What Muzzleloader and bullet combo do you recommend for Washington?

[MtgHunter]

Fellow hunters,

I have wanted to buy one for years and have heard good things about CVA, Remington, TC etc.  Never shot one, but it's time to get one what do you recommend and why?  If your willing to have a phone discussion PM me.  Thanks.

[JimmyHoffa]

Are you looking for traditional sidelock/flintlock or a modern inline?

[Mtnwalker]

Knight is having a pretty good sale right now. Bighorn is a popular choice for WA ID

[JakeLand]

My preference is CVA accura V-2 and what shoots the best is 100 grain triple 7 pellets and a powerbelt 295 bullet  dry accurate and dependable and simple to clean and maintain

[mp.hunter]

I like the cva optima with loose powder 777, fff. Knight bloodline bullets 250gr bloodline 110 grns powder for deer, 300 gr bloodline 120 grns powder


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[flyfishWA]

I use the CVA Wolf. good, cheap gun. accurate and dependable you can get it with a stainless barrel which is a huge plus on westside hunts. I use 97 grains triple seven 2f and a 250 grain Barnes T-EZ bullet and get good accuracy, penetration, and expansion.

[dartondude]

CVA Optima V2 is a great gun and likes Powerbelts (Jacketed over pure lead for deer) been very accurate with deadly Thor bullets for elk too.

Check out muzzle-loaders.com great prices and CS and they ship to your door.

[OutHouse]

If you end up considering traditional with percussion caps, Pedersoli makes a great .50 caliber that does really well with pure lead Power Belt bullets. I also have an Investarm cut down .54 caliber that Cabela's put its brand name on that also does well with the pure led Power Belts. Something about the traditional that just gets me but I understand its at a disadvantage compared to new technology. Hope you find something you like!

[ctwiggs1]

My Knight has done it's job many times for me.

At @sabotloader 's recommendation, I purchased the LeHigh controlled fracture bullets and have been very satisfied. 

[MtgHunter]

Thanks everyone for the input.

[muleyslayer]

Knight mountaineer is pretty solid! Presicion rifle conical make an accurate sabot

[RobinHoodlum]

 PM sent

[konradcountry]

Modern is definitely the practical choice.

Lighter, more accurate, more weather resistant, better range.

Or you can pick up a plains rifle and hunt with the gods.

[GASoline71]

I have 2 CVA inline muzzleloaders that are both compliant to the previous WA State rules where the ignition system could not be a shotgun primer and the cap and nipple has to be "exposed to the elements".  I have taken deer and elk with both.  They are rated for 150 grains of black powder, but I have only used 100 in them.  They are easy to handle and shoot well. I have yet to use a closed breech design or one that uses modern primers.

Gary

[Dark2Dark]

Washington is rainy and failures to fire are common. Get the Remington. You won’t regret it. With anything else, you might.

[Magnum_Willys]

Washington is rainy and failures to fire are common. Get the Remington. You won’t regret it. With anything else, you might.

 
Buy Once. 

[dilleytech]

We had really good results with Barnes bullets this fall on two bulls. Recovered both bullets with perfect expansion. 290 gr behind 110gr of pyrodex. Both bulls stood in there place before tipping over with lung shots.

Knight bighorn. Zero problems so far but only had the gun one year. I plan to get a second. Or a mountaineer.

[Buck86]

This is one of those questions that will get multiple answers.  Ill start with the bullets.  I have now shot 2 bulls with my muzzleloader.  The first was with a 300grn Hornady sst, the bull tried to take a step and fell right over.  The second was with the Branes 290grn EZ.  The bull took a couple of steps turned around and fell over. My buddy used the Hornady on his bull and it fell right over.  If you plan to hunt elk I suggest using 300grn or very close to that.  Also those bullets were all pushed by 110grns of lose triple 7 powder 2f. 

As for a muzz the sky is the limit pick something you like.  My two buddies both have the Accura v2's.  One is using musket caps and the other is using the 209 primers.  I witnessed my buddy using the 209 primers have a hang fire and a not fire.  And there is something in cleaning the firing pin on those so they don't get gummed up and corroded.   I personally use a knight.  Both of the bulls I shot were with a bighorn using #11 percussion caps.  I also have a Disc extreme but hadn't had it long enough to use it last year yet.  Yes I still use the open to the elements style and no I have not had any problems with the gun firing. I personally do not see the benefits to using a 209 primer.  There are lots of different muzzleloaders out there, pick one you like and learn all you can about it.  I lean towards a knight as I have 2.

Good Luck
Buck

[gotshot]

I have a T/C black diamond xr and use #11 caps and have never had a problem. Bad part is they don't offer them anymore.

[callturner]

I shoot a CVA Accura V2 with 77 weighed gr of Blackhorn 209, pushing a 300 gr Speer Deep Curl in a Harvester black crushrib sabot.

[huntnnw]

pretty hard to beat a Barnes 290gr

[deadwoodbuck]

Knight bighorn .54 cal...because it was on sale...pyrodex powder Barnes sabot 290 grain with the biggest percussion cap that you can find

[Chukarhead]

Knight Bighorn or UL/Barnes 290-EZ/Triple7 have accounted for a lot of dead deer and elk for my group since WA started allowing non-lead bullets.

I'm genuinely mystified as to why anyone would choose to hunt with Powerbelts now that honest-to-goodness bullets are available and legal, saboted or not, either non-tox (Barnes, Lehigh), or lead (Hornady, Speer, etc.).  Powerbelts are easy to load...that's their only (minor) advantage.

[phildobaggins]

Since inlines became legal, I've had nothing but good luck with my cheapo T/C Impact with 100 gr. of Hogdon Pyrodex pellets and a 250 grain T/C Shockwave sabot. It's super consistent, quick to load, and easy to clean. 

[IFunk]

I have a Knight Bighorn and use 100 Grains of Triple 7 powder and Knight Redhot 250's manufactured by Barnes.  They are all copper and while I haven't smacked a deer with one yet, I think they would do an excellent job.  After switching over to the Williams FP Sight, i was able to get a great grouping earlier this summer. 

75 yards.  There was very little wind and it was around 100 degrees on that warm Oregon morning.  First shot on the outside is from a cold clean barrel.  The next grouping was 5 or 6 shots.  Either the rifle really likes the ammo or rainbows and unicorns were smiling down on me that day.  And some folks say muzzleloaders aren't accurate.

[Sabotloader]

Fellow hunters,

I have wanted to buy one for years and have heard good things about CVA, Remington, TC etc.  Never shot one, but it's time to get one what do you recommend and why?  If your willing to have a phone discussion PM me.  Thanks.

Just so you know... later this month Knight is going to have a sale going on their Knight DISC Extremes - they are suppose to be down in the $300's I would guess somewhere around $350.

https://www.muzzleloaders.com/product-category/muzzleloaders/disc-extreme-muzzleloader/

[huntnfmly]

Both daughters have knights 1 is a wolverine the other is a bighorn both use 90grains of T7 and 250 grain hornady sst work great on muleys another guy in camp used powerbelts not impressed with performance both shots needed on his deer completely flattened out and poor penetration