New CVA Accura MR

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

Hello everyone, I just bought my first Muzzleloader! I just got it the day before yesterday! I have never shot or even held a muzzleloader before, so I am very new to it all. I pretty much exclusively bow hunt, until now! I have been trying to do as much research as possible, sifting through forums and such. But I still have some questions that I haven’t stumbled on answers to yet.

As stated in the title, it is a CVA Accura MR 50 cal. As of now, I am shooting a 300 gr Hornady SST bullet, 86 gr (weighed) of Blackhorn 209 loose granule powder, CCI 209 magnum primers, and the CVA Blackhorn breech plug.
I have not tested other bullets and have not tested different amounts of powder yet, but I plan to. If people have comments or concerns regarding this setup, please let me hear it.

I have it pretty well zero’d in at 100 yards, I think... I haven’t shot enough bullets to have confidence in its consistency. But it seems pretty clear that my gun likes to be cleaned after 2-3 shots, otherwise I see a good 6” drop at 100 yards.

So, my main question is, what is the minimum amount of EFFECTIVE cleaning that people do to clean in between shots? I know some people are able to shoot several bullets without cleaning. But so far this gun appears to like a clean whistle. So for those who do clean every other shot, what all are you doing?

Also, I hate falling victim to hype and bandwagon-jumping. That being said, in regards to CVA cleaning kit - is 8 different cleaning products really necessary? What all are others using?

And does borebutter work as anti-seize for the breech?

I have lots more questions, but I will continue to look for threads that already have the answers for now.
Thanks everyone!

 

[MSalyards]

I clean mine with windex with ammonia. I clean mine after every range shoot usually 30 - 50 shots, But I scrape out the breech plug every 10 shots. I shoot a 45 cal, 452 dia, Speer Deep curl out of a Harvester Black Crush Rib Sabot. Was shooting 77 weighed gr but now shooting 84 gr. (120 by vol) Was shooting Win blue box 209s but changed up to Fed magnum.

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

I clean mine with windex with ammonia. I clean mine after every range shoot usually 30 - 50 shots, But I scrape out the breech plug every 10 shots. I shoot a 45 cal, 452 dia, Speer Deep curl out of a Harvester Black Crush Rib Sabot. Was shooting 77 weighed gr but now shooting 84 gr. (120 by vol) Was shooting Win blue box 209s but changed up to Fed magnum.

Interesting concoction. And that’s all you use to clean with? No cleaning in between shots at all? What do you use for lube?

 

[deermanok]

You really need to use a small amount of grease on the breech plug threads. CVA makes their own brand or you can use plain old white lithium or similar.
A damp patch with windex or even water to swab between shots if you need to.

 

[Mnt monkey]

I'm shooting my third CVA mountain rifle,, I have changed the breach plugs to blackhorn on all three, I shoot 70 gr by weight, That's a light rifle and a pretty stiff load with 84 grains by weight, once I shoot a foul shot on a clean bore I don't usually clean until 20 or 30 shots and with black horn I use same bore cleaner I use on my center fire rifles.black horn cleans up different than all the other black powder substitutes I'm sure you've read and realize that, I do take the drill bit and clean out the breach plug every four or five shots, if you're not doing that that may be affecting your grouping, I shoot 250 and 265 275 gr bullets in mine I've never had as much luck with 300 grain bullets in the 28 twist I know others have, I shoot Winchester 209 , 70 gr by weight and 250 grain furys,,, I managed to head space the breach plug on this new rifle very tight you just snap it shut with a 209 primer in they come out crystal clean . My personal favorite factory rifle

 

[MSalyards]

This is 1 shot with the Deep Curl load my buddy shot in New Mexico this year.

 

[MSalyards]

One of the members here says he uses no grease on the breech plug. I use a small amount of anti seize and have no problems . Absolutely no reason to swab between shots with Blackhorn

 

[Mnt monkey]

I use a very very small amount of red grease on my threads same red grease that I use on my lugs on my Remington 700 very small amount I've never had an issue with the plug ,, if you overdo the grease where does that grease end up at that can be a problem

 

[michiganmuzzy]

i use the cva anti seize on all my breechplugs currently. Its really good stuff, doesnt take much. Bore butter is not an antiseize. I dont even recommend you use it with bh209. It smells nice tho. I run a dry patch from breech to muzzle once every 10-12 shots with bh209. Thorough cleaning when i get home, with ammonia, also. 250grn bullets seems to be great performers for lots of Accuras with 90-100grV bh209. Although i like shooting heavier lead conicals, 330+, so i shoot 80grV of bh209 to keep leading to a minimum.

