up nicely now.

It took me 3 shots to get it 1 1/2" high @ 50 yards with the scope and 90gr BH209 and 295gr Powerbelt. It's basically ready for 100 yards this evening.

This rifle was stacking them tightly once i got that scope on!





Some primers pop out a great deal, other times they dont do this at all. Go figure.


Once i get everything on sight i will start doing modifications to the stock such as Free floating the barrel and removing any stock material touching the sides of the barrel. I had a 2003 Winchester X150 years ago and it really responded great with this mod to the stock.

Once thats done, the bore gets Ultra Bore Coat and Ultra Gun Shield. These 2 products when combined but cleaned down to maybe 10 minutes on this rifle.

Thanks again Ronn, i'll be sure to put this rifle to use and heck, maybe even hunt with it one of these years.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
like i said it goes bang but its not much of a gun. when i dug it out i was still surprised how crude the finish on the barrel is. if it were a quality gun, you wouldn't have to do all the things to smooth off the edges. no comparison to my savage or if you like old school my t/c renegade. another thing i didn't like about it was the trigger you may want to do something with that.

i hope you enjoy it and maybe pass it forward somehow.

i know it could run 150 gr of black in it, 3 pellets, but man it smarted some. even with 2 pellets it kicked good.

i like the looks of those rings and bases. what are they?
 
#4 ·
I took it out to 100 yards this evening and have i got a group that would make any rifleman happy! I will label the shots so its easier to see. I'll post this 6 shot group here in a bit.

Cabelas sold these way back for $175 with the camo stock, worth every penny. Not the prettiest or the fanciest gun but for the average hunter, its going to do the job.
 
#5 · (Edited)


Okay i went and labeled the shots. Now that its dead on the line as far as elevation, she'll get a few clicks to the left and get centered up.



My thumb just to help size it up. Thats roughly a 1 3/4" group outside to outside


Im going to add some rubberized coating to the grips for added support and i dont think i will free float the barrel as originally planned. Its pretty hard to improve a group like that. Especially on the first day! LOL
 
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#10 · (Edited)
nice group. you do like your mls don't you?

i never said it couldn't do the job. it sighted in well for me as well. i said its not quality and its not.

oh i got it from wally, i think its was like 169 if i remember right.

if you get that trigger cleaned up it may take care of that to far right thing.
 
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#15 · (Edited)
yup pretty much.

i've had the thing for at least 10 years. carried it one season and went back to the t/c then got the savage.

the fit and finish is real poor. the machine screws that hold it together are soft, the trigger is like pulling a anvil with just a finger. the barrel looks like as it was on the lathe they laid a file on it for a finish then blued it, the sights were plastic, the stock is one of those hollow sounding synthetics. it was a booger to get the primer in and out. the plus was it was light but that didn't help with the perceived recoil. and it was cheap, but you get what you pay for even though some disagree.

the only thing i ask is that fg somehow pass it forward. like get a kid into hunting that maybe wouldn't have.

you can still buy them for right around 175 i think.
 
#16 ·
ive shot quite a few hundred of those thors and never notice any copper issues. I used a copper cleaner in the past and never got anything so i see that as a good thing!

I mostly shoot BH209 but do have a flinter so that gets Goex 3f.

The trigger is heavy on it, in fact with the scope on, i can curl up a finger, hook it around the trigger and the rifles weight still wont set it off. I can send the trigger into CVA and they'll adjust it down to 3 - 3.5lbs for free. So not really a problem, i am going to leave it alone for now and practice my trigger pull.

Overall barrel fit to stock is very clean, not to many area's of the barrel are touching the stock. No recoil pad but i can get the Crushzone for $13 later on. Ramrod rattles around in the thimble and i wish there was one more of those thimbles and seeing how its a slip on thimble, adding another shouldnt be a problem.

Capping is a pain in the butt if you dont use the tool for it but i figure after the first shot, you already spooked the game in the area so you may as well take your time reloading and not get rushed.

Have a nice cloudy day here right now so i'll be able to try some of those 245's out later on and see how they do.

Another thing i noticed is that there is no QLA!
 
#27 ·
what is QLA?
Traditions Firearms calls it the "PAS" – Projectile Alignment System.
Traditions™ Projectile Alignment System allows for a bullet that is perfectly centered with the barrel rifling, helping you to load faster and shoot more accurately.
 
#18 ·
Quick Load Accurizor. Its basically a section at the muzzle loads bored slightly oversized and allows you to get the bullet started down the bore easily and lined up with the rifling before pushing it down.

CVA now uses a 3/8 Bullet Guiding Muzzle. Each company that uses it, has its own name for it.
 
#20 ·
I too am a believer of paying it forward but why give a kid a gun that kicks like a mule and has (as you say ) other flaws that may set them up for a bad experience. I've seen you shoot it and yes it did have some issues.I hope that the new owner can make some use of it as it is a good unexpected gift . We live , we learn, and hopefully don't make the same mistakes twice. Always buy the best you can afford and hope for the best.
 
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#23 ·
didn't say give the gun to a kid. i said in turn do a good thing like get a kid started in hunting that normally maybe wouldn't hunt.

yup like i said, bought a cva had a bad experience with them and i pass that info on. others may disagree but that doesn't change my experience or opinion.
 
#25 ·
I think giving that thing away was really a great move! You don't see those things happening very often today no matter what the issues were. High marks for the transfer ronn. You and I agree with the CVA thing even though I know they have greatly improved their product lines. Chevy, Ford thing. The CVA mountain flinter is ok but it's not a TC PA flint hunter.
 
#28 ·
FG, I remember one of my buddies had a CVA mountain tifle in percussion back in the late 70's. I thought they looked pretty nice so last year I picked one up for the son-in-law to use in PA if he ever wants to go. The spark is just ok and the sights are just ok but it does look pretty good!
 
#31 · (Edited)
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