Read about the new Paramount HTR (Hunter) here!

Monday at noon EST, CVA released the latest in their Paramount Muzzleloader line, the Paramount HTR. It’s available in a .40 and .45 caliber.

Much like the Paramount Pro that we talked about last year, the barrel in the Paramount HTR is free floating, promising greater accuracy down range. The barrel is 26” long, threaded with a 3/4 x20 thread.
The Paramount HTR Barrel Twist rates are

1:20” for the .40 cal
1:22” For the .45 cal

The barrel comes with CVA’s Nitride treatment over stainless steel

The HTR weighs 9.6 lbs, making it lighter and easier to carry over long trips into the woods up up a mountain. One interesting note here on the specs for the HTR is that it comes with an aluminum range rod. Could this be a nod to the competitive muzzle loaders out there wanting to get into precision muzzle loading without needing to purchase a custom muzzle loader to get started?

Pictured here, the MOLLE Ramrod pouch from CVA

To combat what seemed to be an easily lost collapsing ramrod, CVA is including a MOLLE pouch in the box to help you keep track of your ramrod while hunting.

The stock features a nice adjustable cheek rest, the internal chassis is aluminum. You’ve got a Variflame Breech Plug, to go with the solid “Super Magnum” Blackhorn 209 loads the Paramount HTR Can handle.

“HTR” Stands for Hunter, CVA has built this with hunters at the forefront of every descision

Here is some more information straight from CVA:

The Paramount HTR is the new addition to the PARAMOUNT Series for 2021, and it will be offered in both .40 and .45 calibers.
Like all of the Paramount models, the HTR is designed to handle “super-magnum” propellant charges up to 170 grains by volume (119 by weight) of Blackhorn® 209. Therefore, the Paramount HTR can provide muzzle velocities comparable to centerfire rifles.
Paired with PowerBelt ELR 225 grain .40 caliber or 285 grain .45 caliber bullets, which were specially designed for the PARAMOUNT™, the HTR can produce muzzle velocities previously thought unattainable from a muzzleloader -- like 2850 FPS in the .40 and 2475 FPS in the .45, which are comparable velocities to a .300 Win Mag and a .308, respectively. But speed is worth nothing without the accuracy to put those shots where they belong, and with its nitride treated, stainless steel Bergara® barrel, sub-MOA groups are easily attainable.
Unlike the original Paramount, the HTR (which stands for “Hunter”) has a more hunting-oriented stock design, and it is dipped in the new Realtree Hillside camo pattern for excellent concealment capability in a variety of terrains. While this stock is slightly lighter than that of the original PARAMOUNT, it still has an adjustable comb for perfect eye-to-optic alignment and the internal aluminum chassis that provides a rock-solid foundation for the action and free-floating barrel.
Truly, the Paramount HTR provides serious muzzleloader hunters with the most long-range capable hunting muzzleloader ever developed.

As of Sunday, January 25, CVA has confirmed the new .40 cal muzzleloader, and will be announcing more information today, Monday January 26 at 12pm EST. We will be covering the announcement as soon as possible.

Over the weekend, CVA released some more information about their new .40 inline muzzleloader. See below, a new photo of the projectile from Powerbelt, a subsidiary like CVA of BPI Outdoors.

From the store page of the new .40 ELR

Designed for Maximum Long-Range Performance on Medium to Heavy Game. (Deer, Antelope, Elk)Designed for Maximum Long-Range Performance on Medium to Heavy Game. (Deer, Antelope, Elk)
Polycarbonate tip preserves aerodynamic integrity and prevents premature expansion
Smooth plated finish reduces standard deviation between shots for superior accuracy
Larger diameter gas check for tight seal
Larger hollow point cavity reduces weight and maximizes internal expansion
Longer Length combined with aggressively tapered shape
Flutes in gas check make it easier to load
Scores inside gas check allow positive release when bullet exits barrel

CVA didn’t stop with a photo of their new bullet, they went a step further and released this photo of a target shot with the new ELR .40

CVA Pro Staffer Bubba Lowery shared this test target (Above) with these comments

“Test target from the new .40 with a 10-12 mile per hour right to left crosswind.
Shot 1 was cold bore & determined hold over. The next 4 shots measure 3” at 500 yards. Phenomenal sub moa accuracy for any rifle, but especially a production muzzleloader!”

— CVA Pro Staff Bubba Lowery

We’re just minutes away now from the release, and it looks to be one of the only muzzleloader releases from near the 2021 SHOT Show, very exciting!

The 2021 “Online” SHOT Show is in full swing, notably absent, however, are the muzzleloaders. So far, the only company to indicate they have a new product coming is CVA.

Each week they share some more stats, videos, or promo images of a new rifle, but so far no concrete release or information other than the rifle will be .40 caliber.

On January 1, there was an apparent leak of a new CVA muzzleloader through online retailers, but it was quickly removed. There are screen captures floating around online, but the leak has not been confirmed or verified at this time.

Why .40 caliber? It’s not legal to hunt with in ~20 states?

A commenter posed this question to CVA staff on facebook, and the reply, shown below, was a bit cheeky. While true that .40 isn’t legal to hunt a lot of game in many states, nearly half do allow it, making that enough of a market for CVA to give it a shot.

.40 Caliber has been popular for muzzleloading shooting sports for many years now. It’s smaller projectile takes less powder and gives the shooter less recoil, meaning you can shoot for less money, longer. 40 caliber, at least in roundball ballistics, is considered to be somewhat of a magic caliber. It’s ballistics perform exceptionally well. We know several involved in product development at CVA have a history of competing in muzzleloading shooting sports, perhaps this is their way of getting CVA back into the competitive shooting game?

Last year’s introduction of the CVA Paramount Pro brought some of the technology from custom precision muzzleloaders to the mass market, while marketed towards hunters, the rifle is very capable of competing out to 500 yards.

CVA has said that the release will come “This Spring”, so we are hoping for some more information soon. With all the SHOT Show Online news being targeted towards modern, centerfire firearms and accessories, perhaps CVA is waiting until the press doesn’t have more popular items to report on before they make their muzzleloading releases.

Follow Muzzle Blasts and the NMLRA for your muzzleloading news as it happens, we’ll be reporting as soon as we get some concrete information on CVA’s new rifle.