Just bought my gun for next years elk hunt. CVA Wolf that I plan to use in Colorado for elk. I have never used black powder, but am looking forward to a good 9-10 months of practice until season. Anyone have any suggestions on brands for powder and bullet?

I'm a muzzleloader guy big time (have over a dozen). Here's a load that provides good accuracy in most .50 caliber guns, as well as plenty of THUMP on game; 85 to 90 grains Hodgdon Pyrodex RS, Hornady .452 300 grain XTP, Harvester short black smooth sabot. You might also try the same load with Hodgdon Triple Seven powder. But I've always found Pyrodex more forgiving with a wider range of accurate load weights. Be sure to clean the gun with water and a bit of dish soap within a day of shooting it, and use some form of anti-seize on the breech plug threads.

Harvester Sabot - https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/5481

Hornady Bullet - https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/6558

If you find that powder load gives you more recoil than you want in the little Wolf, back the charge down to 70/75 grains. It will still get the job done. You just won't have as flat a trajectory.

For elk, I would use a tough bullet and plenty of powder. I’ve had good results with 120 grains of 777 pellets and a 250 grain Hornady Monoflex ML sabot. Haven’t shot an elk with the combo, but it has punched all the way through some big bodied whitetail and hogs.

Scott- Make sure you are tracking all the Colorado muzzleloader rules! The states out west tend to be very particular on what they will allow.

Colorado for example: DOES NOT allow pelletized powder or sabot projectiles and DOES NOT allow for scopes or any battery powered device to be on the rifle.

I would highly recommend spending the $30 to get a Blackhorn 209 breech plug and then use BH209 as your powder. It is the cleanest and most consistent available and you will want to eek out every bit of performance that you can with a muzzleloader.

As for bullets- since you cannot use sabot projectiles it limits your choices significantly. But Thor, Hornady FPB and Powerbelts are going to be your options. I've found muzzleloaders (esp the several CVA in-lines) to be finicky with charge and projectile combo. BUT, when you find the right one they are capable of great accuracy.

I would also start taking a look at premium iron sights. A good set will extended your honest effective range. Iron sights are not a gimme proposition, even with an elk. Moreso- especially with an elk where you aren't likely to get a follow up shot so the first one needs to count. Here's a great read on options and how-to.

https://www.gohunt.com/read/skills/increased-accuracy-from-an-open-sight-muzzleloader#gs.xriZoC0

Oops! I forgot about Colorado's prohibition on sabots.

Given that you have plenty of time before your hunt, I suggest you get the .50 caliber sample pack of full bore lead bullets from No Excuses and see which weight shoots best in your gun.

https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.com/product/50-caliber-sampler-pack/

If you do that, use a dry wool felt wad under the base of the bullet for best accuracy.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/174/1

Nice! I was actually planning on getting the CVA Wolf for Muzzleloader season in January. Never fired one before in my life, but I like the fact you can hunt doe on public land without an antlerless permit. So I was planning on filling my doe quota with a muzzleloader

Hey Binary
I shoot a CVA Wolf. Mine seems to really like 100gr (2- 777 pellets) of powder and the hornady 245gr SST sabot. Works great on deer and even better on hogs

I have a Wolf and shoot 2 777 pellets and a 245 gr aero tip power belt with great results on whitetail, for Elk I would add a 3rd pellet

Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind when I pickup that Wolf. I'm a total noob on muzzleloaders so all advice is always welcome. Got quite a bit of practice shooting/testing to do prior to Muzzleloader season opening on Jan 7! Is there a specific vendor you like buying your supplies from?

muzzle-loaders.com has the wolf starting at $179.99.

I had been hunting for years with a CVA Hunter hand me down from an Uncle, I enjoyed it so much I was saving my pennies for a TC or Knight. Then Gander went out of business and they had a Wolf started kit marked down 60 %, never looked back! Took a doe and a cull buck last year, I probably should have included it in the best hunting buy thread!

Again- for elk in Colorado and several other states you can't use pelletized powder. Additionally- simply adding a 3rd 50gr pellet most of the time does nothing but increase the recoil. Just like tweaking a handload for a rifle you have to find the spot where it will perform the best.

I can tell you from owning 3 CVAs and having a buddy with 2-- adding a 3rd pellet hurt accuracy in every gun. Go with a powder you can measure like BH209, be meticulous about your load preparation and work your way up with your charges and you'll find the spot where you are getting 1" groups at 100 yards AND you'll have plenty of terminal performance.

That is good to know, I haven't done much with experimentation, I did pick up a 209 breech plug, so I could start playing a bit.

I've found that with the BH209 plug I run 82gr (by weight)

A very important fact with muzzleloaders is that charge weights are most often measured by EQUIVALENT volume and not by weight. But- since I can get more accurate by weighing out charges on my scale I do it that way. It gets me to about 110gr by volume equivalent so it is still very safe and that is where I've had my best luck with accuracy.

Use blackhorn 209. It burns clean enough so that you can reload another charge without swabbing the barrel. I use Hornady FPBs as my slug of choice.

I have a Wolf and a Encore Endeavor. BH209 doesnt cause the barrel to rust as fast either.

Ive hunted Colorado... do not put optics on the gun, use pellets or sabots.

BIG SUGGESTION : When you load the muzzleloader on a clean barrel, keep the ramrod in the tube. Take a silver sharpie and draw a ring on the rod. Now remove it. If you ever load a 2nd shot or more and the rod ring isnt near the muzzle, you dont have the bullet seated all the way.

Question for all you muzzleloader hunters …. when you head out do you walk around with your muzzleloader already packed/loaded so that you are ready to take the shot when the time comes or are you waiting to load? In my head, I can't imagine trying to load it up on the spot before a shot - but I also don't know how well the load stays seated when walking around.

<--- total noob to muzzleloaders but looking forward to the season starting in Jan!

I load it up and keep the primer out. When I get into position i put primer in and wait. Before i shoot i pull back hammer.

I have a break open inlines

If I'm hunting from a treestand or blind I will not prime muzzleloader until I'm in position. If I'm stalking or still hunting I will have my inline primed with the hammer down. I'm relentless about constantly checking my equipment to ensure safeties are on, hammers haven't been cocked, etc etc. It comes from repetition-- but I would do only what you are comfortable with.

Being a noob (literally zero experience with muzzleloaders), I think I'm just a little worried about the Pyrodex and bullet coming unseated after it's packed in. I don't know if that is something that happens or not. I'm 100% a stalker/still hunter and don't know if that is an actual concern I should have or not. In my mind, moving around for hours could unseat the load - but that's the mind of an unexperienced muzzleloader user.

A bullet in a sabot will not move off the charge so long as it had a reasonably snug fit.

Try this. Load the gun but don't prime it. Now hold it vertically - muzzle down - and bump the muzzle a time or two on a piece of wood on the ground. Then insert your ram rod gently to see if the bullet is still fully seated or has moved off of the charge. If it moved you probably should try a different bullet/sabot combination with a snugger fit.

In the field, if your gun takes a hard knock it's a good idea to remove the primer and insert the rod to check that the bullet is still fully seated.

That is exactly the kind of advice I was looking to hear. This will definitely help put my mind as ease.

Much appreciated to everyone who took the time to respond!

And good luck this weekend during regular season!

You will find find after you fire a few practice rounds that you really don't have to worry about the projectile coming unseated if you are using Aerotips, saboted bullets or patched round balls. The Buffalo bullets with just bore butter on them might. I have some but have never tried them. The big concern will be making sure the bullet is seated on the powder charge especial after firing a few rounds and the barrel gets fouled. bg

In reference to bullets, "Aerotips" should have read Powerbelts. Sorry for the misinfo. bg