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

I'm shooting my third CVA mountain rifle,, I have changed the breach plugs to blackhorn on all three, I shoot 70 gr by weight, That's a light rifle and a pretty stiff load with 84 grains by weight, once I shoot a foul shot on a clean bore I don't usually clean until 20 or 30 shots and with black horn I use same bore cleaner I use on my center fire rifles.black horn cleans up different than all the other black powder substitutes I'm sure you've read and realize that, I do take the drill bit and clean out the breach plug every four or five shots, if you're not doing that that may be affecting your grouping, I shoot 250 and 265 275 gr bullets in mine I've never had as much luck with 300 grain bullets in the 28 twist I know others have, I shoot Winchester 209 , 70 gr by weight and 250 grain furys,,, I managed to head space the breach plug on this new rifle very tight you just snap it shut with a 209 primer in they come out crystal clean . My personal favorite factory rifle

I know that BH is less corrosive, but I don’t necessarily know how it “cleans up differently”. Is there something that I should be doing to clean up BH 209 specifically? What size drill bit does it take to get a good clean?
Yeah, I noticed with the original breech plug, the few time i shot with it, the primer was coming out pitch black... but with the BH breech plug, the primers come out clean.

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

One of the members here says he uses no grease on the breech plug. I use a small amount of anti seize and have no problems . Absolutely no reason to swab between shots with Blackhorn

So maybe it’s not a problem with cleaning? But more so that my gun doesn’t like the load/charge? You don’t clean out the breech plug more often? How many shots do you take in between cleaning?

 

[Mnt monkey]

BH is less corrosive but it still will corrode and it will stain so make a habit of just cleaning up every time you have a shooting session with black horn,once hunting season starts though and I'm using my rifle to hunt with I will not clean simply because I'm not shooting it like I'm working up loads,, I use hoppes number nine, or another bore cleaner that you would use on a center fire smokeless rifle cartridge don't use soap and water on black horn like you do many of the other substitute powders, The drill bit size m not sure,,, others can chime in and help with the size , you simply slip the drill into the end where you put the primer and twist it a little bit and the carbon will fall out if you tap it ,it's ready now for four or five more shots.

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

i use the cva anti seize on all my breechplugs currently. Its really good stuff, doesnt take much. Bore butter is not an antiseize. I dont even recommend you use it with bh209. It smells nice tho. I run a dry patch from breech to muzzle once every 10-12 shots with bh209. Thorough cleaning when i get home, with ammonia, also. 250grn bullets seems to be great performers for lots of Accuras with 90-100grV bh209. Although i like shooting heavier lead conicals, 330+, so i shoot 80grV of bh209 to keep leading to a minimum.

I will try the 250gr bullets, but I like the idea of throwing heavier lead. Because At some point in the future I know I want to muzzleload elk out west, so I would like to find a nice heavy bullet that is appropriate for large big game animals and stick with it. And use it for deer as well, just for the sake of consistency.
What is leading? And is grV = grains by volume?

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

BH is less corrosive but it still will corrode and it will stain so make a habit of just cleaning up every time you have a shooting session with black horn,once hunting season starts though and I'm using my rifle to hunt with I will not clean simply because I'm not shooting it like I'm working up loads,, I use hoppes number nine, or another bore cleaner that you would use on a center fire smokeless rifle cartridge don't use soap and water on black horn like you do many of the other substitute powders, The drill bit size m not sure,,, others can chime in and help with the size , you simply slip the drill into the end where you put the primer and twist it a little bit and the carbon will fall out if you tap it ,it's ready now for four or five more shots.

Oh okay, I did not know that soap and water was not meant to be used with BH 209. But right now I am using TC 17. Does Windex work with BH 209? So cleaning in between shots is more about cleaning the breech plug rather than cleaning the barrel?

