Muzzleloadertechtips

Editor’s Note: The owner of M.A.X. (Muzzleloader Accuracy Xperts, LLC), in South Carolina, former U.S. Marine Corps sniper Russell Lynch produces videos and customizes muzzleloader rifles to determine the best primer, shot and load for each individual muzzleloader rifle he’s asked to evaluate and to improve shooting accuracy. Russell has recently been working closely with CVA Muzzleloaders to help its customers improve there shooting experience.

Some muzzleloader hunters believe that having really-big bullets and shooting magnum charges will result in more game taken. But hunters used muzzleloader rifles for many years before we had 209 primers and breech-action muzzleloaders. Those early hunters took a lot of big game, often with not much more than 100 grains of black powder or blackpowder substitutes. The idea of shooting 150 grains of pellets (magnum charge) helps to sell a lot of rifles, and that magnum charge certainly has its place in the muzzleloader industry where folks will use a magnum charge. There are even some circumstances where I may use a magnum charge, but the only place in North America where I’ll hunt with that big of a powder charge is when I’m hunting in thick areas. I have been in some really-thick places before where I may hunt with a magnum charge when I know I’ll have to shoot through some brush and take a big animal at close range (120 yards or less).

On most bear hunts I’ve ever been on, a 100-yard shot is a really-long shot in the places where I’ve hunted bear. Some may opt for a 300-grain bullet with a magnum charge of 150 grains. However, instead of shooting pellets, my magnum charge will be 130 grains of loose powder versus pellets, because I can have more accuracy with 130 grains of loose powder than I can with 150 grains of pellets. The loose powder has proved to be more consistent in a muzzleloader rifle than pellets have. For instance, if you load pellets into a muzzleloader, you’ll notice that they fall into the barrel very loosely. Because they are under-sized and have a hole through each of them, then when you seat the bullet, you complicate the inconsistency even more, because the pellet can crush or crack, creating a situation in your barrel where there is no consistency. The front of the breech plug to the back of the bullet is considered the chamber area of a muzzleloader rifle. The more inconsistent that chamber area is, the less likely you are to shoot accurately.

We’ve seen in lab testing that you get tremendous pressure spikes when you shoot pellets, even when the pellet is only cracked. Those huge pressure swings are what causes inconsistent velocities. Therefore, if a bullet traveling from point A to point B is traveling 1900 feet per second (fps) on the first shot, and the second shot is 1990 fps, there’s no way scientifically possible for the bullet to impact in the same place. That second bullet may be taking the same flight path as the first bullet, but because it has a different velocity, the second bullet will end up in a different place than the first bullet has. This reason is why loose powder always will be more accurate and more consistent than pellets. And, as far as accuracy is considered, if I shoot a magnum charge, I prefer the 130 grains of loose powder to three 50-grain pellets.

Some folks will argue that a muzzleloader only can burn a given amount of powder, and then the rest of the powder above that amount is blown out the end of the barrel. However, when you use 130 grains of loose powder or 150 grains of pellets, all the powder is burned. I’ve seen this proven in laboratory tests. All that powder is burning, which creates pressure in the barrel that equates to velocity. M.A.X. has found that after you begin shooting more than 120 grains of loose powder, you start losing some accuracy. More than 120 grains is too-much velocity and pressure to keep a muzzleloader bullet stable and keep it traveling at a consistent velocity. I’m also often asked what amount of loose powder generally delivers the most accuracy in a non-magnum load. I believe you maximize your accuracy at about 120 grains of loose powder, out of all the different loads that we have formulated for different rifles. Having said that, there are very-few loads and bullet combinations that will give us 1-inch groups with that 120-grain load.

