Powder wise, start out with good ole Triple 7...loose or pellets. Loose will allow you to fine tune the load to the rifle but many experience good results using the pellets, which are a bit easier to handle and use. Blackhorn209 is also a good powder but with the standard breech plug, it may have a level of unreliable ignition and I'm not sure if there's a Blackhorn breech plug for the V1 Optimas. I could be wrong. For primers, simple Winchester 209 primers work well with Triple 7, are easy to find and don't cost an arm and a leg. As far as bullets go, there are so many choices out these days. You've got everything from the simple hornady XTP with sabots...widely available and a proven performer.....to full bore bullets like PowerBelts which you'll find folks either love'em or hate'em. One of the more popular options besides the Hornady XTP are the Barnes series of muzzleloader bullets. They are a solid copper design. They make a few different versions starting with the Expander, a wide mouthed hollow point, to the TMZ/TEZ which are polymer tipped bullets designed with a higher ballistic coefficient to help maximize range. I have the Optima V2 and use the 250 gr Barnes TEZ. It's been a good performer in both accuracy and in terminal performance on game.