CVA .50 Cal Hunting Advice

[charlesbjr]

Good evening folks:

I am getting ready to go to the range and sight in my CVA .50 cal Hawken for hunting season. However, I was hoping to get some advice on the rounds. I was looking to use lead balls but wanted to know if anyone had any experience with them? The shots we take are no more than 50 - 75 yards in heavy brush, and I was hoping to keep the cost down a bit. I will be using Pyrodex with this as well.

I never hunted with a side lock before and was hoping that I was on the right track.

Thanks!

 

[buford87]

I have owned a few C.V.A.s and still have one mountain rifle, I have always had good luck with a .490 ball don't remember patch size. If you can get real black powder it would be worth while. I have had trouble with any C.V.A. I tried to shoot with pyrodex..............watch yer top knot............

 

[cowpoke1955]

You are well within muzzle loader range and your rifle will do the job, if you do your's. A friend of mine has a CVA Hawkens and he shoots a .490 ball, pillow ticking patch lubed with Crisco and 75 grains ( by volume) of Pyrodex RS. I'd suggest changing the nipple to a Hot Shot or Spitfire with 6X1mm threads. You can find them at Dixie Gun Works and Track of the Wolf. This, with the use of #11 magnum caps will give you a hotter flame and a more positive, reliable ignition with Pyrodex. Works great with real black powder too. You have yourself a good deer rifle :thumbsup:

 

[William O.]

Good evening folks:I am getting ready to go to the range and sight in my CVA .50 cal Hawken for hunting season. However, I was hoping to get some advice on the rounds. I was looking to use lead balls but wanted to know if anyone had any experience with them? The shots we take are no more than 50 - 75 yards in heavy brush, and I was hoping to keep the cost down a bit. I will be using Pyrodex with this as well.
I never hunted with a side lock before and was hoping that I was on the right track.
Thanks!

Welcome to hunting with a traditional muzzle loader! First of all, find the most accurate load for you rifle. Start with a .490 round ball, .015 pre-lubed/pre-cut shooting patches and 50 grains of Pyrodex RS, which stands for Rifle/Shotgun. Take three to five shots, aiming at the same place on the target then increase by 5 grains and repeat the process until your groups get nice and tight. The accuracy using a patched round ball (PRB) may surprise you! It is only after you have found the most accurate powder charge for your rifle will you begin to change the variables such as patch thickness/type of lube or adjusting the sights. Don't jump up to 90 grains and adjust your sights after every shot, you'll just end up frustrated. What shoots great in my rifle may not be as accurate in yours even if they are both the same caliber and model. Also know that a lead RB kills out of proportion to it's paper ballistics so don't get hung up on downrange energy levels, expansion, energy dump, etc. You are starting with a 50 caliber hole to begin with and that's plenty for critters in the deer family. Nothing makes up for a poorly placed shot so focus on accuracy. Shooting RB is much cheaper than shooting lead conicals especially if you don't cast your own. I also suggest that you either buy or make your own cleaning patches and put half of them in a jar along with enough rubbing alcohol (91% is good) to dampen them, and use them to swab the barrel in between shots while you are at the range or whenever loading gets difficult. They will remove a good deal of fouling and return things to nearly the same for each shot while you are working up the best load for your rifle. Just because my eyes aren't as good as they used to be I recommend placing your target at 50 yards to begin with but eventually I would zero things for 100 yards. I was given advice many years ago to take one practice shot for however many yards the maximum distance might be. If your max shot is 100 yards then take 100 practice shots using the same load you will be hunting with. Free advice may be worth what you paid for it, but it's worked for me. Hope this helps and happy shooting!

 

[Zonie]

Your choice of a patched roundball is excellent at the ranges you mentioned.

Although 50 grains of powder is the usual starting point for learning where a new .50 cal muzzleloader will be shooting, many have found that a powder load of around 70 grains makes a good hunting load so I would start there.

Do not waste money on buying the synthetic black powder pellets. Not only do they cost a fortune but you can't optimize your powder loads.
They often don't shoot well in a side lock gun either.

When your at the range don't bother with this but when you are hunting it is a good idea to remove the nipple before loading and placing a bit of powder into the area under the nipple.
Then replace the nipple, load the gun and after capping the nipple your ready for business.

This little extra step will usually make mis-fires non existent.

 

[Swede50]

The others have given some good advice I will add that I use spray Windex on my cleaning patches while at the range.
Like alcohol it dries quickly and won’t leave the wet/damp fouling down the barrel that will/can cause the BP rifle to misfire.

BTW Lee Precision makes some fine Round Ball molds at a decent price.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[BrownBear]

For ranges up to 75 yards I'd use 70-80 grains of Pyrodex P and sight in dead on at 75 yards. You'll be about an inch high at 50 and 3-4" low at 100, if that long a shot ever arose.

My experience with charges under 70 grains of 3f or Pyrodex P with round balls is that they'll still kill deer just fine, but the trajectory gets more and more "loopy," the further down you go. I did some shooting with 50 grains of 3f at 75 and 100 yards, and it was about 3" high at 50 when sighted in dead on at 75, and 6-8" low at 100. I have no doubt it would still kill a deer at those ranges, but hitting them in the right spot is more and more of an issue with reduced power. And hitting the right spot can be an issue with loopy trajectories.

Put it in a sack and shake it good, then pour it out. I'd say a minimum of 70 grains for trajectory, but would go either side if that's what the rifle was most accurate with. My wife uses 60 grains of 3f in her 54 cal, and it kills deer like lightning. She just sighted in at 50 yards and holds herself to that range for all her game shots.

 

[charlesbjr]

Wow, some real good advice!! I really do appreciate it folks!

One last question (for now). One time I was hunting with an in-line, using powder pellets. I always bring my gun into the cabin at night and the next day took a shot at a deer and had a misfire after going through 3 209 primers! I later found out that the cold weather from the day before, mixed with the warm cabin air, created condensation on the inside of my breach and wet the powder. If this is true, can it happen to a side lock? If so, do I clear the barrel each night?

Thanks!

 

[BrownBear]

It can happen if you don't take precautions. Either leave the gun outside (not always possible), or put a little tab of leather on the nipple and lower the hammer to seal it up.

 

[charlesbjr]

Ok, very good. Thanks.

Would you fire it or clear it out with the c02 dis-charger?

 

[Rogue River]

Leave it in a unheated bldg. or locked in a vehicle. I leave the gun loaded all season usally. Masking tape over the bore and a lubed patched on the nipple w/hammer holding it in place! :idunno:

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

I would fire it at the end of every hunting day. That is what I do with mine now.

 

[cowpoke1955]

If your camp is close to your hunting area and want to unload your rifle, use a CO2 discharger. A shot will make the game spookie. If you are leaving, go ahead and shoot, pack up and go home. If I'm out for a couple of days, I'll leave my rifle loaded, like others, and shoot it before I go home.

 

[charlesbjr]

Great, thanks folks!!

 

[BrownBear]

Ok, very good. Thanks.

Would you fire it or clear it out with the c02 dis-charger?

CO2 discharger or ball puller for sure.

 

[charlesbjr]

Ok, very good. Thanks.

Would you fire it or clear it out with the c02 dis-charger?

CO2 discharger or ball puller for sure.

:grin: A+ to that, thanks!