Help a beginner

Ive decided to try and pickup up a muzzle loader this next week for the early hunt. Im off all that week and plan on letting my son shoot it. Im not planning on anything special just something simple that shoots accurate put tp maybe 80yds. Im just looking for a list of stuff ill need, some dos and donts, and what to shoot?

CVA makes a good rifle. .50 call. Get some 777 pellets. Some Power Belt bullets. I like 245g hollow points. 209 primers. Scope if you like. Mark you push rod with a loaded and unloaded marks in case you forget whether its loaded or not. Some cleaning patches. Range finder. Impact point may change with clean and fouled barrel. Check it each way.

Practice. Not so much shooting, as your cleaning routine.

Immediately reload after a shot on Deer. Always.

"Muzzle Loader Resurrection" is a term that describes
the often uncanny ability of ML shot Bucks, to get up
and walk away several minutes later. It's real.

That's why I shoot hollow points. Alot a times with bullets that aren't moving that fast the shock value is lowered and they don't expand. Just pass through.
Haven't lost one in several years. GR add speed loaders to that list. They hold your pellets and bullet. I also have a primer loader that holds several. I can reload in about 30 seconds. May want to add a bullet starter. They work great. Bore butter and anti breach lock.

I’m a big believer of blackhorn209 powder. It’s essentially a smokeless powders for muzzleloaders. Cleanest powder I’ve found so far, and shelf life is pretty long. It’s common enough that I even picked up another pound from Walmart of all places a few weeks back.
Most other black powders are extremely dirty and corrosive. I had a cheapo muzzleloader about 14 years ago that I used pyrodex in. After not cleaning it a few week or so after shooting it, it basically locked up from rust. I had to throw it out after a while.

For bullets, I’ve had great luck with Barnes T-EZ.

Mine is stainless

I have more time now, so I’ll add more to my previous post.

Do:
-clean daily after shooting. Some powders such as real black powder and pyrodex are highly corrosive and will lock up your gun if you don’t clean it after for a few days/weeks after shooting. Even higher end powders such as 777 are semi corrosive. The blackhorn I previously mentioned hasn’t given me any issues, but I still clean after shooting. (P.s. higher end powders are only a few extra $)

-get one that uses a shotgun primer (209). My first was an open muzzleloader that used small percussion caps. It sucked and wouldn’t fire reliably since the spark wasn’t strong.

-get one with a fully removeable breech plug. Not sure if they still makes them that don’t have fully removeable breech plugs, but removing them makes it 10x easier to clean. Also, if you ever get a bullet stuck, you’ll sure wish you could remove the plug instead of trying a ball puller or something similar.

-swab the barrel with a brush after a few shots. Just about all those black powders are dirty. Bullets will be hard to seat after a few shots. Not a big deal for hunting, but it can make a range trip a pain if you don’t bring the brush.

-Invest in heavy duty cleaning rod. Most rods that come with the gun are flimsy and break easily. A nice rod with a t-handle will make your life a lot easier when loading, especially at the range.

-mark your ramrod where the fully seated load is. It’ll help you know the load is fully seated if you ever struggle to push the bullet down. It’ll also let you know if you forgot the powder.

-Get a starter t-handled ramrod. It’s a 6” little rod to help the bullet get started. They can be tough to get going.

Don’t:
-Shoot max loads just because you feel like you have to. Most inline muzzleloaders are rated up to 150 grains of powder. I only shoot 100 grains because the recoil gets to be a bit much for me beyond that.

-Feel like you can’t shoot past 80yds. I can reliably hit a small paper plate 150yds with mine. Muzzleloaders today are a lot different than the ones from 20 years ago. The ones today are basically just a single shot rifled slug gun.

-leave it loaded longer than a day or so. Different strokes for different folks, but I won’t leave a charge in the gun more than a day if it’s pyrodex or real black powder since it’s corrosive and attracts moisture. I’ve left blackhorn and 777 in the gun for a few days with no issues. I wouldn’t go past a week in dry conditions at most.




In all, muzzleloaders are fun to hunt with. If I didn’t hunt with a suppressor to avoid hearing protection, I’d use mine a lot more than I have the past couple years.
If you haven’t made your mind up on which gun to get, it’s hard to go wrong with a CVA. I have the optima, and I don’t have a single complaint with it. I have considered upgrading to the accura, but I went the complete opposite direction and I’m trying out flintlock this year.

For most propellants you'll probably need breech plug grease else it could seize up after some rounds. Definite must when I was shooting 777 and my Prohunter. No need if using BH209. Breech plug comes right out w/o any effort and cleans up easily. One area that will carbon up is the breech plug hole. I keep a 1/8" drill bit handy to remove carbon build up from the primer.

Most modern day muzzleloaders are capable of outstanding accuracy if you do your part. Pay attention to details and suggest you don't skimp on optics. Just like any centerfire, most MLs are particular when it comes to bullet type/weight, primer types, powder, and powder charge. All depends on what you consider acceptable. Half the fun is tinkering with combinations looking for the sweet spot.

Use Black Horn 209, Burns much cleaner than 777 good shooting power.
Use 209 Mag. shot shell primers. Block Horn 209, cleans up very easy

I picked up a CVA Wolf today. It looks real clean. I've just got to decide on ammo, primer, and powder. Where is the best place to get stuff?

Cabela's in Huntsville. Academy will probably have supplies as well.

What about a cleaning kit? Anything that I need or specific things to look for? Are yall buying the powders already in the small tubes or measuring your own? Any specifics advice on that as far as pouches, tubes, or what when going hunting?

I use pellets. Most clean using warm water. Speed loaders for quick second shots. Good luck.

I’d use bh209. I shot a bunch out of my optima with the standard breech plug and bh209. Since it’s grains, I measure it on my own. Cabelas usually has the leading tubes for like 5-10$ for a pack of 3-6.

Depending on what powder you use is really going to dictate your cleaning.

If using something clean like bh209, I just clean it like any other gun and run a dry cotton swab down the barrel as the last step.
If it’s pyrodex, real BP, or a dirty powder, I’d buy a shitton of cleaning wipes and foaming barrel cleaner. You can also just clean the dirty ones up with soap and hot water, but my wife frowns upon me cleaning guns in the bath tub.

As previously mentioned, get you a started rod. Also get the tip that matches your bullet. You’ll be using a bit of force to get the bullet started so you don’t want the flat tip meant for a round ball to smash a ballistic tip you may have.

When I hunt with my muzzleloader, I usually just carry what you see in the pic below.

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GR, lots of good advice given. I like the Cva wolf you got also. I don’t have much to add except as already mentioned, make sure to anti seize the breech plug threads. I shoot an older Traditions Pursuit 50 cal, 3x9x40 Nikon, 209 primer, and 100 grains of 777 pellets. I agree with Top Cat on the hollow points. I’ve been shooting the Hornady xtp bullets, but will hunt with the Barnes expander this year. I got sick and missed last years ML season. I took the whole week off this year. It’s just something about that cloud of smoke after pulling the trigger. Good luck!

I take my breech plug completely out when not using it. Good idea to have a spare too. Those things are a lot of fun to shoot.

I missed this thread - that is a good looking gun Ghost Rabbit - mine is black and stainless and it can’t break down - one peace no breach. Your camo and stainless looks awesome

Great advice. Had a guy come into the gun store a couple of weeks ago asking if we had a gunsmith who could remove his breech plug. He'd obviously not removed it since last year. Completely rusted and seized. Gun smith looked at it and said he wasn't even going to try. Way to big a chance to damage it. Just told him to soak it in penetrating oil and best of luck.

ghost rabbit YOU CANT PUT FEET IN GUN PICS.......