We have found that 100- or 110-grain loads both produce about the same accuracy when matched with the proper bullet. We’ve tested Hodgdon’s Triple Se7en and Blackhorn 209 powder, and both of those powders seem to perform best with 100-110 grains of powder. Depending on the bullet and the gun you’re using, you’ll get 1900 fps at 100 grains. At 120 grains, you’re pushing the bullet at 2205-2210 fps. From this testing, the researchers at M.A.X. have learned that you’ll pick-up a good bit of velocity from 110-120 grains. However, then when you go from 120-130 grains, the velocity gained goes up in very small increments. So in essence, there’s a kind of diminishing return on how much powder you use. The bullet is only going to go so fast.

If you were buying ice cream, and the first scoop was a big one, and the second was a little smaller than the first, then when you put the third scoop on top, and you barely can see it, you’ll begin to wonder, “Do I really need that third scoop, since it won’t make a big difference in how much ice cream I get to eat today?” If by adding more velocity with more powder to only pick-up 20-30 fps, then do you really need to add more powder? As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think so. You’re not picking-up that much more delivered energy on target versus the loss of accuracy that will result from a heavier powder charge.

Editor’s Note: Russell Lynch of South Carolina, owns M.A.X. (Muzzleloader Accuracy Xperts, LLC), which produces videos and customizes Muzzleloader rifles to determine the best primer, shot and load for each individual Muzzleloader rifle he’s asked to evaluate and to improve shooting accuracy. A former sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps and shooter in matches and trainer of personnel in shooting for the Armed Services, Lynch learned to shoot accurately from 300 yards out to 1,000 yards.
There are two-different sets of rules to attain maximum accuracy in your Muzzleloader. The first rule is cleaning for accuracy, and the second rule is loading for accuracy. Let’s talk about cleaning for accuracy. The most-popular powder among muzzleloader shooters is probably Triple Se7en, which leaves a huge crust ring in the barrel when the powder is ignited by the primer and pushes the bullet out of the barrel. You usually can feel this residue when you push a patch down the barrel and feel that patch scraping, rubbing or hanging. When you’re cleaning for accuracy, you need to realize that using any powder, you’ll have a crust ring in the breech area of that rifle. If you don’t clean the residue out of the barrel, loading the next shot is almost impossible with some bullets. So, always go through a very-regimented cleaning process before firing your next shot.

At our facilities at M.A.X. , we put the Muzzleloader in the rifle rest or lay it horizontal to the ground. Next, we take three 2-1/2-inch cotton patches and saturate those patches with cleaning solvent. We then place the patches over the top of the barrel and put the cleaning jag on the patches. Next, we push the patch with a cleaning solvent down the barrel full length, being sure to go all the way to the bottom of the barrel. One of the mistakes a Muzzleloader shooter often makes is that he’s afraid to push that cleaning patch all the way down to the bottom of the barrel, because he’s afraid the patch will get stuck in the bottom. He knows he’ll have a hard time getting the patch out. But you’ve got to make sure you get that cleaning patch all the way to the bottom of the barrel, being sure not to stop short. At M.A.X., we want to push that rod with the cleaning patch on it seven times down the barrel and back it out of the barrel. Discard that patch, get another three-patch setup, and go down the barrel and back seven more times. We discard that second group of patches, make up three more groups of patches just like the first two and go down and back in the barrel seven more times. So, we’re actually making 21 down-and-up trips down the barrel with three cleaning patch strokes. Next, put two dry patches over the top of the barrel, go down and back inside the barrel with the dry cleaning patches three different times. I save those three dry patches for my next three sets of wet patches to use after I shoot. Using this process, we can almost guarantee that we have the same condition in the barrel that has been present when we’ve shot the first bullet.

I’m often asked why so-much cleaning is required. The answer is simple – black powder leaves a tremendous amount of residue in the barrel. I figured this out after I had fired a Muzzleloader rifle one time and tried to put the second bullet in the barrel but found there was resistance. I attempted to force the bullet down the barrel. But I realized there had to be a lot of residue in the barrel, especially in the last 6 to 7 inches of the breech area where the powder was ignited, and the explosion took place. There wasn’t just a little bit of residue there, but rather the residue was actually caked-up.

