I've put tons of roundballs downrange with percussion rifles and revolvers, but now I have a friend who just recently got a Cva (I think) and wanted some assistance getting her into use for hunting, I haven't the slightest idea as to what in the world you do with one of these, so I was hoping someone could give me some pointers on the ins and outs of proper loading procedures. Also, must we use the hunting conical bullets even for plinking or can we practice with the good ol round balls still?
Needing education on inlines
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ColtPythonElite
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You can still use round balls, but they may not give great results with a faster twist.
Malachi Leviticus Blue
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A lot of folks use Pyrodex or Triple 7 pellets with the inlines, but there is absolutely no reason you can't (and I prefer) use loose Real Black Powder. As you likely already know, every muzzleloader seems to have it's own favorite load. I recall being satisfied with the performance of patched round balls for plinking in my first inline muzzleloader (1:32 Twist) a couple decades ago. Your friend might prefer a conical or Sabot for hunting though, but maybe not.
Ya, see, those triple seven pellets REALLY threw me! Couldn't figure out if I could use my regular powder or not, THANK YOU GUYS for your help!
Loyalist Dave
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It's going to be a question of the depth of the rifling grooves. A lot of the CVA's are made to shoot the powerbelt bullets, and the rifling is then shallow compared to barrels made for traditional round ball. So ok with light loads, but a real good candidate for "skipping" over the lands with a proper powder load and patched ball. Also, the vast majority of inline rifles have very large, crude, iron sights, IF they have open sights at all. You end up with a sight picture akin to centering a quarter on the top of a 2x4. To get the most out of the available accuracy, one needs to hang a scope on the rifle in almost every case.
LD
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Procedures are rather straightfoward.
Run a dry patch down the bore to remove any oils.
Put a primer on the nipple and with the muzzle near a blade of grass, snap the primer. You should see the blade of grass move and that tells you that the nipple is clear.
Pour powder down the barrel.
Insert sabot and bullet (inlines like saboted bullets, not round balls).
Place fresh primer onto nipple.
Shoot!
Round balls won't work well with inlines because of their faster twist. I've even tried round ball in a minie gun and it went all over the place. Stick with regular conical bullets and sabots.
To clean use a recommended cleaner. Remember there is plastic fouling built up because of the sabots so you'll need some sort of solvent to dissolve it or make it easier to remove.
Run a dry patch down the bore to remove any oils.
Put a primer on the nipple and with the muzzle near a blade of grass, snap the primer. You should see the blade of grass move and that tells you that the nipple is clear.
Pour powder down the barrel.
Insert sabot and bullet (inlines like saboted bullets, not round balls).
Place fresh primer onto nipple.
Shoot!
Round balls won't work well with inlines because of their faster twist. I've even tried round ball in a minie gun and it went all over the place. Stick with regular conical bullets and sabots.
To clean use a recommended cleaner. Remember there is plastic fouling built up because of the sabots so you'll need some sort of solvent to dissolve it or make it easier to remove.
243winxb
Member
http://www.cva.com/rifle-and-muzzleloader-owners-manuals.php
Bullet/propellent/sabot substitutions may not seal/burn to build pressure.
Seen sabots and bullet land 10 yards from the muzzle.
Follow manual instructions.
Bullet/propellent/sabot substitutions may not seal/burn to build pressure.
Seen sabots and bullet land 10 yards from the muzzle.
Follow manual instructions.
you might want to start with some hornady 44 pistol bullets and 1 bag each harvester 44/50 and harvester crush rib 44/50 sabots. then see which one fits your bore best. you should not need to pound the sabot/bullet down the barrel. for 209 primers try cci 209 and 209m, both are long primers and may seal blow back better than others. 209m for triple 7 and the other for black or pyrodex.
robhof
Member
A good practice loading for a sabot gun is to get the bulk sabots for the caliber, either for a 45 or 44 cal bullet and cast lead bullets for a 44 or 45 pistol and use for practice, you'll get pretty close to the expensive specialty bullets for a lot less, or even buying pistol bullets in bulk is cheaper than the specialty bullets. Most inlines have fast twist rifling, check instructions or sometimes twist rate is on the barrel. I've got a Green Mtn. barrel for my sidelock that's a sabot barrel and it gets 1 1/2" groups at 100 yds with weighed bullets and carefully measured charges of 777 powder.
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