Author Topic: Optima Question (Read 553 times)

2oakes · « **on:** December 13, 2005, 07:24:18 AM »

Question from a friend:

CVA Optima 209 with CleanBore Primers and two 50g pellets of 777 behind a Powerbelt Aerotip.

This gun fires fine in the summer and warm weather, but when hunting in cold weather, the report is much reduced and bearly ejects the bullet.

This is a sealed, break action and this occurs after leaving it out in a cold garage overnight during the hunt, to keep the gun and scope at a constant temp. The blind is pretty warm during the day, so this involves a few warm/cool cycles.

Is this typical of inline MLs, and are there any suggestions to avoid it?

Muskie Hunter · « **Reply #1 on:** December 13, 2005, 11:07:15 AM »

My guess is that moisture is forming on the inside of your barrel and making it's way to the powder,probably due to the fact that you are exposeing it to cold/warm enviorments.Now that is just an educated guess and I could be barking up the wrong tree but I have had that kind moisture experience with an old side lock of mine.Experience tells me to just fire off the shot at the end of the day and load new the next day to avoid the problem.This happened to me two years in a row,costing me a deer.

2oakes · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2005, 09:54:35 AM »

Quote from: Muskie Hunter

My guess is that moisture is forming on the inside of your barrel and making it's way to the powder

Thanks for the reply - That's what I suggested to him.

I just wasn't sure how much leeway modern bp equivalents gave when temperatures change. It seemed that the powder, tightly wedged between the plastic base of the powerbelt and the primer, would be immune to such moisture over a relatively short time. At least enough to ignite in a reasonable fashion.

cynrays · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2006, 03:26:39 PM »

I had the same problem using American Pioneer. I thought that I had lucked upon a good powder. Was shooting the muzzle loader one day last summer and then put the loaded gun in my travel trailer. When I went to shoot the gun the next day it barely left the barrel. I got the powder measure and put more powder in and shot the gun. The bullet hit half way to the 100 yard target. No more AP for me. I went back to triple 7.
Seems that I always have trouble with muzzle loaders that others do not have.

slave · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2006, 05:02:26 AM »

May be bad pellets. Seen it before. They draw mositure at different rates.
Produces random results. It makes you think it is occuring in the rilfe over time but it may have been bad in the box.