One of the things you can control to obtain maximum accuracy is to make the condition of the Muzzleloader barrel the same before every shot. If you don’t have consistent barrel conditions you can’t have consistent muzzle velocities. Until I learned this cleaning system, I was producing groups that weren’t satisfactory. I would have a variant of 90 to 250 feet in muzzle velocity from one shot to the next shot. I realized that I was having problems getting the second bullet down the barrel after I fired the first time and also the variant in muzzle velocity helped me determine that the condition of the barrel wasn’t the same after each shot. Only after making a thorough cleaning as described could I produce consistent velocities, consistently-tighter groups and consistently-easier loading. Using this process of cleaning drastically reduced the amount of variants in the groups shot. Because of this process and by using the same powder, the same primer and the same bullets, we kept our muzzle velocities down to as little as 25-feet per second of variance.

If we record more than 25 feet in velocity variance, I start looking for another problem. I’ve developed many loads for Muzzleloaders that only have 5 to 10 feet of variance in muzzle velocity in a five-shot group – something that’s hard to produce out of a centerfire rifle and especially with a Muzzleloader rifle. Using this process, each bullet should fly along the same course shot after shot and deliver the accuracy that M.A.X. wants to produce. This cleaning process will help you to shoot tighter groups.

Editor’s Note: Many muzzleloading hunters completely overlook tools they need to spell success afield, especially when hunting public lands, including a mountain bike, a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS), maps and Bright Eyes Highly-Reflective Tacks. 

When someone asked Denny Brauer, one of the nation’s top professional bass fishermen, “How do you catch a big bass on any lake?” he answered, “You have to fish in an area where a big bass lives.” And, the same is true if you want to take a big blackpowder buck with your CVA rifle this season. Although hunters emphasize the importance of deer lures, odor killers, quality optics, rifles, bullets and powder, none of these hunting items can or will produce a big buck this season, if you’re not hunting where a big buck lives. You can use trail cameras to learn the home range of a big buck. Too, a mountain bike will get you further into the woods than most hunters will go on trails, firebreaks, foot paths and right-of-ways. The second essential tool is the hand-held GPS, which allows you to move deep into the woods, while marking the trails you travel, to find deer sign in often out-of-the-way places to take the big bucks with your CVA rifle that other hunters can’t reach. Bright Eyes Highly-Reflective Tacks allow you to confirm that you’re on the right trail to reach the stand site you’ve selected to hunt for an older-age-class buck. Stick these reflective tacks into trees only about 8-inches above the ground and 2-inches apart. Then if another hunter spots the tacks before daylight, he’ll wrongfully assume those two glowing spots beside that tree are raccoons or rabbits. Or, he’ll begin to wonder why in the world someone has put trail markers so close to the ground. Then you can navigate in the dark or with a small flashlight to reach a place away from the crowd and hunt in an area where you’ve found deer sign that indicates an older-age-class buck has set-up a home range where he’s least likely to be found.  

