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stillhunter

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I am getting ready to purchase a muzzleloader for next year's hunting season and would like to get some advice before purchasing. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could address some of the following questions.

1)What do you think is the best muzzleloader valuewise?

2)What caliber do you recommend for whitetail and why? I have no intention of hunting anything larger.

3)Do you like the blue or stainless steal finish?

4)Is there a retailer that you recommend, and if so why?

I have been looking at both Thompson and Knight m'loaders thus far. Both seem to be good manufacturers.


Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.

Stillhunter
 
I have a remington 700 and love it, but a lot of people like the Knights. I would go with a 50 cal, unless you buy a Knight then go with the new 45 cal. For finish go with the SS, as it does not rust. As far as retailer, wait until the season is completely over and find some deals. If you have a Scheels in your area they seem to have a large selection and the one in Iowa City has a staff person just for ML. I got mine there on sale for about $100 off. Another thing to consider when buying and how much you are going to spend is the cost of the scope that you are putting on the gun, but that is a whole other story! The reasons I like my remington are many. The first reason is that I was punching the center of the target at 50 yds within 10 minutes on the range. Another reason is that it really easy to clean and has never misfired. If I were you, I would go to a store that has a lot of manufacturer and shoulder as many as you can until you find one you like.
 
I preferr the Thompson Center Black Diamond and would recommend it very highly. I think it is an excellent gun that will shoot accurately at 200yds. with 150 grains or less if you don't want to shoot that much. I agree with Stainles and 50cal. Easy to clean and priced reasonable. Try Cabella's or any local store that sells ML. Just go and try several to see which one best fits you.
 
I have to agree with the others on the stainless and 50 cal. But prefer the Knight above the TC. I have owned both and have had my knight (BK-92)now for 10 years? and it still performs just as good as the day I bought it and I've shot it alot. I can't speak for the TC inlines that are out today though. I had their first one that looked like a lever action (the model eludes me) and it shot OK but not like a Knight does. I had that one for a year and traded it in. My advice is keep it as simple as possible just like bowhunting and you will have less to screw up at the moment of truth. ;-)
G6
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by smokepole:
I have a remington 700 and love it, but a lot of people like the Knights. I would go with a 50 cal, unless you buy a Knight then go with the new 45 cal. For finish go with the SS, as it does not rust. As far as retailer, wait until the season is completely over and find some deals. If you have a Scheels in your area they seem to have a large selection and the one in Iowa City has a staff person just for ML. I got mine there on sale for about $100 off. Another thing to consider when buying and how much you are going to spend is the cost of the scope that you are putting on the gun, but that is a whole other story! The reasons I like my remington are many. The first reason is that I was punching the center of the target at 50 yds within 10 minutes on the range. Another reason is that it really easy to clean and has never misfired. If I were you, I would go to a store that has a lot of manufacturer and shoulder as many as you can until you find one you like. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
My dad shoots a muzzle loader, and he uses a rem modle 700, a pretty good gun, nice groupings!!!!!!!!
But if you really want to get serious i would purchase a thompson center encore! Very nice gun. IT CAN KILL UP TO 200 YARDS!!!!! It takes a 209 shoot gun primer, whichs means, better igintion, and more power right there, and factory max of powder is 150 grains, thats pretty good! Caliber, i would go with 50, not to big, but not to small! And blued! Stainless can shine in the sun! The gun coast around 800, at some outfitter around here, but if you look in the cabelas catologue, you cant get them around 500, great deal! But, if you don't like the thompson, i would go with the remington 700!!! Great Gun for the price! I just won a muzzle loader match with it back in nov. And 90% of the guys there shoot knites! So i was pretty proud, and impresed! An excelent gun!!!!
 
I agree with smokepole,but I myself prefer the Knight 5ocal Disc. I like the 209primers and 150grainpellets an knighthighpressuresabots 250grain. The Dics design is a very weather proof and trouble free ignition , I have not had it fail on me ever. I deerhunt the lateseason when can be very wet and cold, plus I can,t wait to get out and touch(KILL) the BigOne @100yds ++++++ Our season starts Dec17th till Jan.10 ,02... If were to buy another muzz. it would the new 45cal Knight Disc.
 
I have and love my 45 cal. Knight. It has great range and coupled with my 3x9 scope is definately the way to go. The only problem that I have had is that it DOES RUST. I hunted over a week straight last year and to avoid condensation, the gun stayed in the trunk so as not to go through temperature changes going in and out of the house. The third day as the sun came up I almost had a fit in my stand. Little surface rust spots all over the place!!! Obviously nothing that will affect the performance of the gun, but wow was I pissed. It DOESN'T come off either. Otherwise it's a great gun and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
 
I own a 50 cal Knight Disc rifle. Groups great and is the fastest loading rifle I've ever seen. Be sure to buy a ML with a removable breech plug (I think they all are now a days), it makes cleaning a whole lot easier. Friends of mine own a Remington and an (older) TC, and the Knight is my preference. I like the looks of the SS over the blued finish. It's easier to clean and resists rust better than a blued finish. My first two Knights came from Cabelas, my last one came from a local retailer in Omaha, NE. One last note to remember...Knights are made in the state of Iowa!!
 
