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Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:05 am
by waspocrew
I bought a CVA Optima earlier this year and it didn't take long to find out that it shoots many bullets really well. It's an excellent muzzleloader and for only $200, I consider it to be a screaming deal. All of these bullets were shot with 2 (50) grn pellets of T7 along with CCI muzzleloader primers.

Bullet #1 - 240 Grn Hornady XTP
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After reading great reviews, I tried this bullet out along with the green Harvester Crush Rib sabot. Super easy to load down the barrel even after multiple shots without cleaning. This was shot at 100 yards:
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Bullet #2 - 250 Grn TC Shockwave
I bought these for $5 at Walmart on clearance and thought I'd give them a try. These were fairly easy to load as well and shot pretty consistently. 100 yard group:
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Bullet #3 - 300 Grn CVA Slickload Sabot
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Again, I found these on sale, and heard how accurate they were. The name was right- the were the easiest to load. I could push them down the barrel with one finger on the ramrod. I didn't have the chance to shoot at 100, but the results were awesome at 50. First group:
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I heard that these bullets could be picky with seating pressure, so I seated them a little more lightly and the results were awesome! 4 shots at 50 yards:
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Bullet #4 - 300 Traditions Smackdown SST
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I wanted a little tougher bullet than the slickload, so I tried these out. They were fairly easy to load and shot excellent groups at 100 yards. Here's 3 shots:
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I used them on my muzzy hunt this year and shot a buck at roughly 95 yards. It passed completely through and all I found inside the deer was the ballistic tip.

I'm sure I can get better accuracy with loose powder, but I'm very impressed with how the CVA has performed.

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:14 am
by Shedfreak88
Great review :thumb seems to be one heck of a shooter for sure

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:20 am
by derekp1999
Sweet mercy, why did you not use the Shockwave?!? That's about as good group you could ask for.

Great write up.

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:15 pm
by waspocrew
derekp1999 wrote:Sweet mercy, why did you not use the Shockwave?!? That's about as good group you could ask for.
I thought about using the shockwave but I ended up going with the heavier SST in case I tried to fill my cow elk tag during my muzzy deer hunt. I never had time to look for elk though..

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:48 pm
by Top Gun
Great review. Were you shooting open sites?

Unfortunately I've had bad luck with the shockwaves on game but they are great for paper. Fortunately for you you didnt use them. :)

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:58 pm
by waspocrew
Top Gun wrote:Great review. Were you shooting open sites?

Unfortunately I've had bad luck with the shockwaves on game but they are great for paper. Fortunately for you you didnt use them. :)
I was actually using a traditions 1x scope shooting off of some homemade sand bags. What helped most was placing a large X on my targets with duct tape. That allowed me to settle the crosshairs fairly consistently.

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 4:26 pm
by derekp1999
waspocrew wrote:I thought about using the shockwave but I ended up going with the heavier SST in case I tried to fill my cow elk tag during my muzzy deer hunt. I never had time to look for elk though..
I forgot about the cow tag you have... BTW, I'm still working on getting that officer's number for you. My friend still has the officer's card & but whenever we cross paths it slips our minds. I'll see him again for the muzzleloader elk hunt & hopefully I can get it from him then.

Re: Muzzy Bullet Review From CVA Optima

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:57 pm
by waspocrew
derekp1999 wrote: I forgot about the cow tag you have... BTW, I'm still working on getting that officer's number for you. My friend still has the officer's card & but whenever we cross paths it slips our minds. I'll see him again for the muzzleloader elk hunt & hopefully I can get it from him then.
That would be awesome! Thanks again for looking into that for me- I really appreciate it!