CVA's Optima V2 Pistol
By Gary Lewis
A modern inline 50-caliber pistol goes to the range.
I remember when CVA introduced the Optima pistol - 2012, I think it was - and I told myself, "Self, that looks like a gun I would like to shoot."
That was about as far as it went until 2020 and the COVID-19 and all of a sudden I found myself with more time on my hands. Time to spend on muzzleloaders.
Having recently built a trapper style pistol from Traditions, the kit purchased through www.muzzle-loaders.com, I decided I would finally explore the modern muzzleloading equivalent.
The action on the Optima pistol is the same as is found on the Optima rifle platform, except for changes made to accommodate the grip for the pistol.
The CVA Optima V2 comes with a 14-inch stainless steel barrel, a no-tools-required quick-release breech plug (makes cleaning this gun very easy), a scope rail and it weighs in at a tidy 3.7 pounds of total weight.
The action breaks open via a trigger guard breech lever actuation, providing access to the breech. One of my favorite features is a palm saver for the ramrod. The gun cocks with an ambidextrous jag, making it easy for a left-hander to shoot.
First thing I noticed when I unboxed it was that it needed sights. It comes with a DuraSight Z2 scope rail, so mounting a scope would be easy. Trouble was, I didn't have a handgun scope and mounts close to hand. And buying same was not in the immediate budget, but I could afford open sights. I ordered them and a few days later they showed up. I think they should be standard issue, but anyway, these were very easy to install and soon the gun was ready to go the range.
I shoot at Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association (COSSA), 24 miles east of my hometown of Bend, Oregon. At COSSA, I found an open pistol bay and laid the components out that I had brought in my possibles bag. A package of IMR's White Hots, a carton of Nosler's 45-caliber pistol bullets in 50-caliber sabots and a carton of Winchester shotgun primers.
Loading is super simple: Drop a single White Hot, a 50-grain charge, down the barrel and then seat the sabot and bullet atop the powder. Last, open the breech and affix a shotgun primer in the breech. Close the breech, ease back the hammer…
The neutral center-of-gravity trigger is really nice. Recoil is mild, but satisfying as the muzzle rises and a proper cloud of white smoke is thrown up between shooter and target. It's a 50-caliber handgun anyone can shoot, right-handed or left-handed. A person could hunt deer with it, or wild boar, or rockchucks or rabbits or whatever.
Okay, it has won me over. I'll put a scope on it.
​
Retail starts around $318.00
Take a look at these options:
