Troubles with CVA rifle

[jwedel1777]

I'm having difficulties with my CVA muzzleloader. It's a CVA Kodiak .50cal. I honestly can't get it to hold 6-8" groups at 100 yards. Shooting 250gr T.C. Shockwave sabot bullets with 100 grains of Triple 7 pellets. I cleaned it about every 4-5 shots, but it seems to be the same- clean or dirty. Is it just me, or can I be doing something wrong?

 

[FrontierGander]

I'm having difficulties with my CVA muzzleloader. It's a CVA Kodiak .50cal. I honestly can't get it to hold 6-8" groups at 100 yards. Shooting 250gr T.C. Shockwave sabot bullets with 100 grains of Triple 7 pellets. I cleaned it about every 4-5 shots, but it seems to be the same- clean or dirty. Is it just me, or can I be doing something wrong?

Clean after each shot, T7 is filthy and needs to be cleaned between each and every shot.

Primers will make a big difference. Winchester W209 - Winchester 777 are both good primers to use with t7.

Dump the shockwaves, they are junk.

Order some 260gr harvester scorpion PT Golds and use the harvester smooth sabot. Both are readily available online at harvester bullets and the bullets are not expensive.

How old are you pellets?

 

[jwedel1777]

Clean after each shot, T7 is filthy and needs to be cleaned between each and every shot.

Primers will make a big difference. Winchester W209 - Winchester 777 are both good primers to use with t7.

Dump the shockwaves, they are junk.

Order some 260gr harvester scorpion PT Golds and use the harvester smooth sabot. Both are readily available online at harvester bullets and the bullets are not expensive.

How old are you pellets?

I'll probably try to shoot some groups with cleaning after every shot.

I'm using new CCI primers.

The shockwaves were about my only option to use 3 days before my hunt. Living in a town without much selection. Wal Mart only had Shockwaves in stock.... I definitely going to look into something different.

My pellets were from an unopened box that somebody gave to me- about 6 years ago. I never even thought about the age of the powder. But, it makes perfect sense.

 

[Rem700addict]

Another option would be to get some smaller sized sabots. My old cva Apollo had a tight bore and would throw saboted bullets everywhere. How are they loading in you gun?

 

[FrontierGander]

wow those pellets are WAAAAY to old! They normally last a year or 2, they suck up moisture pretty good because they are not in a sealed can like loose powder is.

Get some new powder and some winchester w209 primers.

 

[jwedel1777]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was lucky enough to get a good shot on a nice 130" 10 pt Oklahoma whitetail, so I think it's back to bow & rifle for the time being. Once the seasons are over, I'll do some playing and report back with what I find out. gun)

 

[smokey92]

Is it scoped? Loose rings? My Kodiak gave me fit's when new, all over the place, especially with new 777 pellets. Clean it real good, get some Montana bore conditioner, only takes a couple passes, try some loose powder, .300 Deep Curl .45 bullet in a MMP black sabot, and CCi magnum 209 primer. Worked well for me. I use Blackhorn 209 powder but you'll need a different breech plug for that powder.

 

[ENCORE]

There are numerous bad reports with the Kodiak and with shooters having various troubles with the rifle. Some have good luck, while others have had nothing but misery. Some have tried every bullet and propellant combination, yet still couldn't make them accurate and dumped them. Regardless of barrel problems, trigger assemblies loosen and many actions will not close and remain closed. One of my closest friends used one for a few years and shot a ton of deer with it, which gave him the nickname of "Gutpile". Two years ago the trigger assembly and breech were completely shot. Not having a lot of money for a top of the line upgrade, he purchased an Accura and is pretty happy with it so far and has harvested anything that he's shot at with it.

You may want to consider an upgrade. You could upgrade from the Kodiak to a multitude of different rifles and manufacturers, at a reasonable cost. Just about all muzzleloaders except for the top of each line, are most likely on sale.

 

[klrbaer]

I shoot an Apex .50 ML and Love it.
I did have some problems early on with the the gun, but nothing I couldn't fix.
The first problem was a tough one. My ML barrel was the first of 10 made for CVA by Bergara. It was assembled and shipped to a dealership in Central Illinois. The intended recipient never came to pick it up. The dealership sold it to me as a left over model from the previous year. Not knowing what it actually was. I was able to buy it at a huge discount.
I wanted to shoot BH 209 in it and did for 2 seasons without the special BH breach plug. I was shooting 2 1/4" groups at 200 yards. I loaded it with a Barnes 250gr TEZ, 70.6grains of BH 209 (by weight, NOT volume) about 110 grains By volume and used a CCI 209 standard primer.
I saw that CVA had the BH209 Breach plug and wanted to try it. After I received the third one that did not fit. I called CVA and they ran a check on the serial number and found out that my gun was a first run gun.
The problem was that the first ML barrels made by Bergara had an 11/16" thread and then CVA and Bergara changed and made all there breech plugs 5/8".
So the fix was that they sent me a new Barrel free of charge.

I definitely love the new BH breech plug, I've been working on the load and I am confident that my groups will continue to decrease in size. I've only run about 60 shots thought the barrel.
I've killed 8 deer and a coyote, so far. 5 of the deer were dropped in their tracks and the other three went no more than 60 yards. I'm also a believer in the high shoulder shot. My opinion is that it is a great gun.

The best thing anyone can do, no matter what type of gun they have is to spend time at the range and become proficient with their firearm.
gun)

 

[Nhjon80]

I shoot 100gr of pyrodex pellets and a 295gr powerbelt. I can put my rounds on top of each other at 100 yards. I use Winchester primers.