kentucky rifle

MOOMAN Both will do anything tha tyou want them to. I have many makes of muzzleloaders,along with the calibers that go with them. The Traditions make goog firearms,and they are as accurate as the indivivual that is shooting them. You might have to spend a little time working up the load that shoots the best in yours,but they will shoot. The CVA will do the same thing with some work in ref. to the load workup. Its pretty much across the board. At this point I really dont know of any muzzzleloaders that are either made in country,or those that are imported that I would consider to be real junk. My .50 by traditions have a 1:66 twist and shoot very well ,If you want a rb rifle,dont go any faster that the 1:66:63 twist. Lyman also makes a very good rifle. It kinda depends on how much ya want to spend,and manuf. rifle ya wanna shoot. Dont ferget PEDERSOLI either. Good luck..king

Ok now that the teasing is done.
I have the cva split stock .45 kit gun they sell. I got it second hand and whomever put it together made a mess of it,this will be my winter project.
When I recieved the weapon I cleaned it up and fired at the range.I have enough experiance to know about loads an did not spend the time to work up a proper one for this gun,but I got a 1.5" group at 25yrds,(holes touching)enough to tell me it will/can get better. It's got a nice balance(for me),and not too heavy too hold "off hand".The Traditions and CVA lock are inexpensive locks(read cheap),and owning both types I've found they need a little work(light stone to remove burrs)and plenty of care to be smooth.I would not spend alot of money on either one,when ya hit that $200+ range there are better guns available.Lyman,Cabelas,T/C

johnt,

That split stock cva was the first BP rifle that I ever owned, even put it together myself. The funny thing about cva's, is that even as cheap in quality as they are, they have very good barrels accuarcy wise. If you don't like BP shooting, then you don't have much into it. There are limitations (which you seem to be aware of) which don't make sense to go past in making the rifle any better then it already is. When you get to that point, buy something better and move on. The traditons are cheap just like the cva. Can' help you much on inlines, but if you decide to move up to really nice production or custom rifles, or even building of your own tradional style rifle, send me a message. BTW for a first BP rifle, the CVA will be a good learning tool. Keep your powder dry!

Wallynut

Lyman Great Plains Rifle

Despite the fact of not having "Kentucky/Pennsylvania" styling, you've picked what probably is the best value for the money in the moderate range. I can't say enough good about the Lyman Great Plains. I have only two problems with the gun: 1) I really dislike the "issue" sights. That thick front blade covers up an awful lot of landscape out at 100 yards, or even at 50. And the buckhorn rear is retained in its elevation by a spring, which compresses when the sight is pushed down...which is pretty often, since the rear sight is at the balance point of the rifle. If it doesn't return to exactly the same place each time, you got big troubles. I replaced mine with a folding rear from Marble's. The front I replaced with the T/C bead sight for the Hawken, then undercut and painted the bead with red sight paint. 2) I found that my groups improved with a little glass bedding, especially under the tang. Well, I said two, but here's some more: 3) The snail bolster looks like it was designed by committee. 4) The buttplate has sharp edges and will cut the crap out of your shoe (I rest the butt on my shoe when loading on concrete.). 5) You will probably wind up needing to replace the little cleanout screw with one that has a head. It's metric...and I can't remember the size.