Another tool that’s essential is a map of the region you’re planning to hunt to learn topography, trails and terrain. Google Earth and others offer these, including:
USGS – The U. S. Geologic Survey has topographical and aerial maps of the entire United States. These maps can be purchased from the USGS web site, or you can use their Map Locator to download free topographical maps of specific areas or order these maps through the USGS map store. You also can download the free TerraGo toolbar, which allows the user to maximize their capabilities with GeoPDF files. With TerraGo, you can measure distances between objects on the map, add personal comments to specific regions on the map, view the map in conjunction with Google Maps or integrate them with your GPS to track your position, all for free. Through the USGS map store, you can purchase topographical or aerial state, county, U.S., world, historical, satellite images, national parks and national atlas maps, as well as USDA Forest Service – National Forest and Grassland Maps. http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/start/%28xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd%29/.do.
USGS Links – The USGS also has a web site where you can get links that will take you to selected Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) and USGS Business Partner Program (BP) partner sites, where you may view USGS maps and aerial photo images from your web browser. Links include Microsoft TerraServer, MapMart by IntraSearch, Inc., Maptech MapServer by Maptech, Inc., TerraFly, Earth as Art, GlobeXplorer, HistoricAerials by NETR Online and DDS MapFinder by Digital Data Services, Inc. http://nationalmap.gov/gio/viewonline.html
National Geographic – National Geographic Maps offer various products, including their popular Outdoor Recreation Map Software products. Offered in this line of software products is the TOPO! Series, which includes the State Series and the Explorer and the Explorer Deluxe. The State Series comes in 28 individual state and multi-state packages covering the entire United States, and the Explorer is National Geographic’s first software powered by continuously updated set of online maps. Both the Explorer and the Explorer Deluxe come with credits to download 25 SuperQuads (with each SuperQuad containing (6) layers of map information including: USGS 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 scale topographic, I-Cubed Aerial Photography with 4-meter resolution, USGS Digital Elevations and Names, and an exclusive HybridQuad that blends Aerial Photography with topographic line work), and the Deluxe package comes with an additional seamless, nationwide, set of USGS 1:100,000 scale topographic maps. Also available in this line of software products is the Trails Illustrated Series, which includes Trails Illustrated Explorer and National and Single Parks Explorer 3D. With the Trails Illustrated Explorer software, you can create and print your own custom trail maps. The Parks Explorer 3D comes in 11-different parks, including Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Yellowstone National parks and more. National Geographic Maps also offers traditional maps for purchase. http://www.natgeomaps.com/products.html
Digital Topo Maps – This website offers various products for purchase. The Terrain Navigator Mapping Software provides a regional collection of topographic maps you can browse, customize and print, as well as make topographic profiles, export data, view maps in 3D, plan routes, estimate distances, estimate areas, and exchange waypoint and route data with your GPS. Also available for purchase through this site is the DeLorme Topo North America 9.0, which is an all-in-one topographic mapping software and the National Geographic Topo, which contains all topo maps for an entire state or region at 1:24,000 and 1:100,000 scale. You also can purchase access to unlimited USGS topo maps and aerial photos for $29.95/year. http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/
Trails.com – This site contains online topographic maps of the United States and lets you browse down level-by-level to the exact topo map you want. They also have aerial photos and aerial maps available for the most zoomed-in map levels. This site does require membership to access maps. http://www.trails.com/maps.aspx
Also, check with landowners, your state game and fish agency and the U.S. Forest Service, depending on where you’re hunting, to make sure that using a mountain bike to reach locations where other hunters won’t hunt is legal. But you’re probably already thinking, “If I take a deer several miles away from the nearest road with my CVA rifle, how will I get the buck out of the woods and back to my vehicle?” Luckily, there are types of animal carriers and carts that you can attach to the back of a mountain bike to solve this problem.  

One of the reasons most fishermen don’t fish where big bass live is because they’re afraid of losing their lures, or they believe if they hook big bass in thick cover, they won’t be able to get those bass out of the locations where they’ve hooked them. However, Brauer who’s also an avid deer hunter, explains, “An angler never should forget that his purpose in fishing for a big bass is to try and take that big bass first and then start solving the problem of how to get that big bass into the boat.” And, the same is true of taking a big deer. You’ve got to find that nice buck first, hunt for him, take him with your muzzleloading rifle and then solve the problems you may encounter to get him back to your vehicle. Good hunting with your CVA rifle this season.

Apex Muzzleloader .508" group -

Editor’s Note: Carlos Vilorio, a CVA pro shooter, works at Ed’s Gun Shop in Vass, North Carolina, as the long-gun salesman specialist. Vilorio is a precision shooter. He meticulously works with every gun he owns, until he can determine the powder charge, the primer and the bullet combination that will deliver the best accuracy at varying distances. Vilorio gets extremely excited when he can bring a pattern in 1/4-inch tighter by changing any of the components. He knows that the more accurately he can shoot on the range, the more accurately he’ll be able to shoot in the woods.

