After a few years of hunting with my Dave Clements 50 Cal Ruger Old Army I decided to try something different this year. Yesterday I purchased a CVA Optima Black Powder Pistol.

http://www.cva.com/CVA-Store-View.php?id=580

I came home an mounted a Burris Fastfire on it and am getting about 1400 fps with a 245 Gr Powerbelt and 100 gr of Blackhorn.

In recent years I have always carried a rifle as well as a pistol incase that record buck wasn't inclined to come in close enough, but this year I will only carry the Optima.

I have the Optima. It is deadly accurate. I will be taking it next weekend for our BP opener. If I had the clements .50 that would get the nod, but I understand playing with new toys too.

Congrats on the new gun. Can't wait to see some pictures.
I'll be using my 15 inch 209X50 Encore. I tried several different loads before finding that 100 grs of 777 and a saboted 300 gr 45 cal XTP was the load it likes. The deer and hogs hate it though!

Can't wait to see how it works. Should get the job done. reflex264

Okie hunter. Try some Blackhorn 209 powder. You'll love it. WAY easier to load on a fouled barrel and cleans up like smokeless.

I love it, but you have to use regular 209 primers instead of the ones that are made for black powder that have less output. Also it cannot be used with percussion caps.

That's true. They recommend a closed breach and regular 209 primers. An Encore 209x50 should work great with it. I use it in a TC Omega rifle. Very accurate.

I thought about getting one of those Optima pistols for muzzleloader season this year, but I decided against it in favor of a crossbow. How well does it shoot compared to a regular handgun?

For me it shot every bit as accurate as a regular handgun. I use 100grs Blackhorn 209 w/ 209 shotgun primers. Going to shoot mine in the morning. It is killing me waiting for this weekend and the start to BP season.

That optima sounds much more user friendly than my Kahnke 54 cal. I am shooting 425gr anywhere between 1400 and 1700 fps. If you can stand the recoil it is very accurate. I was thinking of getting a .50 barrel for it but may have to look at the optima. reflex264

reflex264 how much bp are you stuffing down the barrel. with 40grs of ffg and a round ball i can hit steel plate with ease at 50 60 yards. never used the 50 hawkins pistol as a hunting gun it was always just an extra shot.

I should explain when the Kahnke 82 was first developed it was intended to be one of the worlds most powerful handguns. With 90grs of FFFG it will launch a 425gr great plains 1440fps. Squarely in 500 Linbaugh territory. With 70grs of 777 that same bullet gets just over 1700fps and makes a .475 Linbaugh feel like a cap gun. reflex264

I love my Optima handgun!

I should add that when they are opperating normaly they make interchangable barrels for it. You can change the barrel in less than a minute. One screw then un-cam it. reflex264

Reflex any idea on base price for a 50 cal Kahnke 82? The site isn't listing prices while they are backordered.

That Optima looks sweet as well Hank. I feel like that's a reasonable price and your 245 @ 1400 fps is similar to a full house 44 magnum load.

I am going to try to call them in a few minutes. I heard that the owner has been sick. The optima looks like a real deal. reflex264

That's too bad. I hope he gets well soon!

I shot my Optima yesterday with a 2 White Hot pellets and a 250 gr Harvester Sabertooth bullet and I was AMAZED at how accurate it was! I had it sighted in with powerbelts and decided to try these Harvesters.. first 3 shots at 25 yds.. had 2 bullets in the same hole in the center... moved it out to 65 yds.. had two bullets touching right where I wanted them!!! This gun is easier to shoot than my TC's.. I have a straight 4x weaver on mine. It is very easy to clean up. Our opener is Saturday and I am praying that one of the 2 8 pts that stayed around me during the doe only season show back up!!

Somewhere on here is two pictures of the deer I took last year with the Optima ML handgun. It is one of the best values in handguns out there. Very accurate I have a combination of old and new Halo on the handgun and it is lights out to 100 yards. I like triple seven loose and load a power belt HP over it awesome effective combination on whitetail deer.