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Most deer hunters do not need the most expensive muzzleloader on the rack. You need one that fires reliably, shoots accurately at the distances you actually hunt, cleans without turning into an hour long project, and holds up through a wet December morning.
CVA Accura
You get a fluted 416 stainless Bergara barrel on the MR-X, and a lot of the versions add a Nitride treatment with Cerakote on the outside. CVA backs every Accura with an accuracy guarantee and covers manufacturer defects for life. There’s no ramrod hanging under the barrel either, so it floats free of the stock.
The comb adjusts, so you can get a solid cheek weld behind open sights or a scope in tall rings. The adjustment screw sits down inside the stock, so lefties don’t have a knob sticking out to deal with. The trigger adjusts too, and if heavy charges start beating up your shoulder, the threaded muzzle takes CVA’s Paramount brake. If you hunt a state or season that bans scopes, CVA also sells a version with a Williams peep sight and a fiber optic front.
Yea, you’re getting a better barrel and stock, but the MR-X costs more than twice what the other two do, and that’s before you buy a scope. Do you need a Bergara barrel to kill a deer inside 100 yards? Absolutely not. If most of your shots happen in the timber at that range, a good chunk of your money goes to long range performance you won’t use much.
The ramrod is a collapsible carbon fiber rod you carry separately, and it’s only for loading, so you’ll still need a solid rod at home for cleaning. If you hunt out of a tree stand like I do, you can see why one owner went ahead and bought a spare in case he dropped his.
At 14.5 inches, the length of pull is the longest of the three. That’s a lot of stock for a kid or a smaller shooter, and it feels even longer once you’re bundled up in a late season coat.
CVA Wolf
For about $240 to $310, you still get CVA’s QRBP. It twists out by hand, and CVA says it’ll still come out with your fingers after 20 or more shots.
The 1 inch spacer is the big one if you’re buying for a kid. Pull it and the length of pull drops from 14 inches to 13, so the same gun fits a kid now and an adult later. That shorter setup helps on a cold late season sit in a heavy coat, too.
The stock is fully ambidextrous and the cocking spur reverses, so lefties and righties can both shoot it. At 39 inches, it’s the shortest of the three, and most versions use a 416 stainless barrel with a bullet guiding muzzle to help you start the bullet straight.
CVA makes a bunch of Wolf V2 versions, so check the model number before you buy. Some have blued barrels instead of stainless, and the base models come set up with either fiber optic sights or a scope mount, not both.
The comb doesn’t adjust either. Put a scope in tall rings and you’ll be lifting your head off the stock to see through it, and that’s exactly the problem the MR-X’s adjustable comb fixes.
Traditions Buckstalker XT
The base model runs under $300, and Traditions still puts a lifetime warranty on it. The Accelerator Breech Plug comes out by hand in three turns, and it’ll shoot loose powder or pellets.
The Elite XT trigger lets you open the action and pull the primer at the end of a hunt without ever taking the gun off safe. A rebounding hammer gives you a second safety on top of that. And with a 24 inch barrel, the whole gun comes in at 40 inches and 6.35 pounds, which makes it easy to swing in a ground blind or thick brush.
There are a few downsides though. The base model has a blued barrel, so plan on wiping it down after every wet sit. If you hunt in a lot of rain, I’d lean toward one of the Cerakote versions.
The base model also comes drilled and tapped with no sights, so add a rail, rings, and a scope to the price. If you’d rather buy it ready to sight in, the Redi-Pack comes with a 3-9×40 scope already mounted, and there’s a version with fiber optic sights too.
Fitting a kid is the other catch. Traditions sells a separate youth model with a 13 inch length of pull, while the Wolf V2 handles it with a removable spacer in one stock, so the gun grows with the kid.