CVA Accura Group 1 .271" & Group 2 .515"

Question: Carlos, what type of testing have you conducted with the CVA rifles?
Vilorio: The first CVA rifle I tested was the Accura, and I was completely astonished that a blackpowder rifle could consistently make tight three-shot groups at 100 yards. When I saw the phenomenal results of the Accura, I wanted to run tests on some of the other CVA rifles. So, I tried an Apex with a .50-caliber Bergara barrel. I was really impressed with the groups I shot. I started with the .50-caliber muzzleloader barrel, and I was grouping .058, .090 and .413, which was less than 1/2-inch at 100 yards. I was shooting Blackhorn 209 powder with a Fiocchi 616 209 shotshell primer, a Harvester polymer-tipped 260-grain bullet and a Harvester sabot. I used the Fiocchi 616 209 shotshell primer, because I’d tested all the primers. The Fiocchi only pushed the loading rod 3 inches out of the barrel when fired with no powder. So, I realized this primer didn’t create a lot of pressure in the chamber to push the powder too-far forward in the barrel before it ignited the powder. The Blackhorn 209 powder is the most clean-burning loose powder I’ve tested, and it consistently delivers the same accuracy shot after shot. With the Harvester bullets, regardless of which CVA rifle I’m shooting, as long as I use the same powder and primer, this bullet shoots consistently.

CVA Apex Group .413"

Question: What barrel did you test after you tested the .50-caliber Bergara barrel?
Vilorio: I removed the .50-caliber barrel and put the .270-caliber barrel on the CVA Apex. I shot this barrel at 100 yards with Federal ammunition and a Barnes TSX 130-grain bullet. I grouped .248 at 100 yards, which was less than 1/4-inch. I wanted to see how tight a group I could shoot with the Apex with two separate barrels. I don’t like to sell any gun to a customer until I know exactly how tight a group those guns can shoot for me, what combination of components perform best in the blackpowder guns, and what bullets perform best in the modern guns. Too, I wanted to know how accurate these CVA Bergara barrels would shoot on the same frame. Most customers are satisfied with a 1-inch group at 100 yards, but before I’ll recommend a gun to a customer, I want to know if I can get a tighter group than 1 inch. Every CVA gun I’ve tested shoots tighter groups then 1 inch.

Editor’s Note: Terry Oertwig of Purdin, Missouri, a CVA Pro Staff member, hunts big game nationwide and worldwide with his CVA Electra. We wanted to know why Oertwig had so much confidence in the CVA Electra and to hear from him a first-hand report on how the Electra performed for him when he hunted buffalo.

Question: Terry, why did you decide to hunt a buffalo with your CVA Electra?

Oertwig: I was doing a bullet test, so I wanted to hunt a large animal to try to determine the effectiveness of my bullets. Bison are one of the largest animals in North America that you can take with a blackpowder rifle. Bison also are very delicious to eat. So, I found I could test my bullets and have good meat to eat after the hunt, if I hunted bison. Bison also are a challenge. They are extremely tough, and they’re very wary. When you visit national parks to see bison, they appear to be very docile, but in fact, they aren’t. Too, I thought that hunting bison not only would be a good test for my Electra and my bullets, but also for me.

Hunting Buffalo with a muzzleloading rifle can be a very rewarding experience

Question: Where did you decide to hunt?

