I just bought my first smoothbore a few months back. I have yet to shoot it. I plan on using it mainly for turkey hunting but thought about using it to squirrel hunt this weekend. I bought a CVA Trapper from a guy on this forum. Any suggestions on what loads to start out with for squirrel. I plan on practicing for a while at the range with it before I hunt. I am an extreme rookie to all of this so your help will be greatly appreciated. Not sure what type of shot cup, amount of powder, etc etc etc. Thanks guys.
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
Loads
- Thread starter wright561
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
The manual is available on the CVA site. I think it has three loads listed and they are all equal or square loads. I use a 90 120 load for turkeys with the middle choke tube. That is over the book limit for the gun and the recoil is not funny at all in the little Trapper. I took this bird at 40 steps this spring.
For squirrels, a 60 80/90 or a 50 75 load works pretty well and it is a lot more pleasant to shoot with those loads. One thing you will have to get used to is where the pattern hits. On mine, if you sight down the barrel like on a modern shotgun, you will shoot 25 inches low at 30 yards. Your head has to be high enough to actually see the entire barrel and then you put the bead on target. I was going to have my barrel adjusted but the old timers told me to get used to it. Apparently this is normal for smoothbore muzzleloaders for the most part. I am using old Nitro brand cards made for reloading shot shells. For turkey, I usually don't use a cushion wad because I don't expect to reload or at least not in any hurry. For hunting squirrels and other small game, I use a lubed cushion wad over the powder wad and under the shot. It makes reloading a lot easier. You still will need to swab every few shots.
I swab the bore to make sure it is pretty dry. I load my powder and a nitro card over that. The cards I am using are thicker than most made for muzzleloading. If you have problems you might consider doublng your over powder wad because of that. I load half a pre-lubed cushion wad. I adjust the measure and load the shot. I split about one third of a nitro card off and use that as the over shot card. If you try the shot cups put out by CVA, be sure to cut them at least 2/3rds of the way down. They don't open well if you don't cut them pretty good. On the plus side, they allow you to tune a load very well. On the bad side, they are expensive!
You really need to shoot the gun on a pattern board before going hunting with it. They take some getting used to, and the loading process does also. Once you find a load the gun likes, they are a blast to hunt with!
For squirrels, a 60 80/90 or a 50 75 load works pretty well and it is a lot more pleasant to shoot with those loads. One thing you will have to get used to is where the pattern hits. On mine, if you sight down the barrel like on a modern shotgun, you will shoot 25 inches low at 30 yards. Your head has to be high enough to actually see the entire barrel and then you put the bead on target. I was going to have my barrel adjusted but the old timers told me to get used to it. Apparently this is normal for smoothbore muzzleloaders for the most part. I am using old Nitro brand cards made for reloading shot shells. For turkey, I usually don't use a cushion wad because I don't expect to reload or at least not in any hurry. For hunting squirrels and other small game, I use a lubed cushion wad over the powder wad and under the shot. It makes reloading a lot easier. You still will need to swab every few shots.
I swab the bore to make sure it is pretty dry. I load my powder and a nitro card over that. The cards I am using are thicker than most made for muzzleloading. If you have problems you might consider doublng your over powder wad because of that. I load half a pre-lubed cushion wad. I adjust the measure and load the shot. I split about one third of a nitro card off and use that as the over shot card. If you try the shot cups put out by CVA, be sure to cut them at least 2/3rds of the way down. They don't open well if you don't cut them pretty good. On the plus side, they allow you to tune a load very well. On the bad side, they are expensive!
You really need to shoot the gun on a pattern board before going hunting with it. They take some getting used to, and the loading process does also. Once you find a load the gun likes, they are a blast to hunt with!