Ogz,

Try some cleaning solvent with some fine steel wool! I have some solvent that my gunsmith gave me that resists rust with some magnetically charged oil or something. After my first hunt, my gun rusted. After I remove the rust and applied this solvent, it has not rusted since. I can let you know later what brand the solvent is.
 
I like my 45 cal. superdisc. We shot 150-200 yd sillouettes (sp) a couple months ago and it was deadly on those metal varmints! Drops on 7 and a half inches between 100-200 yds.

For rust on stainless steel, I use the finest grade steel wool and lightly touch it up...it usually comes right off.
 
i have been shooting the knight disc magnum for 3 years now. it's awsome.drop in 3-50 grain pyrodex pellets and a t/c magnum sabot[red] with a t/c xtp 250 grain bullet. sight it dead on at 200 and it'll shoot 4inches high at 100 while dropping out 10 inches low at 300!!run bambi, run!as far as cleaning it's a peice of cake. NEVER misfires. for cleaning the rust spots off of stainless i use Flitz metal polish, it works great.
i mounted a luepold vari-x III 2.5x10x40 and a harris bipod on it. it's like shooting a REAL rifle!
 
Thanks for the response. I have heard about the steel wool but haven't tried it yet. I would be interested in the solvent. Let me know what you find out. Thanks!
 
BTW, when you clean with solvent, don't touch your stock with that stuff on your hand if it is a camo stock....it will take the camo off!
 
How does this sound? I am looking at a .50 CVA MagBolt 150 Muzzleloader Mossy Oak Break Up/Nickel. This gun has stainless steel bolt assembly, quick release bolt for easy removal, easy to load bullet guiding muzzle, and a 1:28 fast twist 24" barrel. Uses a #209 primer, musket cap, or #11 cap to ignite 150 grains of pyrodex pellets or powder. Has one piece monoblock barrel, drilled and tapped for scope mounting, fully adjustable sights, lightweight synthetic stock and ventilated recoil pad with swivel studs. Includes #209 capper/decapper, jag, synthetic ramrod and all tools to disassemble. $149.99


Will a 26" barrel shoot that much more accurate than this one?


Thanks again for all of the responses.

stillhunter

[This message has been edited by stillhunter (edited 12-11-2001).]
 
I bought one of Tony Knights first rifles back in 1986....50 cal, have taken game from all over the country with it. My son has a Knight T-bolt 50 cal, excellent rifles. It's worth a drive to Centerville to see their facility and headmounts.
 
Well Stillhunter, I'll be watching your responses to see how many people comment on your choice of a $169 CVA. CVA has been considered one of the "budget" muzzleloaders for years, and lots of people say they wouldn't use one because the barrel may not be as strong as another brand, etc. However in my opinion they are very reliable and acceptably accurate. I do not know the specific gun you are refering to, but I suspect you will be content with how it shoots. (you don't plan to enter competition shooting do you?) It sounds like it has a lot of good things at a budget price, which is what CVA is known for.

A couple tips

1. Test the trigger pull on the one before you buy it, it probably won't easily be adjusted and you don't want a dead spot.
2. If you want to shoot consistently out to 200 yds, see if it built to withstand the MAGNUM powder charges of 150+ grains. (with a name like MagBolt 150, it probably is)
3. In that twist, shoot SABOTs. (round balls and conicles need a slower twist) and if the 1st ones you try don't group well try a different weight and/or brand.
4. Make sure inlines and 209 primers are legal in your state. (I think they are almost everywhere now)

Personally I'm a Remington fan so I'd check them out very closely before buying, and I recommend using the 209 primers. By the way, my 1st muzzlloader was a Hawken style 54 caliber which I shot many deer with, and outside of the slight ignition delay I had no complaints with it either.


If you take the time to get to know your gun, you will be effective with most any brand/model.

Have fun!

[This message has been edited by IaCraig (edited 12-10-2001).]
 
Originally posted by stillhunter:
How does this sound? I am looking at a .50 CVA MagBolt 150 Muzzleloader Mossy Oak Break Up/Nickel.

In my honest opinion the very best gun CVA could make would not be as good as the worst piece of junk Knight could build if they worked at it. That could be why you never heard it mentioned here. ;-)
G6
Click to expand...
 
Stillhunter , I would vote no to any CVA!!! You would get get what you pay for ..
 
I appreciate the honesty from all involved. What specifically makes the others worth so much more than the CVA? I am not questioning your judgement, I would just like to know what I am paying the extra money for. I haven't decided on any manufacturer yet, but the CVA did seem to have most of the qualities of the others at a fraction of the cost. Is it prone to malfunctioning, falling a part, shooting inconsistent, or something along those lines?

Here is a link that will take you to the gun I am evaluating. http://www.cva.com/products/rifles/hunterbolt.htm

Thanks
 
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