I decided that I wanna try to hunt with a muzzleloader this year. Was gonna buy a tc encore muzzy barrel but ended up finding a good deal on a cva optima. Questions is any bullets or powders that I should use or is any better than the others. Thanks for the help.

Optima's love Powerbelts. Probably because they're made by the same company.

Mine shoots them very accurately. 100gr's of triple 7, with a 250gr hollow point powerbelt.

Thanks for the info. That’s what I will order.

My optima likes Powerbelts and Blackhorn powder. I seem to get more shots with the Blackhorn powder between cleanings. Buy a brass volume cylinder and a few preload cylinders and stick them in your pocket and you won't have no trouble reloading with the loose powder while in the stand.

The Optima I had loved hornady 250 grain SST and blackhorn 209, I never tried powerbelts in it. Powerbelts seem to have people that swear by them or swear at them, just keep in mind that they are basically a soft lead copper washed bullet. IMHO the people that don't like them push them too fast, I killed 5 for 5 deer in one season with powerbelts out of an old Knight percussion gun I owned. I shot them like I did my bow, double lung shots only. The only deer that went over 30 yards I shot low and got into the shoulder, he went about 150 yards with practically no blood trail.

Main thing is shoot some different load combos to see what your Optima likes.

another vote for the hornady 250 sst.... big issue folks over look is the sabot must fit snug in ur barrel too.

i use the triple 7 pellets. it cleans with water.... my tc encore likes 3 pellets over 2... good luck

Wish I hadn’t sold my CVAs. Easiest ML ever with that speed breech.

'Huntress's Optima Pro loves the PowerBelts. Tried to feed it a Shok Wave once and damn near broke the ramrod trying to get it down the barrel!

I use a cva optima, hornaday.452 dia 250 gr.sst,with 100 gr. 777 powder. hornaday also has a monoflex ml projectile ,solid copper .452.dia. I clean crud ring after ea shot, spit patch then to make sure i am dry oil free a lite alcohol patch. Black powder brings home the saying , "1 Shot 1 Kill"

Blackhorn209 is the only powder I’ll use. Very clean, non-corrosive. Very accurate too.

I bought a cva optima and have had pretty good accuracy with 100 grains of 777 pellets and a 295 grain powerbelt hollow point. Just haven't got to try it out on a deer yet.