Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008 - 61

.50/12-gauge. I have used this outfit on deer and turkey with good success, but the big news this year was the state-of-the-art muzzleloading cartridge called the ThunderCharge consumable cartridge. Magnum performance is promised without powder to measure or powder pellets to fumble with, and the consumable propellant (Black Mag 3) is available with DynoCore Magnum Bullets in 225 through 325 grains, both sabotted and non-sabotted (www.mdm-muzzleloaders.com). I admit that the utility of carrying one butt stock with a break action and several muzzleloader/shotgun/rifle barrels in the same rifle case makes sense. During the 2007 season I shot a doe in the morning with my T/C Encore .50, changed to a muzzleloading shotgun barrel in the afternoon and had a ball shooting squirrels with the same gun. Another advantage of the combo muzzleloader is the fit of the stock to your face as you look down the barrel of the shotgun. We’re talking turkey here. Turkey hunting is not wing shooting. The raised comb of the rifle butt stock creates an easier alignment with the top of the barrel. If you use fiber optic open sights or a red dot scope on top of the shotgun barrel, it enhances your ability to aim that swarm of shot. Most of the muzzleloading shotgun barrels (only single barrels can be installed in the current line of combos) have threaded muzzles so that various types of choke tubes can be installed. I use a turkey extra full for hunts where I expect a gobbler to play peek-a-boo across 30 yards of alfalfa, wheat or brush. Switching to a modified choke, I have the correct choice for squirrels and pheasants, and if you haven’t tried a “smokey” dove hunt yet, you are denying yourself a life-changing blast. The combo or combination gun allows the muzzleloader hunter to use (all of them are 209 ignition in-lines) 50-caliber (only choice) muzzleloading barrel in that particular season, and then drive out a pin and switch to a centerfire rifle barrel. Is this the SEPTEMBER 2008 end of the evolutionary spiral for muzzleloaders that began when manufacturers moved away from the more traditional and challenging external ignition systems found on historically recreated muzzleloaders? Only time and the market will tell. I had the chance to shoot and photograph the new Knight KP1 with muzzleloading turkey hunter legend Michele Bartimus at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. She was excited about the looks and accuracy of Knight’s (www.knightrifles.com) new workhorse. “The KP1 offers the easiest to use system of interchangeable barrels and receivers that transforms your rifle (Green Mountain Barrels) into a number of calibers (11) and a number of configurations, from centerfire to rimfire to muzzleloader to shotgun (20- and 12-gauges.)” On Media Day at the Las Vegas Sportsmen Club, ringing the 4-inch gong across 200 yards of sagebrush was an easy shot for this scoped muzzleloader. The next stop in the desert tumbleweed was with my old friend from CVA, Dave Meredith. In his hands was a familiar looking in-line that could be described as an Optima on steroids. The new CVA (www.cva.com) Accura Break Action advertises “an extremely accurate, custom quality Bergara Barrel . . . the most accurate production muzzleloader barrel in the world.” The 27-inch fluted barrels are available in blued or stainless steel. The break action receiver and barrel are mounted in an “ergonomically ambidextrous lightweight composite stock.” The stock contains a comfortable, giant thumbhole configuration that can be shot right or left-handed. The whole rig weighs seven pounds and is available in 45- or 50caliber. If you prefer a combo outfit, then you need to select the older Optima Elite or Pro Lines that will accept a 20- or 12gauge shotgun (both muzzleloading and breech loading) or various centerfire-caliber barrels. 61

http://www.mdm-muzzleloaders.com http://www.knightrifles.com http://www.cva.com

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2008

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