 

[Mnt monkey]

There's a lot of information on this site about shooting black horn powder ,I do not clean between shots when I am shooting groups or trying to find an accurate load, if I was going to spend two or three hours or a whole morning shooting the rifle group after group I might run a dry patch every 12 shots,but with black horn it's still not necessary to do that,,The last Acura mountain rifle I had I could shoot 15 or 20 shots without accuracy being affected at all and then I would just go ahead and break the gun down and clean it cuz I just couldn't stand it after that many shots.I suggest looking into the archives of this site at all of the information about shooting black horn 30 minutes of reading I think you'd be headed in the right direction and you're welcome to PM me if you would like to

 

[Mnt monkey]

There's a lot of information on this site about shooting black horn powder ,I do not clean between shots when I am shooting groups or trying to find an accurate load, if I was going to spend two or three hours or a whole morning shooting the rifle group after group I might run a dry patch every 12 shots,but with black horn it's still not necessary to do that,,The last Acura mountain rifle I had I could shoot 15 or 20 shots without accuracy being affected at all and then I would just go ahead and break the gun down and clean it cuz I just couldn't stand it after that many shots.I suggest looking into the archives of this site at all of the information about shooting black horn 30 minutes of reading I think you'd be headed in the right direction

 

[MrTom]

Clean the breech plugs flame channel immediately behind the primer pocket every 15 shots or so using a drill bit....1/8" maybe...using your fingers to turn the bit.. I use only a soft copper strand of wire to poke thru the tiny fire hole in the powder end of the plug.

Use Hoppes or a similar solvent to clean the barrel after every 30 shots or so and after you've finished a shooting session/hunting season. I run a dry patch thru the barrel, then another patch soaked with Hoppes, three or four passes thru the entire length of the barrel, Then dry patches, both sides until the last patch comes thru clean....usually about 6 patches total. I use a standard shotgun cleaning rod dropped down the barrel from the muzzle and screw on a 16 gauge bristle brush and turn it clockwise while pulling it into the threads for the breech plug to clean those threads then remove the brush and rod and give the threads a good shot of brake cleaner aerosol taking care not to get this on any plastic stock portions.

BH209 has simplified cleaning a great deal and uses products you'd use with any other non-muzzle-loading guns. I don't use brushes in my in-line bores any more since using 209 powder but I don't shoot bullets without sabots. Bore sized lead and land ridding copper jacketed bullets can bring other cleaning thoughts but saboted bullets and 209 makes for very simple, quick cleaning. Cleaning the plug will take longer than the barrel. Literally.

 

[Mnt monkey]

Excellent advice thank you

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

There's a lot of information on this site about shooting black horn powder ,I do not clean between shots when I am shooting groups or trying to find an accurate load, if I was going to spend two or three hours or a whole morning shooting the rifle group after group I might run a dry patch every 12 shots,but with black horn it's still not necessary to do that,,The last Acura mountain rifle I had I could shoot 15 or 20 shots without accuracy being affected at all and then I would just go ahead and break the gun down and clean it cuz I just couldn't stand it after that many shots.I suggest looking into the archives of this site at all of the information about shooting black horn 30 minutes of reading I think you'd be headed in the right direction and you're welcome to PM me if you would like to

I will definitely continue to dig through the site and research. Thank you very much for the information!

 

[MNOutdoorAnimal]

Clean the breech plugs flame channel immediately behind the primer pocket every 15 shots or so using a drill bit....1/8" maybe...using your fingers to turn the bit.. I use only a soft copper strand of wire to poke thru the tiny fire hole in the powder end of the plug.

Use Hoppes or a similar solvent to clean the barrel after every 30 shots or so and after you've finished a shooting session/hunting season. I run a dry patch thru the barrel, then another patch soaked with Hoppes, three or four passes thru the entire length of the barrel, Then dry patches, both sides until the last patch comes thru clean....usually about 6 patches total. I use a standard shotgun cleaning rod dropped down the barrel from the muzzle and screw on a 16 gauge bristle brush and turn it clockwise while pulling it into the threads for the breech plug to clean those threads then remove the brush and rod and give the threads a good shot of brake cleaner aerosol taking care not to get this on any plastic stock portions.

BH209 has simplified cleaning a great deal and uses products you'd use with any other non-muzzle-loading guns. I don't use brushes in my in-line bores any more since using 209 powder but I don't shoot bullets without sabots. Bore sized lead and land ridding copper jacketed bullets can bring other cleaning thoughts but saboted bullets and 209 makes for very simple, quick cleaning. Cleaning the plug will take longer than the barrel. Literally.

Awesome, thank you! This was very helpful! I bought some Powerbelts, but probably won’t even try them. Too many people don’t have much luck with them. I’ll keep them as a post-apocalyptic backup...

Thank you for the info!