2021 has been rocky for muzzleloading manufacturers of all sizes. From supply chain shortages and disruptions to logistics nightmares causing delays for just about everyone, from the top to the bottom we’ve felt the hurt.

Latest in this year of pain is a series of accuracy issues from hunters shooting CVAs for the 2021 season. First spotted on the forums a week ago, shooters were finding their new and old CVA muzzleloader weren’t shooting accurately. Theories ranged from junk new models recently sold by CVA, to theories about Hodgdon changing the formula for Blackhorn 209 (Both of which we know to be false at this time). None of these theories explained the issues CVA owners were having with guns that shot fine earlier in the year.

CVA dug in to find the issue and looks to have found the common denominator. All the CVA muzzleloaders with issues were shooting Paramount or Accura rifles in the .40 or .45 caliber models.

Turns out a bad batch of Powerbelt bullets are to blame, more specifically the plastic skirt wasn’t molded correctly, throwing off the balance of the bullet in flight. See the photos and statement released by CVA brand manager Jason Sebo below:

ATTENTION ALL PARAMOUNT AND/OR POWERBELT ELR SHOOTERS:

Several CVA customers have recently reported serious accuracy issues with their .45 caliber or .40 caliber Paramount, Paramount HTR, Paramount PRO, or Accura rifles. For some shooters, the gun may have shot great groups in the past, but suddenly developed issues. For some with the newer .40 caliber Paramount guns, accuracy issues may have occurred right out of the box.

WE HAVE FOUND THE PROBLEM, and it has to do with the plastic “belt” on the bottom of the PowerBelt ELR Bullets. It is not an issue with the rifle. Apparently, in a few production runs the mold for the belts was not properly installed into the plastic injection machine. This caused the bases to not be symmetrical or concentric (please see the attached photos). This defect in the belt causes it to not to break away completely from the base of the bullet when exiting the muzzle, and sometimes the thicker side will stay attached, creating a sail like effect on the bullet. The result is terrible groups and possibly even some “key-hole” impacts. Luckily, this defect was limited to a relatively small portion of our production, but some .45s did get out to some retailers and almost all of the bullets included with the initial shipments of the Paramount .40s had this problem.

If you have experienced any accuracy issues while shooting .40 caliber or .45 caliber ELR bullets, please inspect the belt of the bullets, viewing it from the rear as shown in the photos. If you see that one side is thicker than the other, you have some of the defective production and you need to contact our Customer Service Department at 770-449-4687, or by email at contact@bpiguns.com.

We are very sorry for any issues or inconveniences this has caused you during your hunting season, but we’re here to make this right for you! Thank you for your continued support of CVA and PowerBelt ELR Bullets.

Best of luck this fall,

Jason Sebo (Brand Manager – BPI Outdoors)

While I’m happy to hear CVA is on top of this issue and working with hunters to get them back in the field with proper bullets, I’m sure many hunters are feeling the crunch of time now. With powder and primer shortages still limiting many a hunters’ access to the woods, and delayed rifle shipments pushing sight in times to early October, it’s been a rough year.

Most of these issues are out of CVA’s, or any one manufacturers, hands. Getting upset and leaving angry comments doesn’t help anyone through this issue. I hope the hunters out there haven’t lost any record bucks or bulls and can get back in the field as soon as possible.