CVA 12 guage Double Barrel

Late getting here....
Nice job and a worth while endeavor. :thumbsup: I could use a good double like that myself.
Lock color....most of those old CVA lock plates I have seen were pretty soft. I think I'd send them out for case hardening...probably extend the life of the locks and even speed them up a bit. You could leave the case colors on or polish them back to bright again.

Those are nice shotguns

I just bought a Navy Arms Side by Side and that's how I would like it to look. Beautiful job. I really like the hammers and locks bright. Will it take much trouble to keep them looking that good with lots of use?

Zonie, WELL DONE SIR! :hatsoff:

That is the best-looking CVA shotgun I've ever seen. Leaving the lock plates bright visually sets them off just right.

You do realize that you're gonna have some of the boys lusting after yer scattergun now, don't you? :rotf:

ihuntsnook said:

I just bought a Navy Arms Side by Side and that's how I would like it to look. Beautiful job. I really like the hammers and locks bright. Will it take much trouble to keep them looking that good with lots of use?

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Not really.

Highly polished steel is pretty resistant to rusting.

If it does show some spots, all it takes is a little effort using a polishing compound or solution to restore it.

You better hope that the neighbor that left it behind does not get a chance to see it, he will want it back :shocked2: :rotf:

Nice save!..My vote keep the lock and hammers bright!Love the contrast.. :thumbsup:
Doves and Quail won't mind a bit.
Darken the ram rod..I use a torch to high light the grain only...then sand it back..then a clear sealing coat.
Wish I had neighbors like yours.

How many man hours do you figure you put into this project? I think it would be instructive to any who might like to try such an undertaking. I plan to do one soon.

It's hard to say how many hours I really have in it. The following is just a guess:

Barrels: Sanding off old rust= 1 hr

Applying Laurel Mountain Barrel Brown & Degreaser and hanging the barrels in my browning case = 5 minutes.
Carding off loose rust = 5 minutes.
This was done 4 times for a total time of 40 minutes.
I should point out that each browning took over 4 hours in the box but I didn't include this time because I wasn't really working on the gun.
It did add a couple of days to the amount of time between when I started and finished the gun though.

Boiling barrels to convert brown rust to black = 1 hour.
(My pan was only long enough to get a little over half of the barrel in it.
The middle of the barrel was above water level so I had to use a Pyrox measuring cup to dip and pour the boiling water over that area to convert the rust.

Filing/sanding rust browning and boiling butt plate = 2 hours

Cutting stock butt and installing butt plate = 6 hours. This is not an easy task if you want a line to line fit between the metal and the wood.

Designing, building and installing barrel lug positioner = 2 hours.

Disassembling, sanding, polishing lock plates = 2 hours.

Refitting, sanding, browning/bluing breech block = 1

Stripping the stock, reshaping the butt to match the butt plate and blend in with the rest of the shape and sanding and whiskering = 6 hours.

Staining and applying 5 coats of Tru-Oil = 6 hours. This time is what I actually spent working on the gun and does not include drying times. The oil is not just painted on and left to dry.
Each coat is rubbed in and every two coats the finish is lightly sanded with 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove the little bumps that always form.

Sanding, polishing and heat bluing trigger guard = 1 hour.

Making, bluing and installing 3 ramrod guides = 45 minutes.

Throw in another 1 hour for installing the barrel wedge escutcheons, bending one hammer to align with the nipple and making trips to the local hardware store for screws, sandpaper etc.

This adds up to about 30 1/2 hours plus $25 for the cast checkered butt plate invested.

As I've told others, one of these factory kits can be built in 15-30 hours but the amount of time invested shows in the finished product. :grin:

I don't know what current employers are paying per hour but I figure that's about $350 or more worth of work. :hmm:

Zonie said:

I don't know what current employers are paying per hour but I figure that's about $350 or more worth of work. :hmm:

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Another way to look at it, you'd probably spend more than that for a guided quail hunt. Take that sweet gun out without a guide, and you'll "earn" the money back the first day.

I'd say it needs christened at the first opportunity, in order to earn back your labor costs! :grin:

Many thanks for the detailed report of time spent on your restoration. Very informative and illustrative of what it takes to produce such fine work.

It certainly shows in the finished product. My guess is the main ingredient here is patience. Nice job and thanks again.

Fred

Hey that looks like mine ! well sorta any ways Zonie looks great I used a 2mm screw I found for sight trimmed the head off it works aint pretty but functions

Great minds think alike.

After looking around for a tiny ball bearing to use as a front sight without any luck I decided to install a simple threaded set screw instead.

It's so small, the threads aren't obvious unless I look closely but at the same time, it's big enough to see clearly when shouldering the gun. :grin:

I got my shotgun in a box just parts never finished the sight and ramrod tubes were missing. I needed more drop in stock rasped some off and finished it could take more off but have never got around to it.

Zonie et all others re, CVA shotgun conversion. I traded for one of coach length a while ago. well engineered and crafted commercially made in my opinion.
I'M a rock kind of guy. The CVAs breeching is a bolt as breech plug into a powder chamber base with nipple fire channels coming into top at apx 70 dgrs. The head of said bolt acts as hooked breech. looking at same and geomitry of this quality replica flint double barrel.* surmise there is a possibility of repositioning two quality (Left and right) flintlocks into a new buttstock. so that they align with fire channels from side of barrels witch would replace the vertical ones which would be plugged with correct sized bolts. all other components remain as is. Using white Lightning touchhole liners.
So for the cost of custom precarved stock and two flint locks and hardware. You have a strong . Flint double shotgun.*

* I've been mining the blackpowder vein for a while(Watched my first build in 1965) In that time I've seen one double bll. 10ga. flint shotgun. Its condition is indicative of why there aren't more out there.It had 13" barrels, four repaired fractures in curley maple stock, and had been converted to bolster percussion. In other words it was on its way to being used up. Thats what happened to these "Using guns". Too practical for their own good.
They provided the frontiersman with a quick second shot for price of fraction of cost and weight of additional gun.

You do realize this old thread was started in 2011 8 years before you joined the forum. Not sure if you knew this or if other members did also. May Zonie Rest in Peace.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/sad-news-zonie-has-passed.135375/