Hi Skeet....
Ok... then let's argue
, if that is all I do. I don't disagree with you that many guns don't perform well, but my first muzzleloader was a T/C that I got through the Hunter Education Program. This gun did not shoot accurately at all. All of my T/C's except 1, have had to be returned to the factory and all except one Big Boar have had the barrels replaced.
My first try at a kit was a CVA. With a patched ball, that gun was very accurate. Now, most of the guns I shoot, I don't shoot to 100 yards, nor do most of the others I see shooting. If I can put my shots into one hole or touching at 50 yards I'm happy. That's what I build a load to.
With the CVA I started with round balls. My first days on the range were pretty dismal if I remember I was depressed. At 25 yards I couldn't get 5 shots to touch so I started looking for reasons.
The answer for the CVA was a linen patch from Dixie that we soaked in a sort of moose milk. That got my bullets touching at 25 yards. Finally it turned out that I needed to change my powder, which I did, and all of a sudden my bullets essentially were covering each other.
Out to 50 yards and they were still touching or within 1/2" of each other. I upped my loads till the group opened up some then backed off. At 100 yards into a pie plate or bowling pins, we were able to put pretty much 10 out of 10 into the 6" pie plate and so I was ready to go hunting. I don't know what the group would have been off the bench at 100, but I'd level a bet that someone accomplished could do 2" all day long.
What I learned from this experience, is that many guns shoot much better than we think if we try just a little harder.
CVA hasn't been known to be the worlds classiest barrel, but after a little experimenting, a lot of help from others we got the gun shooting well enough to go hunting and it took its first mouflon sheep that summer on Lanai.
Aloha...
