CVA Paramount powder alternatives

[stagpanther]

So here I am at the beginning of our short deer muzzleloader season and come to find out I'm nearly out of Blackhorn 209 which is CVA's exclusively recommended powder. Not to worry, the local GS's should have it--but yesterday my searches proved useless, due to lack of interest most of them only carry Pyrodex. I have plenty of that and triple 7--does anyone have any experience with those in the Paramount?

[Doyle]

Your Paramount will do fine with either Pyrodex or 777. The biggest difference is that both of those absolutely require cleaning after shooting to prevent corrosion. That being said, you'll likely have to work up a load as your POI with either of those will likely be different than it was with Blackhorn.

[stagpanther]

Thanks--I shot my paramount for the very first time today using what little blackhorn I had left; it's an amazing muzzleloader. I had put a night force SHV on and had completely forgotten the last rifle it was on was a 338 LM with 20 MOA rail so it took me some wasted shots and resetting the elevation zero-stop to finally get on paper. My very last shot remaining the reticle told me I needed about 10 MOA dial down to hit POA--I was quite glad when it hit the POA and smacked the bull's.

I can see why CVA recommends the blackhorn and the particular loads--it does burn very clean and I got no real benefit from going past their recommended 140 gr by volume which still easily topped 2400 fps with their unique 280 gr powerbelts. These bullets are a big step forward in muzzleloader performance--at 100 yds they are still cooking along at over 2000 fps and carrying almost 3000 ftlbs of energy. Bergara did a beautiful job engineering the rifle, lots of attention to details like the adjustable chin rest and trigger. Multiple attachment points for both swivel stud slings as well as their excellent included quick release sling which somehow does a great job of making my 12 lb set-up feel a lot less when shouldered for a hike.

[Doyle]

Yea, it appears CVA has come a very long way from when they earned the moniker Causes Violent Accidents. I haven't needed to shoot my ML once since moving to MS. Our crazy "primitive weapons" rules allow me to use a .35 Whelen so my ML just sits in the safe waiting for when I move again.

[Nodak1858]

I have an older Eclipse Magnum 50 cal I use Pyrodex in, pellets and loose. Both work well, can get 2-3 inch groups off hand at 100 yards, plenty good for deer. I'm sure I could do better monkeying with the charge but it's been good enough for me. Used Power Belt bullets in it, but not real impressed with them for the price. I hit a buck at 25 yards, went through both sides of the rib cage, going through bone both sides, zero expansion. But a half inch hole is large without expansion, haven't lost a deer I hit with it. I think I'll grab some lead and see how they preform. But haven't had any issues with Pyrodex in rifles or revolvers, good stuff and easy to find.

[stagpanther]

I had previously used a TC Impact--which while cumbersome to load, fire and clean shot pretty well. It too didn't shoot powerbelts very well, I still have a pile of older 50 cal ones collecting dust. This new high BC 45 cal one is something else, though, especially out of the paramount. What's REALLY interesting about it in the paramount is that CVA in the owner's manual warns that while it can handle higher blackhorn loads, they really don't help improve performance. My labradar tracking showed that in some cases the higher loads I used actually dropped off in velocity on the way to 100 yds compared to ones in the ideal--and lower--140 gr range loads. I've never seen anything like that before.