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I am looking to buy a new muzzleloader. I have been looking at TC Encore but I do not know to many people who have much experience/advice with muzzleloaders. Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Deer, My son shoots a tc omega and loves it..I dont think you can go wrong with any tc….They are awesome muzzleloaders.

Are those easy to clean? I have a friend that bought a muzzleloader (not sure what brand) and he had to clean it after each shot. That may have more to do with the powder than gun though. This has been 4 yrs ago now, so they may be cleaner to shoot and maintain. I will look at the omega a little closer. Thanks!

Deer,  Don’t overlook the CVA line of muzzleloaders.  They are good guns, accurate and a lot cheaper than a T/C.  I’m not saying that T/C does not make a good product, my first ML was a T/C Renegade .54, but I would put my CVA Accura or my daughter’s CVA Wolf up against any other gun on the market.  I don’t think a lot of the higher priced guns can match the 1 1/2 inch groups we can get off a bench at 100 yards.  I have used a ML for deer hunting here in Illinois for almost 30 years and have progressed from the before mentioned Renegade caplock to a bolt action inline Traditions to a CVA Optima to my present CVA Accura.  Started with Pyrodex , tried a lot of other powders in between, and now use Blackhorn 209, which IMO is the best powder on the market.  We shoot 100 grains of Blackhorn behind a saboted 240 grain .44 cal Nosler pistol bullet.  One thing to remember if you do buy a ML is that every gun is different and you will need to experiment with different powder charges and maybe even different bullets to see what your gun shoots best.  Hope this helps

Deer, I have 2 Knights.  They feature Green Mountain barrels.  The triggers are pretty darned good right from the factory.  That is difficult to find.  I shoot 777 pellets and power belt bullets.  Some don’t like these but with both rifles I cloverleaf my shots at 200 yards.  Those Green Mountain barrels are easy to clean also. Very smooth lands and grooves. I would imagine that if I switched to one of the newer cleaner powders/pellets it would only be even easier.But why fix what isn’t broken?

I shoot a TC Omega.  I enjoy my MZ loader more than a slug gun.  Only knock on it is if I had to do it over again, I would look into a gun that has a quick release breech plug.

I have a T/C omega I absolutely love but it’s showing some age, I got new T/C Encore Pro Hunter last year after returning a Traditions Vortek Hammerless (several things I didn’t like with it)  the T/C has a way better fit and finish than the traditions but that being said I had to send in the T/C to have a new firing pin put in after just a few round, ti was in the shop for months, and i’ve had issues since then as well…..........so I can’t recommend the T/C Encore or the lousy service at Smith and Wesson….......horrible.

I would say my next muzzleloader will be the CVA Accura V2 have only heard great things out of them.  amazing how popular muzzleloading is now for there not to be a really nice one on the market.  $700 gets you a top notch center-fire but only a marginal muzzleloader, frustrating

There used to be a top of the line MZ available, but it never really caught on over a wide spread scale.  The Savage 10ML-II.  Its a real gun, built on a real rifle action.  You could shoot black powder out of it if you wanted.  But all the real advantages came with shooting smokless.  I’m glad I have mine, and haven’t had the black powder out of the safe for years.  I shoot 43gr of Vitavourhi N110 behind a 300gr Hornady SST.  I’m comfortable out to 200yds with it as that’s as far as I have practiced.  Alas, they stopped production because of demand.  And now a used one commands 2x what the gun cost new.

As far as black powder guns go, I have a Traditions Pursuit Pro.  After a trigger job, I loved the gun.  It was a 200yd gun with 100gr of 777Magnum and a 300gr Hornady SST.  However, if I ever dig it back out of the safe, it will be loaded with BlackHorn 209 as recommended above.  I don’t know many hardcore MZ shooters that aren’t shooting BlackHorn now.  It’s more consistent since its a loose powder, and is much easier to clean up.  Everyone I can think of off the top of my head who has tried it, ended up switching to it.

If I was buying a new MZ, I don’t know that I would spend the extra money for the T/C name.  They do make good guns.  But I don’t know if I could justify the extra cost when there are others that perform just as well.

I like the CVA Accura V2. It sounds like it is a pretty gun good. The TCs are a little high in price but I don’t mind paying for it if its worth it. I had also forgot about knights mzs. Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it!

I bought a Traditions buckstalker at Bass Pro for $179 without a scope.  I got them to match Gander and then another 10 % off for putting on their card.  I got a good scope at Gander and it works great.  I like the easy thumb screw removable breech plug.  Got a big doe on my first MZ hunt.  I found this cleaning solution called Muzzle Magic at Dunhams for 8.99 that does a great job of cleaning up the gun.  I highly recommend it.  Wish I bought a MZ sooner but was scared of them and the only one shot.  Its worked out great.

Have to agree with blackpowder hunter we shoot a cva optima and my son shoots the cva wolf with the 209 blackhorn and the 44 pistol bullets but only shoot 8o grains and it shoots great haven’t bought any bullets in a few years but a box of 250 bullets and 250 sabots was only 60 $ for all pretty cheap shooting and very accurate

I have a TC Omega with a thumbhole stock that I bought about 6-7 years ago. Never fired it yet. Sounds like you guys know these guns pretty good. What kinda range does it have with open sights?

Baba, That depends on how good your eyes are.  When I shot open sights when I first started hunting with a ML, 75 yards was about my max simply because anything farther than that was pretty much blocked out by the front sight.  Do yourself a favor and mount a good scope on your T/C.  With good optics and the right powder/bullet combination these modern guns can be deadly accurate.  You only have one shot, so why not do the things to make that one shot count!!

Black, I’m 46 and no glasses yet. No vision issues at all, hearing however… I have considered that Nikon Omega scope. I hear with that scope u can really reach out there and the land I hunt presents many 100 plus yd shots.

Unless the law requires open sights….you are really not seeing any of the benefits of a MZ unless you have a scope on it.  A MZ is really not much better at 75yds with open sights than a decent slug gun at the same distance with open sights.  Now…..175yds…..that’s where the big difference can be found.  But you can’t see what your aiming at with iron sights at that distance.

Put a quality scope on it, and never look back.

Agreed BW. I am looking at the Nikon 3-9 x 40 BDC 300 reticle. This will be my first gun with a scope. It has alotta good reviews. What are your thoughts on this scope?