Newtosavage
Member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2015
- Messages
- 2,918
I've enjoyed my Ruger 77/50 for years now and have taken a lot of deer with it. The accuracy is what I would call "good" from a muzzleloader that uses percussion caps and loose powder, esp. when topped with my Leupy 2-7x28 scope.
For chasing elk in Colorado however, I was a little frustrated by rust forming in the barrel and the exposed ignition during pop-up afternoon showers in the mountains. So this year I bought a stainless CVA Optima V2 for my upcoming hunt.
Monday I finally had a chance to really run it through it's paces and I am definitely impressed with the accuracy of this gun. For Colorado, I have to use open sights, so I moved the factory Williams sight back to the rear-most scope mount screw position, and installed an aperture ring. Combined with the front factory fiber-optic sight, it makes for an excellent hunting sight picture.
To my amazement, three times I was able to shoot 1" 3-shot groups at 100 yards with this combination. I've never been able to do that with open sights on ANY firearm before, including my 30-30 Winchester that I've owned since the 80's. One group had all three holes touching! I had to walk up to the target to verify that all three rounds had in fact gone through that big hole.
Colorado requires loose powder, so I'm using Triple 7 fffg and Pyrodex P. Even with the original breech plug, they both work just fine. I did find that the Triple 7 primers and the Remington "Kleenbore" primers do work better than the Winchester 209's (a little less fouling). I also found that by using 15% more Pyrodex than Triple 7, I could get the bullets to impact at nearly the exact same point at 100 yards, with the same velocities. I know most folks here know this already, but it was the first time I had really seen it play out over the chrono and on the target.
Only down side to the Optima V2 that I've seen so far, compared to my Ruger, is that the Hornady PFB bullets are more difficult to start down the barrel. I've had to "size" them first by running them through the barrel a few times, then I can line up the grooves and start them by hand after that. That will come in handy if I'm in the field and don't want to carry a bullet starter with me.
If anyone is considering a CVA Optima V2, I would tell you to go for it. Very accurate rifle with one of the best factory triggers I've used.
For chasing elk in Colorado however, I was a little frustrated by rust forming in the barrel and the exposed ignition during pop-up afternoon showers in the mountains. So this year I bought a stainless CVA Optima V2 for my upcoming hunt.
Monday I finally had a chance to really run it through it's paces and I am definitely impressed with the accuracy of this gun. For Colorado, I have to use open sights, so I moved the factory Williams sight back to the rear-most scope mount screw position, and installed an aperture ring. Combined with the front factory fiber-optic sight, it makes for an excellent hunting sight picture.
To my amazement, three times I was able to shoot 1" 3-shot groups at 100 yards with this combination. I've never been able to do that with open sights on ANY firearm before, including my 30-30 Winchester that I've owned since the 80's. One group had all three holes touching! I had to walk up to the target to verify that all three rounds had in fact gone through that big hole.
Colorado requires loose powder, so I'm using Triple 7 fffg and Pyrodex P. Even with the original breech plug, they both work just fine. I did find that the Triple 7 primers and the Remington "Kleenbore" primers do work better than the Winchester 209's (a little less fouling). I also found that by using 15% more Pyrodex than Triple 7, I could get the bullets to impact at nearly the exact same point at 100 yards, with the same velocities. I know most folks here know this already, but it was the first time I had really seen it play out over the chrono and on the target.
Only down side to the Optima V2 that I've seen so far, compared to my Ruger, is that the Hornady PFB bullets are more difficult to start down the barrel. I've had to "size" them first by running them through the barrel a few times, then I can line up the grooves and start them by hand after that. That will come in handy if I'm in the field and don't want to carry a bullet starter with me.
If anyone is considering a CVA Optima V2, I would tell you to go for it. Very accurate rifle with one of the best factory triggers I've used.