Oertwig: I went to hunt with Dismal River Outfitters in western Nebraska on their 60,000-acre ranch where hunters can hunt free-range buffalo in open country. Today, finding a place to hunt buffalo in open country is quite difficult. Located on the Dismal River, this ranch is a beautiful area with deep ravines, rolling hills and a lot of cedar trees where buffalo can hide. We spotted a buffalo early in the morning that had been in a fight and had several visible scars. We went after this buffalo, but somehow, that 1,900-pound animal vanished. We never saw him again. So, we gave up on that buffalo and went looking for more. We found a group of three bulls, and one of them was an impressive trophy. With the wind in our favor, we went behind some hills and hiked about 3/4-mile to get in position to take the shot. We circled around behind the bull and came up over the top of a knob. When we peeked over the knob, we saw that the hike had taken so long that the bull had lain down to sleep. We waited for 30 minutes for the bull to wake-up from his nap and to get into position where I could take a broadside shot. When I shot the bull bison at about 65 yards, he hunkered-up as the bullet impacted. Then he went about 10 yards and just stood there. Now, on most any-other animal hit that well with that size bullet, you expect the animal to drop immediately. But buffalo are tough. So, I quickly reloaded and took a second shot to put the bull down quickly. This time, I shot him through the shoulders, and the bull went down. When we looked at the big bison, the bullet had made a complete pass-through. Once again, I proved the reliability of the CVA Electra. I hit exactly where I aimed.

Question: How were you able to get-in so close to the buffalo?

Oertwig: To successfully take a buffalo, you must have the wind in your favor. On this particular hunt, we spotted the buffalo at about 1/4-mile, but we knew we couldn’t approach him from that direction because he’d smell us. To get in close, we had to circle the bull and go about 3/4-mile to get in a position of having the wind in our favor and a terrain barrier (a rolling hill) between us and the bull. Then he couldn’t see us approach. As we moved toward the bull, we stayed in a ravine for about 1/4-mile behind a hill and then peeked over the hill to see the bull.

Question: A buffalo hunt is a hunt of a lifetime. Why did you decide to hunt with the CVA Electra instead of a more-modern rifle, which some people might consider more reliable?

Oertwig: There’s some nostalgia associated with hunting buffalo with a blackpowder rifle, and I have a great deal of confidence in hunting with the Electra. I wanted to hunt with the most-reliable ignition system, because the last thing you wanted to happen on this type of hunt was for your gun to fail to fire. I knew from experience that when I touched the trigger on the Electra, it would fire. Too, I wanted a gun I knew was as accurate as any blackpowder rifle I could shoot. When you go on a hunt of a lifetime, you don’t want to wound or miss an animal. Buffalo are majestic, historic and beautiful animals. I wanted to respect the animal enough to make sure I could put him down quickly and efficiently. I knew this would be a memorable hunt I’d relive for many years. So, I wanted all the odds in my favor. I prefer to shoot the Electra when I’m hunting big game, because it’s the only primerless blackpowder rifle on the market. I didn’t want to have issues on this hunt with primer, fouling or misfiring.

Question: How did you load to take the buffalo?

Oertwig: I had a 300-grain bullet and 130 grains of Triple Se7en. I didn’t want to shoot more than 150 yards because this animal weighed over 1,900 pounds. With an animal this size, the energy level of the bullet drops off too much at 150 yards to be efficient. That’s the only restriction when hunting an animal of that size with a muzzleloader.

Question: Would you recommend hunting buffalo to other blackpowder hunters?

Oertwig: Absolutely. It was one of the most-exciting hunts I’d ever had. I had to hire an outfitter because when hunting a large area, there only were a few places where you could experience a wild buffalo hunt. I knew too if I shot a buffalo, I’d need help getting that truck load of meat back to camp.

Question: When you took the shot, were you shooting off hand or did you have a rest?

Oertwig: I was using shooting sticks, which I liked to do when I was hunting open terrain and knew I’d be doing a lot of hiking. I knew we’d be climbing up and down hills. If you were winded and tired, holding your rifle steady could be a challenge when you were shooting off hand. However, by using shooting sticks, I had a much-more solid platform off which to shoot. If I’m hunting in timbered terrain where I’ll have a shooting house, a tree stand or at least a tree to brace-up against, I don’t take my shooting sticks. The shooting sticks are the third point of a three-legged stool. When you’re shooting in open terrain, and you have to do a lot of walking, shooting sticks drastically increase your odds of shooting more accurately.