Made the switch to Blackhorn 209

You shouldn’t be disappointed in that blackhorn and Barnes combo. Same thing I use in my cva. Never had a deer run after the shot. They’ve all been dead right there.

Glad to hear this!

It’s because the breech plug design on the disc extreme is backwards compared to how all the new mzs are designed. On the original disc extremes the breech has a large well on the muzzle side and a small hole on the shooter side. This results in less of the primer fire getting to the charge, even with their jacket technology. Best I can come up with is the well design was so that loose powder can get closer to the ignition source, in my experience loose powder in the extremes is much better than the pellets... Im surprised that you have much luck with the pellets because I never did.

New breech designs have the 209 encased on the firing pin side and a small hole on the muzzle side. This results in a much greater amount of the primer fire to enter the charge.

I do have proof of this because I have fired my disc extreme with no charge when I was having problems with a bad hang fire, and you could barely see any flame come out the barrel. I then took my dads cva and did the same thing and a flame shot out the end of the barrel by almost 2 feet.

I had to switch to loose powder on mine to get it to shoot without a slight hang fire and my dads gun shoots great with the pellets, I attribute this to the breech plug design.

Since the OP has a newer cva he should have no issues shooting the BH209... that’s what I’d be shooting if I had a different breech plug.

jajwrigh, I’m sure you will be pleased with your setup. I’ve been shooting the Barnes tipped mz, (the ones with the boat tail) over 110 grains of pyrodex for years and have had great performance from them both on paper and game, have yet to recover a bullet on any of the deer shot. Probably have taken close to 40 with this setup and there’s always a complete pass through; the entrance hole by inside of ribs is 0.75” or a little larger (fully expanded by that point ) and same on the exit. Shots ranging from 15 yards to nearly 200, with same results. I think the farthest I’ve ever tracked one was 100 yards.

So, I finally made it out today to shoot with the new powder/bullet combo.  There is A LOT of hype with each so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I used to own a Savage ML-II smokeless and I wondered how it would compare to shooting that.  Last year I was using 777 pellets and had the gun as dialed in as it was going to get and I did shoot a small buck with it.  I was using 300gr Hornaday XTP bullets as well. 

Anyways, so when I got to my 50 yard range I got my chair and tripod setup as I put my first load together.  I had pre-measured tubes of 100gr of 209 (by volume not weight), Federal 209a primers, and the Barnes Expander Spit-Fire T-EZ bullets in a 250gr weight.  My first shot went high and right, but I was glad to still be in the kill zone on my target.  9 shots later, I was done with my last 3 shots touching 1" to 1'5" high just like I wanted them.  The gun felt like it had good power.  The trigger is fantastic anyway which helps me shoot well.  I never swabbed or cleaned the barrel between shots and the bullets slid down almost effortlessly.  It was unbelievable!  The gun isn't very dirty at all, but you still get that nice smoke that you expect when you fire any black powder substitute.  

I actually prefer this gun over my Savage now without hesitation.  Same benefits with not having to clean between shots, but the CVA is so much lighter and more ergonomic.  I just sent my neighbor a message and told him he can have all of my 777 loose, pellets, and primers because I won't be using them anymore.  I forgot to mention, I did also upgrade to the BH 209 Breech plug offered by CVA to get the most out of the powder and for increased reliability.  It's like I have another rifle now, ready to go.  It really shoots as well as my 450 Bushmaster which is throwing bullets of the same size and weight.

Now,  I need to see how cleaning goes and then I need to hammer a deer or two with it!