CVA Optima

Its like Ford, Chev or Dodge trucks. Any of the big name like CVA, Knight or Thompson etc will do. Each has some features that you may find more desirable than others.
If you buy one of the name brands you'll be OK.

My big issue of those that are contenders is how does it feel in your hands. Some guys like a thumb hole, some don't. How easy is it to get the 209 primer into the hole... If its not comfortable, you'll never enjoy shooting it.

As for me... Thompson Omega for my inline and a Thompson Hawken Flintlock w/ iron sights for old school.
The scoped Omega for the modern sabots and powder.The flintlock w/ true black powder/ patch and round ball.
Each is a treat to shoot but the flintlock really takes me back in time when I carry it.

Best of luck in the decision and welcome back to the muzzy shoot addiction!

I bought the CVA optima lady week at Walmart for $330. It's the V2 with camo thumb hole stock and stainless barrel. Also came with the scope mount. I sighted it in lady Saturday. Very fun to shoot. Very smooth. If your lazy you don't want one. Very time consuming to clean. Was about a two hour process to completely clean. I took two deer with it yesterday morning. The first one was a awesome broadside shot in the sweet spot. She hit the ground immediately. The second one I shot high and forward. Hit the base of the neck. He dropped right on the spot. Both shots were at about fifty yards. I thought the second one was a doe but it was a button buck. After using this gun I will never take my shotgun out again. It's so much better. This is my first muzzle loader. I love it.

Go smokeless.

mightymet said:

I bought the CVA optima lady week at Walmart for $330. It's the V2 with camo thumb hole stock and stainless barrel. Also came with the scope mount. I sighted it in lady Saturday. Very fun to shoot. Very smooth. If your lazy you don't want one. Very time consuming to clean. Was about a two hour process to completely clean. I took two deer with it yesterday morning. The first one was a awesome broadside shot in the sweet spot. She hit the ground immediately. The second one I shot high and forward. Hit the base of the neck. He dropped right on the spot. Both shots were at about fifty yards. I thought the second one was a doe but it was a button buck. After using this gun I will never take my shotgun out again. It's so much better. This is my first muzzle loader. I love it.

Click to expand...

2 hours? What type of powder are you shooting?

That was for a complete tare down of the gun an soaking the firing pin, spring, breech plug and thoroughly cleaning everything. If all you want to do is clean the barrel and breech and do a little scrubbing on the firing pin area that's only a fifteen minute job. I use triple seven pellets. 50/50. I'm pretty anal about the cleaning. I get down In the trigger mechanism with qtips and I lube everything. I tend to go a little overboard but I enjoy doing it. I will say if you don't want to spend a ton of money on all the special cleaning stuff warm water and dish soap work great. I put the soapy water in a bucket and use the ram rod like a plunger and it washes the barrel out real nice. I would still run a seasoning patch through when your done to prevent corrosion. The foaming bore cleaner works good as well. Just shoot it in and let sit for a while. Then run your patches through. I have seen a friend of mine who has a inline barrel for his moss berg 500 fill his bathtub with soapy water an let the barrel soak in there. It works.

I will go smokeless next. Yeah, the Savage is $500 but if you are going to spend $300 may as well get what you want for $500.

If I were not to purchase a smokeless then it would be the T/C Impact. Does the job and only runs $199 at Vances.

The next muzzy I buy will be a T/C with a stainless barrel.

I did like Adam's light gun though.

The wife just bought me the CVA Optima V2 yesterday. Ordered the scope and mount from Midway, and will probably use it for shotgun season. It is the camo thumbhole stock with stainless barrel also. I love the feel of it in my hands, and it is very comfortable. I will let Pop use my remington slug gun and I will carry the CVA.

I have a TC Omega. Stainless barrel but not thumbhole stock. I really find it to be a nice one. A bit more than the Impact but not terribly more expensive. Truthfully not sure of the differences between the Impact and Omega to help you out any further. I will vouch for the Omega being a good one though.

I have an Encore. It shoots good and fits me well. That's about all the info I can offer for now, as I'm still new to the muzzy world.

You can pretty much just pick one that you like in your budget range and be happy. There will not be any difference in accuracy or downrange performance in any of them if shooting similar loads and barrel length. One doesn't shoot faster or farther than the next. Find one that fits your needs as far as takedown and cleaning since you will be doing that more total time than actually shooting. With today MZ's you can just pick what looks and feels good to you, that is easy to clean, fits your budget and you are set. I would be much more concerned about the optics than the gun itself.

Smokeless has advantages in ballistics and you do not need to clean after every session, I clean mine once or twice a year.. However it is more money to get started and requires a little more initial expertise to get started with one. I shoot almost exclusively smokeless MZ's and don't want to go back to traditional black substitutes, but it is not for everyone.

I've had a few inlines, and as Lundy pointed out, I've liked them all. They will seemingly all shoot well given a little time to find what they like. Currently, we are shooting the CVA Accura the most. It's the easiest gun I have to clean, which to me means it's the gun I'm most likely to not mind getting dirty. They are all a pain to clean, find one that is the least painful. I may someday get a smokeless, but quite honestly at this point I don't want one due to the fact I'm prone to being a bit thoughtless. It's a real possibility that I would load it with 90 grains or smokeless by volume and blow it and me to pieces!

brock ratcliff said:

I may someday get a smokeless, but quite honestly at this point I don't want one due to the fact I'm prone to being a bit thoughtless. It's a real possibility that I would load it with 90 grains or smokeless by volume and blow it and me to pieces!

Click to expand...

That could be a problem but then again the barrels on the smokeless have been proof tested to excess of 125,000 psi. Depending on the powder you more than likely get a nice half moon cut on your eyebrow that will need stitches.

When Mike shot his smokeless this week with an aluminum ramrod and a brass spin jag on top of his load he should be happy he was shooting a smokeless MZ. Results could have been much different with a lower pressure rated barrel.

MZ's do not leave much room for operator error and it is SO easy to make a mistake or to not really understand the cautions you need to take to stay safe. A bullet moving off of the powder charge, or not fully seating the bullet is one of the main culprits in barrel failure. It acts like a barrel obstruction. Pyrodex, T7 and others do not need compression from the bullet to ignite. With smokeless if it is not compressed it will not ignite. This is another reason why all should be careful and ALWAYS check your bullet seating periodically while hunting, especially with easy loading bullets like powerbelts. If the go down the barrel easy they can move off of the load easy also. I have had guys tell me they had them peaking out of the end of the barrel after a day of walking and hunting.

Check everything and then check it one more time BEFORE you pull the trigger.

I got the Traditions pursuit ultra light and it is a great gun for my use so far. Made the hills a little better not having that 7-8lb. of gun to lug lol. The only thing I don't like about it. The bluing of the barrel sucks IMO. I cleaned the heck out of that gun after hitting the range and it still has some lite rust all over the inside and outside of the barrel. Almost looks like dust it is so fine but not what I want on my barrel lol. If I had it to do again I would go stainless.

Other then going stainless the only other things I can tell you, is to find the ones that fit your budget and get your hands on as many guns in that range and shoulder each and everyone of them you can. If it's not stable when pulled up to your shoulder you won't hit the broadside of the barn.

Ricer2231 said:

Come in now. I know there's more muzzy shooters out there with an opinion about this.

Click to expand...

Whatever gun feels right.
But I'd highly suggest trying Blackhorn 209 powder.
Those pellets seem convenient, yeah, but Blackhorn 209 is the berries!
Easy to clean and no huge cloud of smoke...