Well I "did the deed" this morning at my local dealers and swaped my Remington Model 7 for a Marlin MLS-50 for my grandson and a CVA Optima Mag. for me. I had to kick in $85 bucks too boot but I still got the $400 out of the Remington that I wanted. I'm pretty sure that the Marlin will be a good gun, stainless steel and all but I still don't feel totally comfortable with the CVA. I remember reading about how the Spanish barrels aren't proofed for the stronger loads that most inline shooters are starting to use.
I plan on using Pyrodex RS or maybe even some of the 3Fg that I've got on hand for my Flintlock as the powder. Just can't see spending that extra for Pyrodex Pellets, it just doesn't see worth it. $25 bucks for 5000 grains equiv. of Pyrodex vs about $15 bucks for 7000 grains equiv. for the RS makes the RS a much better deal all around and all I have to do is pre-measure our loads at the house and put em' in tubes. For the extra savings I think that little bit of extra effort would be well worth it.
Still not sure which bullet I'll use. I may go Maxi or I may go Sabot with a .429 in the 240 grain area. Of course for primers the Marlin will use #11 and the CVA will take a 209, I've still got plenty 209's left over from loading shotgun shells and I think I still have a tin or two of #11's around here someplace. Anyway, just wanted to give ya'll a heads up on what's been going on in the Muzzle loading dept. round these parts. Talk to ya'll later.
