What in-line?

D

davem

Moderator
I know a lot of folks hate in-lines but my eyes need a scope. Last year I saw multiple deer, usually at about 75 yards, at dusk, in brush, and with my eyes I could not make out whether they had any antlers before they disappeared.
Most of my hunting is from a stand and the typical shooting range 75 yards in brush type country. Cabela's has a couple of $99 specials. One is their own Cablea's in-line gun called Timber Ridge and the other is a CVA gun, the Buckhorn 209 Magnum. Both are supposed to handle 150 grains of powder.
1. Do any of you own one of these guns? What type of accuracy can be expected at 100 yards with a scope? (shooting from sand bags/bench). What about 150-200 yards?
2. What do you like and dislike about each gun?

I realize these are low end guns - if I pay more what do I get? Better accuracy? Something else?
 
Am not familiar with the Cabela's Timber Ridge gun. The CVA BuckHorn is a good and accurate gun for the money. I have scoped a bunch of them for local hunters.

You do not need 150 grains of powder to kill deer. 100 grains of Pyrodex or 777 along with a 240 grain .430 XTP bullet in the crush rib sabot will do the job very nicely.

Best of luck with your inline muzzleloader.
 
yeah 150gr powder is a waste. Its not needed.

Do they have the CVA Accura? Its probably the best inline they have put out to date. The triggers on them are amazingly smooth and crisp.
 
The CVA Buckhorn Magnum was my first muzzleloader. In fact, I bought it off of a forum member here. It shot great. 100grns of 777, with a 777 primer and a 250 grn Hornady SST bullet shot cloverleafs.

I traded up this year to a T/C Omega because I wanted a non-bolt action that was easier to clean and prime.
 
I realize these are low end guns - if I pay more what do I get? Better accuracy? Something else?
Click to expand...

If you CAN pay more than what you get is the smokeless powder ML from Savage. Cleaner shooting, accu-trigger (which rocks), better looks, very accurate.

Shoot a smokelss ML about 3 times and you'll never look at black powder again.... and you'll realize why it's called "black".
 
What's in-line

Check the hunting regs in your state before you buy a muzzleloader. Some states don't allow scopes on muzzleloaders, some don't allow in-lines using 209 primers and sabots.
 
If you can swing the bucks, get the Savage.
What a great rifle. Accurate.
I shot a deer with mine a year and a half ago, still haven't cleaned it.

If you don't get the Savage, don't worry about the "150 Grain Magnum" stories.
That is just advertising bs.
Ninety grains will do the job.
 
inline

I have had 3 cva staghorns. one went back on their recall and was replaced with a magnum version and the other was replaced by CVA with an optima. Sold the optima because I just had a strong attachement to the other rifle. Mine shoots great. Everything I have hit with it goes no more than 40 yards. I use 150grs of pyrodex pellets and a 200gr shockwave bullet. absolutely devastating. I do not recommend any of the powerbelt bullets. I personally have lost three deer to them with proper shot placement and I know of at least ten other people that have also lost deer they made solid hits on with powerbelts. For an easy loading set up I would go with the new superglide sabots with the 200gr or 250 gr shockwave. I agree that 100grs is adequate for whitetails, even more so with a really good bullet. The best bullet will expand in a controlled fashion while still retaining its weight so you get an exit hole.The best hit I made on the best buck I have taken hit a little low, missing the heart but hit a rib and shattered it and driving the shards through the heart. The deer only ran about fifty yards on a downhill run. BTW I use the 150 gr to gain longe range velocity and better energy.
 
Thanks to all for your input, now....two more questions. I noticed on the CVA the stock is hollow and the gun weighs about 6 1/2 pounds. How is the recoil? I have never heard of doing this but if the butt plate is removable it seems the stock could be filled with auto putty and lead shot to get the weight up to 10 1/2 pounds or so to reduce recoil.
And..I am told the 209 shotgun primer is more water resistant than a percussion cap? Is that true? How do you remove the shotgun primer if you have not shot the rifle?
 
would say if you did spend a little more one of the break open actions could cut cleaning time down quite abit but that is really the only advantage over the cheaper models.
while im not familiar with the rifle your looking at, most 209 primers can be removed alot eaisier than a percusion cap there fitting on the nipple does not look to be very water resistant however ive never had one fail to fire even hunting in the rain.
 
For hunting in the rain, carry a small roll of masking tape. Put a piece over the muzzle and a piece over the primer gap (either the bolt or the hinge depending on your action type). A shot will blow them both off but they will keep water from seeping in.
 
You can, indeed, add weight to a hollow stock.
I added a pound of lead shot to my Savage stock.
Put the lead in there, then gave it a shot of Great Stuff expanding foam to hold it in place.
Let the foam cure up, cut it off, and put the buttplate back on.
 
You won't need to add much to the Savage, don't know about some of the other gun. I've fired the Savage with a 62gr, can't remember the brand but I know it's approaching the max load, and the gun had nothing more than a scope and a LimbSaver recoil pad. It was entirely manageable, similar to a 12ga auto.
 
Heres my Accura. Its a little over 8lbs but i have steel Weaver rings on it that i robbed off my 30-30 for now. Cant use a scope in colorado but its good for working up the most accurate load. Trigger is MAYBE 2lbs with zero grit or creep.
Accura-resized.jpg
 
Knight ceased business operations a few weeks ago. The holding company has committed to honor requests for parts and warranty work, however.
 
On an in-line- do you remove the breech plug after each shooting session to clean the barrel?

Some of the accuracy seems almost too good to be true. A lot of modern rifles "out of the box" will probably shoot 3" groups at 100 yards and then get down to 1 1/2" groups with glass bedding the barrel, trigger jobs, etc. I was thinking on most in-lines, with a scope, shooting from a bench, I would get around 6" groups at 100 yards. What type of accuracy can be expected?
 
On an in-line- do you remove the breech plug after each shooting session to clean the barrel?
Click to expand...

I remove it after every shot (except in a hunting situation). I use 777 powder which is notorious for building up a "crud ring" around the base of the plug. If the ring gets big enough, the load won't seat good. At the range, it is no big effort to remove the plug, run one wet patch, then one dry patch between each shot.
 
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