Accuras, Optimas, Wolfs, oh my!

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Jason313

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OK so i am loking to buy my first in line, budget 400$ absolute max, preferable closer to 3. I looked at a few at cabellas, to get an idea what i was really dealing with when surfing the web, and I found that the CVA optima has a markedly thicker barrel than the wolf, or any of the others, Thomson Center, Vortek, they all have thinner walled barrels. I havent held an Accura but i hear is pretty much the same barrel, just has the Belgara brand. Despite the thick barrel the gun is very light, but my question is, in general, putting the carry weight aside, is there any advantage of large barrel over light, or vice versa?
 
Generally, the longer barrels will provide a little extra velocity for reaching out to the longer, extreme fringe of hunting distances.
Accuracy doesn't really suffer at the distances of about 200 yards or more due to a barrel being 2 or 3 inches less in length.
Some of the Traditions models are now making barrels from Chromoly steel which I believe is used for smokeless guns, which means they are stronger than ever.
That's not to say that every model or barrel is the same quality, or that every model has a barrel made to the same specs.
Read as many reviews as you can for each model, and you should find that most models have the potential to shoot with great accuracy.
But I don't think that barrel length or barrel thickness is the deciding factor for most unless they're built for extreme long range shooting.
The scope can be just as limiting of a factor as any other feature of any model, just like any loading component can be.
And bullet trajectory and drop still need to be accounted for when attempting shots at extremely long range, especially out to 200 - 250 yards.
Budget priced guns with shorter barrels generally won't shoot to quite as long distances as accurately.
From what I've read, a quality 25 inch barrel can shoot out beyond 200 yards accurately, with only a little more bullet drop than one with a longer barrel of the same model.
 
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The limiting factor of all black powder firearms, because of the relatively low velocities that BP can achieve - on the order of 2000 fps - is the ability of the shooter to judge distances and the sights on the firearm. If you are shooting at 175 yards but are setting your point of aim thinking you are shooting at 150 yards it does not matter if your firearm can shoot minute-of-angle groups, because you are going to hit low. IMHO, if you are going for ranges of over 100 yards stick with a modern cartridge, like the 30-06 or .270 WCF, because the trajectory is so much flatter.

I own several modern inline muzzleloaders and they all seem to be well made. The finish on the Wolf is just not quite as nice as the Optima.
 
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