Muzzleloaders?

[kooba]

Allright guys, need help on choosing a Muzzleloader for deer hunting this fall. What do you guys have and what are the good and bad of that gun? I am just a beginner and want to know what is the easiest gun to clean and shoot at a reasonalbe price? What are your thoughts of the CVA Optima 209 magnum brake action? ?Any info would be greatly appreciated. KOOBA

[Borch]

The easiest to use would be the brake action muzzleloaders. Easy to load and to clean. Lots of good ones oout there. The Optima($150-200) and Optima Pro($249-300) are good guns. So is the encore($540 - 620). Bass Pro has the Beartooth break action on sale now for $99. It's not the same quality but still a very functional gun. Rossi also makes break action guns for around $150.

Some come with a scope and accessary kit. If you're gonna use it for the muzzleloader season you can't use a scope.

By the way I shoot a cheap traditions e-bolt that does a good job. Shoots under 2" at 100 yards with the right load. Good enough for deer hunting and I picked it up on sale for $75 including shipping.

Good Luck in your search.

Borch

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I bad day of fishing??? I honestly don't know what you're talking about!

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[kooba]

thanks for your imput. Fleet farm has the CVA optima on sale for 179 this week. Might have to go out and buy this.
Kooba.

[Mark Christianson]

My vote is New England Firearms Huntsman.

Get the Stainless barrel. Its $209 I think.

My Dad has an Optima, and its a good gun for the money. But the stock is goofy and doesnt fit me particularly well.
The other really bad thing about the Optima is that lever to open the action.
its under the trigger guard, so guess what happens when you put the gun on your shoulder.
It opens the action......
Personally, I like to carry the gun over my shoulder sometimes. With the Optima, you cant do it.

Check out that NEF. Gander has them. I think you will like what you see.

[RussDaBuss]

Just recently bought the Traditions Pursuit LT. I looked at alot of guns and pulled all them up.. This gun is great, very light and pulls up and fits real well for me. they have them for 179 or 199 with nickel barrel, which I bought. It does take the 209 ingnitions also. Only weighs about 6-1/2 lbs. I was going to get the Optima also but for me just felt awkard. But I have heard it is a good gun. Good luck. I have not shot mine but will VERY soon.....

[bigbucks]

I have the Rossi, as does my cousin & my uncle, we've all had good luck with them. Well except uncle who forgot to tighten the screw on the sight after sighting it in... The lever to open these is on the top like on a single shot shotgun, no problem there.

[Scott M]

I was looking at muzzleloaders tonight. What difference does it make for me to spend $99 or $499 to kill a few deer? In other words, what would that extra money get me in a gun. I'm a beginner so indulge me.

Thanks.

[Neiko]

I was in the same boat as you and I went with a CVA Kodiak and love it. Couldn't see spending $500 for a T/C. Great gun to start off with. I stayed away from the $99. One reason was the butt was really hollow sounding and if you hit something against it it was really loud. I dropped my deer no problem and I plan on using it for bear this year.

[Scott M]

I've heard you should buy the break action muzzleloaders for ease of use with some nice fiber optic pin sights. What is going to determine how much I spend, i.e. what am I getting by spending more?

[brassman]

T/C Omega here, I couldn't be happier. Cabelas has mine with a starter kit for 279.99, would do it all over again. get a good barrel cleaner, I have one I spray in and let it sit for an hour and the fouling comes out like warm butter.

[charliepete2]

I looked at a bunch, but ended up buying the cheapest TC Omega for $249. It fit me the best, came from a reliable American made company, and has a great reputation. I've read that the real difference between the bargain muzzleloaders and the more expensive ones is uniformity between guns. With a cheap muzzle loader the bore sizes vary widely because they don't change their tooling very often. You might get a real accurate guns, but when your buddy buys the same thing he gets a lemon. Companies like Knight and Thompson are working with tighter tolerances and produce a more consistant product. I was also willing to spring an extra $50 for a gun that is proofed in the USA. I've heard reports of some cheaper guns blowing up with magnum loads and I'd rather not be shooting a pipe bomb.

[TrophyEyes]

I would go with nothing else but a Thompson Center. My group of 16 people has been hunting muzzleloader for 12 years. Things have changed quite a bit in that time. We have tried every kind of muzzleloader and only the TC remains. All 16 people have at least one TC it is the most reliable gun you will ever have. I also would like to commend TC on their service. Over the years we have had issues like broken fiberoptic sites, a cracked forend, issues that someone lost a screw putting it back together. Every time TC has sent out a replacement within the week and no one has ever paid anything. All and all our TC's can account for well over 150 deer in the last 5 years.

On a seperate note, call around and see if there are any used TC Encore's, I found one "used" but never shot. I cost me $250. People win these guns at raffles and through promotions, but it is a hard sport to get into because it can be more technical than people want deer hunting to be so they sell them immediately.

Caution the biggest trouble makers are the lower end CVA's and Remmington muzzleloaders from our experience.