MAX Muzzleloader Announces the CVA V2 Rifle Giveaway WINNER!

MAX is pleased and excited to announce the winner of the CVA Accura V2 Giveaway: Greg Billing of Maryland!!  Congratulations Greg!!

We will be emailing Greg to get contact information as we will need to verify a few things so we can get his new rifle on the way!  (What I'd really like to know is if Greg is lucky all the time, winning every free rifle contest or drawing he enters, or if this V2 is his first rifle ever won?!?!).

In any case, this one is HIS!

Greg's Accura V2 will be shipped directly from CVA, brand new in the box.  This contest was for a camo, thumbhole stocked, stainless steel CVA V2 in .50 cal.

This was a successful giveaway for us.  No matter what anyone thinks my motive was for giving away this rifle, the most important reason was for us to build trust with our customers.  As you all know, the Internet is a fascinating place to go to and is overflowing with information.  It's also a place with a lot of scams and tricks.

Businesses will get folks to sign up for a contest so they can use your email and contact information for other reasons, or sell!  And it ends up with you getting a ton of junk mail from everyone in the world!  But not with MAX.

Regardless of what kind of business you are doing with MAX, if you choose to trust us with personal information, this is where it stays, between you and MAX.  No junk mail; just articles about muzzleloading and related topics.

I want your experience with MAX to be a positive one, whether or not you ever buy a single product from us.  So, if you join my blog, and I hope you do, you decide when and if you ever get my articles again by becoming an email subscriber to our MAX Muzzleloader blog.  You do this by using the box below, we'll email you whenever we have a new blog post, and that's all:

Enter your email address:

During the year 2011, I will put into play some great programs that will not just help MAX grow, but the sport of modern, inline muzzleloading as a whole.  I will be asking for our customers, the end-user, to participate in various ways as well. 

Just imagine something different if you will:  A hunting related company where the Xperts are everyday men and women.  They're Xperts because they've been drug through hunting stores, many times by the "other" so-called experts to buy this and that, only to find out the better mouse trap didn't work any better than the last mouse trap. (the only thing it "trapped" was their money!)

I want the Real Xperts (MAX's customers, the end users), along with Me and my Xpertise to show the muzzleloading hunter the best of the best in the industry; products that will work as advertised, are useful and worth the money (so much so, that if you loose it, you'll buy another!).  I'm pretty creative with these types of programs and I believe all of you will be interested in what I've got planned!

Back to our winner: Greg.  His rifle will also be shipped with his choice of any of my videos, an AccuScope, a MAX blaze orange hat and a combo set of our new MAX firearm conditioner & new MAX bore cleaner.  (huh?  what?  you want to know more about our new conditioner and cleaner?  watch here for future blog posts!)

Another giveaway is around the corner, so tell your muzzleloading friends.  Maybe something to do with a scope and rings....

Thanks again to everyone for entering our CVA Accura V2 Rifle Giveaway, and most of all, thanks for your continued trust in our business and what we at MAX are trying to accomplish for you, the muzzleloading shooter & hunter.

Congratulations again to Greg.  We hope you enjoy your new CVA Accura V2 as much as I enjoy mine!

2011 Shot Show: MAX Attendance

It's hard to find a place to start writing about the 2011 Shot Show.  All of us know that the hunting and shooting industry is big, but I'm here to tell you, the Shot Show is HUMONGOUS!!!

This year was the 50th anniversary of the Shot Show and it is the largest and most recognized hunting & shooting show in the world.  In fact, it is in top 10 of the largest trade shows on the planet! 

The Shot Show is an industry show and is not open to the public.  It's the show where a lot of yearly deals are made between the manufacturers and dealers and distributors across the country and around the world.  There is almost nothing for sale that you can walk out the door with.

I've attended the past two years to build relationships between MAX and the manufacturers, it's the place for me to meet the decision makers such as PR and marketing people, and most importantly, the CEO's & owners are on hand.

Shot is also a place to meet celebraties from our industry.  This week I was privileged to meet Chuck Mawhinney, Vincent Hancock and Jon Michael McGarth.

Chuck was credited with 103 confirmed NVA-VC kills and 216 probables as a Marine Sniper.  Having met Carlos Hathcock many years ago, I can now say I've met two of the most famous Snipers in the World and both are American Heroes.

I was also on-hand to meet two fine young men like Vincent Hancock and Jon Michael McGrath.  Both are true world class trap & skeet shooters.  Vincent is an Olympic Gold Medalist and holds other world and national titles.  Jon Michael currently holds 19 (NINETEEN!) World Skeet titles and 9 National titles!

These two very fine young men are not just great competitors, they are now using their status to work with youth through the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation.

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Mississippi, POMA, Brownells , Alpen & Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation Breakfast which was held at the Venetian Hotel.  It was great to see old friends like Lisa Methany of Outdoor Inspirations 

and to meet new ones like Matt Buckingham of Brownells

and Doug Gilmer of Gilmer Outdoors.

Catching up (and having lunch with) great friends who live across the country is a bonus, like Kevin Reese of Just-Hunt.com 

and finally putting faces to people we've talked to on the phone a million times, like John Phillips of Night Hawk Publications 

is really a bonus to attending this show.

Another fun part of the Shot Show is it's location:  Las Vegas, NV. 

So after hitting the floor hard each day for 8 hours, meeting and greeting so we can pass on information to the muzzleloading consumer on new products and upgrades on old ones, we hit the Strip!  After all, what's the fun of "all work and no play"...

