My Muzzleloader Dilema
I have been spending quite a bit of time researching muzzleloaders to try and figure out what type of setup I want to purchase. The only blackpowder hunting I have done in the past was done with borrowed equipment. After several incidents last season that involved missed opportunities on nice bucks during firearm season in Michigan CB375HH talked me into picking up a good muzzleloader. I spend a lot of time hunting in the shotgun only zone in Michigan and rather than purchase a separate slug gun and black powder rifle I decided to take CB's advise and purchase a good muzzleloader. Now this is where things get interesting ...
I spent quite a bit of time researching muzzloaders on the internet and found that there really isn't a lot of scientific information out there on what make/models have the best accuracy. I am looking to spend reasonable amount money on a nice setup but like most hunters I am budget conscience and don't want to spent too much more than $500-$600 on the total setup. Now when doing my research I found that most black powder rifle owner's opinions were based on guns that they currently owned. For example the CVA guys seem to like CVA muzzleloaders and the ThompsonCenter guys seem to like TC muzzleloaders (no surprise eh?). I really didn't find too many folks out there that have owned different makes/models of muzzleloaders that preferred one gun over the other.
After much research I narrowing my choices downt to a CVA Optima Pro, Thompson Center Triumph, or Thompson Center Omega. In terms of value I know that CVA sells more muzzleloaders out there than anyone else. This is primarily due to the price of the CVA rifles. Comparing the CVA Optima Pro and the TC Omega I decided that the Omega was a better value (Cabelas has the Synthetic Thumphole Stock and Blued Barrel model on sale for $309). The big decision was now between the TC Omega and the TC Triumph. The Triumph is new for this year and I am always hesitant to pick up something that is brand new with little or no field testing (although TC has a reputation for developing innovative products). The Triumph features some interesting new features including a lighter weight receiver, 90 degree turn breach plug, and a new weather guard barrel. At $429 I am not sure that all of these new features are worth the extra money. After doing some research I learned that the barrel is effectively the same as the TC Omega. So what am I really getting by paying the extra $120? I am not really sure. These new features are definitely great editions to an already proven line of blackpowder rifles but are they worth the extra cost?
After some pondering and conversations with CB375HH I decided that the Triumph wasn't worht the extra money. Here is the setup that I settled on.
- Thompson Center Omega w/ Thumbhole Synthetic Stock and Blued Barrel
- Bushnell Elite 3200 Scope
- TC Omega Scope Mounts
Powder and ammo selection is still up in the air until I get a chance to tune the rifle and see what shoots best. I am probably going to start shooting 100gr. triple seven powder with 220gr. Dead Center sabots. I have read that this combination works well for whitetail hunting. I update this post once I get my hands on the new hardware. I am heading out at the end of this week to do some shopping.