To buy or not to buy.................

[Thunderflight]

So far my trip back to Ohio has been "sportsman wise" not exciting. I've been in Sommerville since we arrived because Mom's place in Jtown didn't have power. We're going to Kings Island tomorrow, but will be headed Jtown on Tuesday. HOPEFULLY during this period I'll be able to do some shooting and at least secure access to a few hunting properties.

Anyway, two days ago we headed over to Jtown to get some stuff for Mom's B-day party. During this period I stopped by a friends place to BS and he showed me his new TC Impact .50 cal ML.

I can get this gun on sale for about $230. I've got an in line already, but the price and fact that I might be able to get another 100 yards of performance from this weapon really has me thinking.

Right now I've got an old CVA Apollo .50 cal with a 1:32 twist rifling (yes I know CVA recalled the apollo barrels and this is the new one). The gun is scoped with a Simmons Deer Slayer scope and has killed quite a few white tail deer. Oh, I have the 209 conversion kit on it too.

The Impact is .50 cal and a 1:24 twist. I've never shot one, but the gun is very well built and I especially like how the primer can be installed with out having to worry about the bolt going home and accidentally discharging the weapon.

Here's the delima. Most of you know I'm an archery hunter at heart and normally don't gun hunt that much. This elk hunt has the potential to be the trip of a lifetime, but while the added performance would be nice the fact is I'll probably hardly use the gun afterwards (then again you never know).

So what do you think?

Buy the new gun and enjoy the confidence in the added performance?
Keep the old gun and know your limitations?

BTW another delima is that the money I'd spend on this could be used towards my 2014 sheep hunt deposit too......

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Buy the new one and take both!

 

[jagermeister]

Keep the old gun... bait with cheetos. Ummm, that was easy.

 

[Ohiosam]

Where are you going for elk? Do you know what limitations, if any, they have on muzzleoaders there? ie can you use scopes, sabots etc.

The faster twist SHOULD shoot heavier bullets better, which is a real advantage on elk.

 

[finelyshedded]

I voted for buying the new gun! Sam brought up some good points to consider as well.

 

[CJD3]

New Gun.
Sam makes a couple good points.
There will always be room for just 1 more gun.

 

[Archertl]

always room for one more muzzle loader

 

[Thunderflight]

Where are you going for elk? Do you know what limitations, if any, they have on muzzleoaders there? ie can you use scopes, sabots etc.

The faster twist SHOULD shoot heavier bullets better, which is a real advantage on elk.

New Mexico Unit 15 1st ML season. This unit is trophy managed and doesn't get rifle hunted. The chances of killing a BIG bull are VERY good.

 

[DJK Frank 16]

Buy the new one and go hammer a giant bull elk!

 

[Thunderflight]

I was thinking that if I did buy it I could take the scope off my 30-30 and use it (honestly a scope on a 30-30 is blasphemous). That would save the money for the optics and all I'd need would be scope mounts.

 

[Jackalope]

Borrow your buddies gun, put the money towards a sheep hunt.

 

[jeremy44230]

Get it, good deal!!

 

[Buckmaster]

Buy it and hunt with confidence.

Or borrow the TC Encore 50 cal. I traded Bill Bullard recently. You should know him.

 

[Dannmann801]

OR>>>>>> go buy a TC Encore.
Here's why I say that....

My muzzleloader is a Knight Wolverine, comparable to the TC Impact, at the low end of the product line.
Love it. No problems.
but I'm finding that as I start out buying things on the "low end", even though they get the job done, I find myself hooked and wishing I had the higher end features.

Only you know whether you'll use it enough in the future....but if there's even a doubt, and if you can swing it....

BTW, when I was looking to buy, I thought the Impact was a fine piece. Just went another way.

 

[RedCloud]

I like Joe's answer on this one lol.

No since in droppin money on the new gun if ya gonna use it but a few times and let it sit in the gun cabinet. Might as well use the money for the sheep hunt. It will get that out of the way now and plus, you can eat the back straps

 

[Thunderflight]

Some good advise so far. Jack's and Red's are kinda what I was thinking. I'm gonna play with my CVA first. If I can hit a pie plate at 150 then it's going to NM in October.

To be honest I'm in sensory overload right now. There's so much cool stuff to be had in the USA and I've got the money in the bank now. Bad think is that money is allocated for appliances, bedroom set for my daughter, Uhaul trailer, gas, and other MISC moving expenses.

 

[Lundy]

I don't understand the potential 100 yd performance gain.

The terminal performance of both guns will be the same if shooting the same load.

If the barrel length is the same, shooting the same powder, same sabot, same bullet, ballistics will be the same.

If the TC design allows for a hotter load to be utilized over the CVA there would be some minimal gain, but certainly no where near a 100 yd variance

The only real performance gain you could hope for is some level of accuracy gain based upon barrel quality and twist.

Take any MZ with the same length barrels and dump the same load down the barrels and they all spit the bullets out at the same speed. Downrange accuracy will only be dependent of barrel quality and appropriate twist for bullet of choice.

The only way to increase downrange ballistics is to increase velocity and BC of the projectile.

I don't know the max load rating of the Apollo or the TC, If you can shoot more pressure (recoil) in the TC you may gain a little terminal performance, but increased maximum loads and pressure does not always result in optimum accuracy.

Just my opinion.

 

[Thunderflight]

I don't understand the potential 100 yd performance gain.

The terminal performance of both guns will be the same if shooting the same load.

If the barrel length is the same, shooting the same powder, same sabot, same bullet, ballistics will be the same.

If the TC design allows for a hotter load to be utilized over the CVA there would be some minimal gain, but certainly no where near a 100 yd variance

The only real performance gain you could hope for is some level of accuracy gain based upon barrel quality and twist.

Take any MZ with the same length barrels and dump the same load down the barrels and they all spit the bullets out at the same speed. Downrange accuracy will only be dependent of barrel quality and appropriate twist for bullet of choice.

The only way to increase downrange ballistics is to increase velocity and BC of the projectile.

I don't know the max load rating of the Apollo or the TC, If you can shoot more pressure (recoil) in the TC you may gain a little terminal performance, but increased maximum loads and pressure does not always result in optimum accuracy.

Just my opinion.

Thanks, I was actually wondering the same thing. My friend was telling me that he was shooting 200 yards (knock off 50 because he exaggerats a lot). He didn't say how tight his groups were though. I'm thinking if I can hit a basket ball at 150 I should be GTG. Yes a basket ball is a large target, but so aren't the vitals on a bull elk.

I doubt I'm gonna have time to shoot this week. The best case is tomorrow and since we're headed to JTown today and have a few things we need to take care of first I doubt it's gonna work out. We'll see though. I'm dying to get to the range and find out.

 

[Thunderflight]

I finally got to do some shooting.

50-100 yards the Apollo was DEAD ON!

150 she shoots 8 inches low. With some Kentucky windage I'm DEAD ON!!!!

I'm shooting these in .300 grain.

I REALLY like this bullet. At 100 yards my rounds were touching each other! I was also using 90 grains for triple seven FFG. This was my first time using it and I'll NEVER use pydrodex again.

I'm headed to PA tomorrow to get our car, check in, and sign for our house on base. I'll be shooting it again next week to see how she shoots at 200 (I'm just curious).

 

[Ohiosam]

That sounds good. What bullet is that?