New at Muzzleloading

Papi · #1 (**permalink**) 05-05-2010, 11:14 PM

I'm new at muzzleloading. I just bought a CVA APEX .50 cal. This gun is fairly new on the market (last year?) and I do not see any threads discussing this gun. I know each gun can be different as to preference of powder and bullets (to include weight). I would greatly appreciate it if those or you who are very familiar with loads recommend three types of powder and bullets for me to start with at the range. I have read a lot about BH209, 777, and Pyrodex all in powder and pellets. Also, I read where Jim Shockey now has a stick type powder. I see Hornady FPB and their other saboted bullets, Shockwaves, PowerBelt, and Barnes to name a few. Hornady responded to a question and stated the FPB has a skirt of .509 and a body of .499. I will be sighting in at 100 yds, using a Leupold VI 2-7X33 scope. I do not know the exact diameter of the bore of my giun. This ole man does not want to kill his shoulder (besides being quite expensive) trying upteen different loads. If the gun does its part which I know it will and I do mine, a few words on penetration and expansion would also be appreciated. Keep in mind, the game will be mostly deer (+ 100 yds) and wild boar (+50 yards). Many thanks in advance to those of you who can respond. Have a great day and pass it along to someone else.

WisconsinDeer · #2 (**permalink**) 05-06-2010, 05:14 PM

I shoot 100 grains of 777 with a 250gr 45 cal Barnes Expander bullet in a 50 cal Harvester crush rib sabot. Those sabots load real easy. The Barnes bullets are very dependable bullets that have excellent expansion and accuracy. I've been using Winchester 209 shotgun primers and they seem to leave a pretty massive crud ring down by the breech plug. I bought some Winchester 209 Muzzle loader primers that are supposed to fix that problem but I haven't tried them out yet. Good luck to ya.

Hunting Man · #3 (**permalink**) 05-07-2010, 06:59 AM

for the inlines I'm shooting 100 gr of Black Horn powder with 209 cci primers and 250gr TC shockwaves.

Papi · #4 (**permalink**) 05-07-2010, 08:02 PM

Hunting Man - You appear to be a knowledgeable person when reading your posts. I read you are a TC man so please bear with me and my CVA APEX. What is the difference between different manufactures for Primers? The local Gander Mountain only carries Winchester and Remington. They also recommended bullets in the 300gr range for deer at -100 yards. this is different from most posts recommending (SW 250) w/2ea 50gr pellets. I would like to try BH209, but it is impossible to find within 100 miles of here. Ordering only one cannister for trying out is quite expensive. I bought some 300 SWs and 295 Powerbelts, and Shockeys gold stick for my first range session. Can you please elaborate on the best bullet weights and types for deer +100yds and boar -50yds? HPs, SPs, flat nose, and etc. Thank you for a few moments of your time in advance and have a great day. All others please feel free to chime in. I'm all ears and want to educagte m yself as much as possible.

#5 (**permalink**) 05-07-2010, 08:10 PM

sorry i can't be of much help. i went from black powder to shooting the savage inline and haven't used that for a couple years sticking with the bow trough our 9ish day ml season, which falls just before our rifle season. our bow runs from sep 15 through the rest of the seasons ending dec 15ish.

Hunting Man · #6 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 07:08 AM

The biggest problem is every rifle likes a certain bullet, powder and until you find your sweet combination all we can do is make suggestions. The suggestion to use 300 gr bullets is ok, but I prefer speed and like a lighter weight bullet for that reason. Black Horn powder is rated pretty near the top for performance. I get mine at Bass Pro shop. I don't like pellets as I have tried them and 2 50 gr pellets do not equal 100 grs of powder. Sorry to those who wish to disagree on this but its fact. I think I have read where several shooters have gotten good results from powerbelts in CVA rifles. I'm going to try harvester sabots with the TC 250 shockwaves to see how loading is. My TC Triumph has a very tight bore. My suggestion is to try several bullets in various weights and also try 777 powder vs pellets and see how your rifle likes it. Also, I have read posts here where Winchester 209 primers can be a problem in the TC rifles. CCI primers have a reputation as being slightly hotter = better ignition. All of the various primers will fire off an in-line rifle, CCI may just be a tad better I think.

johnp034 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-15-2010, 05:33 AM

If you can find BH209, it is well worth the effort. I shoot it out of my Austin-Halleck .45, 100 gr., 195 gr. Dead Center bullet. I can shoot until my shoulder gives out, and never have to swab the barrel, don't even clean it between range times. There is no crud ring with BH209, that is a 777 trait. I also use CCI 209M, which is a magnum primer. Never an issue with ignition. In my Knight .50, I shoot 110 gr. BH209 with a FPB sabotless all copper 350 gr. bullet. Extremely accurate and again, pretty much maintenence free, just clean your breech plug at the end of the day. I'm gonna try a breech plug setup that uses a pistol primer and see if it will lite up the BH209, not sure if it will, but it is a lot cleaner than 209's.
Just my 2c.

JohnP

daddus1 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-16-2010, 12:18 PM

papi,
Welcome to the front end stuffer area. You will enjoy it as it gives you new fields to explore.
As far as shooting I have been told with muzzleloaders and slug guns that they are to be sighted in at 50 yards befrore the bullets go sub sonic.
With a lot of cross wind at 100 yds it could get tricky but I'm not sure exactaly how it works. I hope someone on here will jump in and give you the exact story instead of my vague story. Perhaps most of the time it is not an issue until you get adventuresome at 150 or 200 yds.
I shoot a Encore 28 in barrel, 110 grains blackhorn, 200 gr Hornady sabot with a 209 Win primer in in 45 cal with a 40 cal bullet. It cronos at 2204 fps at the muzzle.
I was lucky enough to find a guy at the range with the crono who was just as curious as I was.
Have Safe and good hunts. A good hunt is any hunt that you can avoid work. lol
daddus1

FrontierGander · #9 (**permalink**) 07-22-2010, 11:34 PM

I got my dad an Apex some moons ago.

In fact we just sighted it in late this evening and the only powder charge we've shot is 90gr Blackhorn209, 300gr Powerbelt Platinum and CCI 209M primers.

Im not lying, that 62 year old man put his first 2 shots touching at 100 yards! We moved his sights up and to the left and he finished with a 1 1/2" 3 shot group that sealed the deal. The rifle is simply down right accurate!

He was also using Durasight fiber optics " aka" Open Sights!

Im working with my New version Optima today as well and got it perfectly dead on @ 75 yards. Im using a different sight set up though on this rifle. I added the Truglo Ghost Ring rear sight and a Truglo Globe front sight, Great sights for pin point accuracy.

You are going to love that Apex i can guarantee!

outdoorsmen1985 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-29-2010, 10:32 PM

I just got into muzzeloading last year and it's all about prefrence. It seems every hunter likes this bullet, powder, primer over that one. You just have to try some different combos and see what works best for you. You could take two hunters with the same exackt gun and one of them will swear to you that powerbelt bullets are the best muzzeloading ammo ever mode, nothing else comes close. Then hunter #2 with the same gun will make the same claim about a brand of saboted bullet. It all depends on you.