kunsangsean
Member
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2022
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 4
Hey all,
I'm in Idaho, getting ready for an elk muzzleloader season coming up. I have shot muzzleloaders a few times in the past with my dad, but this is my first time learning how to do it all myself. I bought a CVA wolf V2 Northwest and took it to the range one time so far. I think I have it kind of figured out, but I'm second guessing whether I am doing everything safely. I think I will try to find a local blackpowder club but wanted to see if I could get some help on here in the meantime. The manual says not to shoot lead conicals over 400 grains, but it sounds like people are using No excuse bullets pretty regularly. I shot about 20 rounds of 420 grain "no excuse" bullets with 70 grains by volume Triple 7 FFG. Other than kicking the crap out of me, it seemed fine. This is obviously against the manuals instructions, but are lots of people doing it? I would like to shoot lighter weight copper full bore conical like Thor, but they are still illegal in Idaho.
In reading through the list of possible things that can go wrong, short starting a bullet is one of the big ones. What I don't understand is, how much space between bullet and powder is considered a short start? Is a millimeter enough to cause a problem? Or are we talking like a half inch? I marked my ramrod and my only concern here is after 2-3 shots without swabbing it gets harder to load and it's not always exactly on the ramrod mark, but not off by more than 1-2 millimeters.
I had a couple instances of musket caps not igniting the charge. Well, twice the musket cap didn't go off - so I cocked the hammer and fired again and it went off. One time the musket cap went off but didn't ignite the charge. When this happens, what are you supposed to do? I held onto the gun for a while, but eventually I broke the action open and put a new cap on, then fired it. If a slow burn were to ignite it while the action was broken open, I imagine that would be pretty bad.
Of course I read some horror stories on the internet about cheap muzzleloaders blowing up even when manual is followed, and started second guessing my choice of the budget CVA wolf. I imagine a lot of people buy and shoot these without issues, but should I consider a more expensive rifle like a Knight? I think a heavier stock should help with the recoil a little at least.
Thanks for your input! - Sean
I'm in Idaho, getting ready for an elk muzzleloader season coming up. I have shot muzzleloaders a few times in the past with my dad, but this is my first time learning how to do it all myself. I bought a CVA wolf V2 Northwest and took it to the range one time so far. I think I have it kind of figured out, but I'm second guessing whether I am doing everything safely. I think I will try to find a local blackpowder club but wanted to see if I could get some help on here in the meantime. The manual says not to shoot lead conicals over 400 grains, but it sounds like people are using No excuse bullets pretty regularly. I shot about 20 rounds of 420 grain "no excuse" bullets with 70 grains by volume Triple 7 FFG. Other than kicking the crap out of me, it seemed fine. This is obviously against the manuals instructions, but are lots of people doing it? I would like to shoot lighter weight copper full bore conical like Thor, but they are still illegal in Idaho.
In reading through the list of possible things that can go wrong, short starting a bullet is one of the big ones. What I don't understand is, how much space between bullet and powder is considered a short start? Is a millimeter enough to cause a problem? Or are we talking like a half inch? I marked my ramrod and my only concern here is after 2-3 shots without swabbing it gets harder to load and it's not always exactly on the ramrod mark, but not off by more than 1-2 millimeters.
I had a couple instances of musket caps not igniting the charge. Well, twice the musket cap didn't go off - so I cocked the hammer and fired again and it went off. One time the musket cap went off but didn't ignite the charge. When this happens, what are you supposed to do? I held onto the gun for a while, but eventually I broke the action open and put a new cap on, then fired it. If a slow burn were to ignite it while the action was broken open, I imagine that would be pretty bad.
Of course I read some horror stories on the internet about cheap muzzleloaders blowing up even when manual is followed, and started second guessing my choice of the budget CVA wolf. I imagine a lot of people buy and shoot these without issues, but should I consider a more expensive rifle like a Knight? I think a heavier stock should help with the recoil a little at least.
Thanks for your input! - Sean