CVA or Knight for hunting elk in western Washington

[Mike171]

I'm looking to buy my first muzzleloader for hunting elk in western Washington and hoping to get some recommendations on which one to get based off the experience of others. A friend recommended I purchase a Knight Ultra-Lite online. I went to a local muzzleloader shop in hopes of getting to put my hands on one only to find out they don't carry them. The shop owner there said that Knights are pretty much obsolete and that they haven't produced anything new in about 4 years. He showed me the CVA's he carries and said that they were cutting edge, very accurate, easy to clean, and just very user friendly overall. As a long time muzzleloader, he says that is what he uses and recommends. He seemed sincere but I also have to wonder if he is just trying to make a sale. I am trying to decide between the Paramount, Accura MRX, and the Ultra-Lite. I really like how easily the MRX breaks down but I'm not sure about having to carry the collapsible ramrod as opposed to it stowing away in the stock. And I would need to purchase a separate one for cleaning. Any input from others who have experience with these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[duckmen1]

I think I know the shop you are referring too. I personally like knight muzzleloaders. Sportsman’s warehouse would be another place to see if they are in stock. If the shop you are referring to is “ along a river” that is currently being talked about on this site right now for salmon. I would say I don’t care for the place. Primarily due to the stuck up attitude I have gotten from the owner many times over the years. When trying to get certain bullets and such I would get attitude due to not wanting to buy his power belts for many reasons, and he gave me a lot of crap over a lot of different things. He goes around to all the stores in town and buys out all the shipments of musket caps and then doubles to triples the cost on them. He definetely down talked knights all the time to me primarily due to being a cva dealer. Knights have a good reputation here but what ever you decide to get enjoy the heck out of it. Muzzleloading is a lot of fun.

[10thmountainarcher]

I'm looking to buy my first muzzleloader for hunting elk in western Washington and hoping to get some recommendations on which one to get based off the experience of others. A friend recommended I purchase a Knight Ultra-Lite online. I went to a local muzzleloader shop in hopes of getting to put my hands on one only to find out they don't carry them. The shop owner there said that Knights are pretty much obsolete and that they haven't produced anything new in about 4 years. He showed me the CVA's he carries and said that they were cutting edge, very accurate, easy to clean, and just very user friendly overall. As a long time muzzleloader, he says that is what he uses and recommends. He seemed sincere but I also have to wonder if he is just trying to make a sale. I am trying to decide between the Paramount, Accura MRX, and the Ultra-Lite. I really like how easily the MRX breaks down but I'm not sure about having to carry the collapsible ramrod as opposed to it stowing away in the stock. And I would need to purchase a separate one for cleaning. Any input from others who have experience with these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The paramount can be hard to find due to not being produced at the moment. Black Horn 209 availability is why CVA put a freeze on em.

[JakeLand]

Knight ultra lite is my go to first every day and a knight disc extreme is a close second . You won’t ever be disappointed with either one and knight production has not stopped

[Karl Blanchard]

Do a little research on CVA and you will find endless QC issues. I recently purchased an accura lrx and it was a complete lemon. Sent it back to CVA and they concurred.  Only problem is none of the lrx's they had to replace it could pass their accuracy testing so all I got was a refund.

Been a knight guy for years but the slick lrx was too tempting. Lesson learned, back to knight I will go.

[Gettin Birdie]

Knight is far from obsolete.  I bought two disc extremes while living in WA, based on recommendations from my boss when I wanted to get into muzzy, he had a bighorn, I couldn't find them at the time.  I read Sabotloader"s posts from here and elsewhere and every question I had was answered by his expertise and field time with knights, so no hiccups from store to first deer.  Buy & you won't be disappointed, great accuracy too. 

[mossback91]

Love my knight disc extreme and bighorn but I don’t have much experience with CVA besides shooting one a few times.

[raydog]

I've used CVA for about 6 years before switching to a knight mountaineer. The CVA did the job just fine, killed 3 bulls with CVA, but the knight is a better gun. The cva will be more field cleaning friendly. But I have a little field kit I built for my knight so I'm good to go

[high_hunter]

I'm not very familiar with the current CVAs but my vote goes to knight as well.  Bighorn and littlehorn have been trouble free as long as you clean and maintenance them.

[lazydrifter]

My boys and I hunt Western Washington for elk.  We all use knight.  Most accurate muzzleloaders I've ever shot. If I was looking I would buy that .52 disc extreme Knight has on sale.  Get it in the 209 primer.  399.00 to your door right now.

[jrebel]

I own two CVA’s….the first one shoots great!!!   The other, I will update in a week or so as I just got it put together.   I imagine it will shoot equally as good.   

Curious what problems people have had with their CVA’s and if the problems were befor they went to Berara barrels.  Ming go bang and are as accurate as any other open site rifle I own.   

Here is the new one. 

[Cougartail]

I have a Traditions Prusuit G4.

It goes bang and cleans up nice.

So far I can get a 12" group at 30 yards.

I'm  stoked!!!!!

[PsoasHunter]

I bought a new CVA Optima a number of years ago.  The selling points were it was easy to clean and cheaper than the knight bighorn I was also looking at.  It failed to ignite the powder 8 times out of 10 the first time I took it to the range, using musket RWS musket caps (before 209 was legal). I traded it for the knight bighorn, which has never mis-fired on me and has killed. a number of elk now. The knights are top of the line in my opinion and worth the extra cost.  Yeah it's harder to clean, but that doesn't matter once your elk is on the ground.

[ctwiggs1]

My Bighorn is quite accurate. I’ve been really happy with it for the last 10 years or so.  Many elk and deer tags have been notched with that thing!  I’ve had one issue ever and the GM of Knight called me and walked me through the issue (it was my fault).

Great company and great product.

I can’t speak to CVA but I’ve heard good things.

[knighttime25]

I have a Traditions Prusuit G4.

It goes bang and cleans up nice.

So far I can get a 12" group at 30 yards.

I'm  stoked!!!!!

12" group at 30 yards!??!