So after the show closed each night we explored Vegas.  Kathy (my wife) had never been to Vegas before and we both had a great time, almost like a second honeymoon!

This is actually a photo of us at The Sportsmans Channel Awards Banquet, what a blast that was!!

I'll close this article letting you know that we met some great people and will share more about that over the next few weeks.  The two big ones to look for in upcoming posts will be some in-sight into the new Knight Rifles and Leupold....there is a lot of good stuff coming from both of these companies!

MAX Approved Product: the AccuScope

We are all involved in a sport that we love, we love being a part of, and we love to pass on to others. But over the past 20 years or so, the industry has sure made our down-to-earth sport much more complex than it needs to be. It would appear that a simple "meat and potato diet" of deer sign & interpreting that deer-sign no longer cuts it in the woods!

Now it seems we need all kinds of STUFF! And trust me, the hunting industry has spent millions on marketing all kinds of widgets and gadgets that would lead us to believe that we can't be successful without them! In fact, if we don't carry a ton of this stuff to the woods with us, we are just wasting our time!

Well, it just ain't so. I know it and you know it.


But really, there are some neat, new products out there and we just need to sift through it all to find things that are sincerely beneficial to us. Some people might say it's even fun trying to sort the stupid stuff from the useful stuff, but it can sure get expensive (unless you are into passing it off on some unsuspecting newbie or pawning off worthless junk on eBay, or hopefully you have a conscience in which case the best thing to do is take it out in the backyard and kill it).


Now that I got that off my chest, I am someone who does try a LOT of new products, but will always tell the truth about what I find. When I find a useful product that works, I share it with you. And here's one I found and featured in my last video MAXimize Your CVA Accura & Accura V2: The AccuScope.

I found the Accuscope while walking the aisles at the NRA National Convention in Charlotte, NC last year. I looked over, saw it and in less than 30 seconds I knew exactly what it did, knew it would work, knew it would be useful and knew I had to have one. All before I ever even picked it up.


It sells itself, it's that simple.


I bought one at that show and found it more than worthy to pass on to all MAX Customers. The company is based out of Ankeny, Iowa and is owned by Steve Ugolini and Chris Schuling. Two great guys that had a great idea and took it all the way to production!


How useful is it? Very. After bore sighting to where the first shot hits paper, just ask the Accuscope what to do and if you are on your shooting game, your second shot is exactly where you want it.


How simple is it? Very. It doesn't even come with instructions. It's self-contained and self-explanatory. Everything you need to know comes printed on the Accuscope itself.


It comes in several models but the one most useful to us muzzleloaders is the 1/4 MOA & 1/2 MOA Scope Model. If your scope is 1/4 MOA adjustment, that info is on one side. For 1/2 MOA scope users, flip it over and your info is on the other side.


Here's how it works:


Measure the distance of your first shot, be it left or right, up or down from where you want it to be. When measuring elevation and you want your zero to be 2 inches high at 100 yards, add that in as well. To measure, use the grids on your target or use the ruler that is conveniently printed on the side of the AccuScope.

I'll use a target I shot a few weeks ago to show you how accurate the information from the AccuScope really is. In this case, I was using a Leupold 3x9x40mm CDS scope and was shooting from a range of 100 yards.

As you see, the first round was low and right. In fact, it was 2-1/2 inches low and 2-3/4 inches right from center. But for demonstration purposes, I decided to zero this rifle 2 inches high at 100 yards.


First I chose to let the AccuScope do the math for me for my elevation. I was 2-1/2 low so I added the 2 inches height I wanted: 4-1/2 inches total. But first I need to determine the click value of my scope.


You will find this information printed on the dial of your scope or inside the turrent caps.

  

Using the 1/4 MOA side of the AccuScope chart, I slid the card until I could read 4-1/2 in window "A". Next, I went to line "C" to find the yardage I was shooting from, which was "100". It told me the number of clicks to move in window "D", which read 18. So I added 18 clicks "up" on my Leupold.

Simple. 

Next, I repeated the process for windage. I slid the card to read 2-3/4 inches in window "A", found my yardage in line "C" and read the number of clicks I needed to move my impact left, which in window "D" was 11. So I moved the windage dial on the Leupold 11 clicks to the left.


Easy.






The next two shots, as you can see, hit exactly where I wanted them. That's how accurate the AccuScope can move a shot group or one single shot for you.

Then, just to see what the AccuScope (and my new rifle) was made of, I decided to go for the center of the target.

I measured from the center of the two shots to the center of the target. It was 2-1/4 inches. Again, I found 2-1/4 in window "A", then my yardage in line "C" (100 yards). Then I read my needed clicks in window "D", which was 9. So I came down 9 clicks on my elevation dial and you can see the result of my last three shots (I couldn't stop myself after seeing where the first one hit!).

As for the rifle that I was using for this demonstration, you'll have to wait until the summer to find that out. But I was impressed with it to say the least; you will be as well!

All I can say about the AccuScope is: get you one....NOW. It's a great tool that every shooter can use. It is very well built, it's printed on heavy card stock and is laminated for protection and durability. It's easy to read and is very easy to use.

The best way I can think to sum it up is:

          1. It works like they say it will.

          2. It is well worth the price.

          3. If I loose mine, I'll buy another.

You certainly won't see this on a table at a local yard sale, that is for sure!