An abused CVA

[Skylinewatcher]

Funny you should mention that capper. The brother that abused that CVA shot the other in the forehead with a BB gun when they were young. That boy bled like a stuck hog. Just aimed and pop him right in the noggin. His daddy scolded him for it a little, while my grandma went on the war path. Ol paps teaching all them years was deep in her too (she could shoot as good as any man alive up to the day she died). She wanted the bb gun took away for good as she knew the boy knew better. Well, his daddy wouldn't do it. H e came over one day, had his gun with him and was setting under the shade tree. He had done been in trouble for shooting at the neighbor's cat earlier. I saw him lean that gun up against the tree and walk down to the creek with some of his friends. I noticed grandma looking at that gun and I thought uhhoooh. I went back in the house. My brother never saw that gun again. Lot of sqawlin and bawlin got him another no to much later. Grandma had a nice talk with my brother. I didn't hear the whole speech, but I did hear her say at the end that if he didn't do what she said and mind that new BB gun would end up like the old one. He got the point from then on and straightend up... to some degree. Thanks for bringing back that memory.

 

[imray]

I recently bought a barrel from deer creek also, 54 hawken, was $80 plus shipping 92 all together, a white barrel, but they don't keep them protected, just rolled up in styrofoam with no oil, they are starting to pit, I guess deer creek don;t want to go through them and protect them, its a shame. they won't be worth much in a couple more years, with the steel all rust pitted all over deeply. best wishes, ray

 

[Skylinewatcher]

I guess a man needs to get what he wants from this deer creek asap if he needs something. I talked with my brother about that gun this weekend and found he done sold it to a man who is going to decorate is mantle with it. Sort of sad, but anyway. I ain't even going to worry about it anymore. That fellar got what he wanted, 1 brother got what he wanted and the other ended up with $75.00. So I guess this ends another chapter and thank you all for your help, which in turn got me what I always want the most, another chunk of knowledge. :grin:

 

[jaythorne]

if all of the above still leaves ya with a frayed cleaning patch...try some clover valve grinding compound

 

[TXLongRifle]

This was my idea also. Reamed out to a .54 smoothbore would be great for anything from doves to quail to turkey. :thumbsup:

 

[Greg Hardy]

I have a CVA Frontier Rifle that I picked up new over 25 years ago, out to 100 yards still accurate and one hole groups at 50 yards. Say what you want to about them, they were good guns for the money. Now, sadly, CVA jumped on the inline bandwagon and are actually killing the muzzleloading sport.

 

[velojym]

Well, this thread lightens my heart a little bit. My rifle was the victim of a negligent props manager at a local theatre, having been used in a production of Shenendoah. Real BP was the only thing that would ignite properly without a bullet to hold pressure, and the guns weren't cleaned between shows... and they were stored like that, too, after the last performance.
So, I came across mine real cheap. Looks like someone tried to remove the breech plug with vice grips, and there's a mark on the barrel too, but not deep. Maybe they thought the plug had to come out for cleaning and gave up, as the plug obviously hadn't budged.
I poured some solvent in after removing the drum screw, scrubbed it a bit, then emptied it out. Then I ran an oil damp patch through it for protection. I did pop a cap on the nipple, and it split like a banana... not sure any gas got into the barrel. While I've shot a few ML rifles and pistols, they were all well maintained and I had no qualms about the use of 'em. This one probably isn't a safety issue, but I'd like to see if I can save this barrel before giving up on it. I'll give the tips I read about here a try, see what that does for me. Thanks!

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the Forum.

It isn't surprising that the breech plug didn't move.

Most CVA sidelocks use a design where the nipple drum screws thru the side of the barrel and the breech plugs threads.

Without first removing the side drum there is no way possible for the breech plug to unscrew.

Good luck with your CVA and as a side note, unless the rifling is pitted so badly that it rips the patch on loading or firing the gun will probably shoot fairly well. :thumbsup:

 

[velojym]

Good to know. Looks like the damage to the outside of the barrel is just cosmetic, and the cleaning patches I've run down have felt pretty smooth once I got the BP fouling out.
I'm gonna flush it with hot soapy water and dry it out real good, then oil it until I can get back out to the range.

We're looking at moving to Alabama, and I'm gonna do the best I can to talk my better half into moving outta town a bit so I can shoot without making a big production out of it.

 

[rmartin77_99]

I was in Oklahoma camping with my youngest son last week and dropped by an old Pawn Shop in a small town. I found an old CVA Mountain rifle .50 Cal. The guy had it marked down from $64.95 to $54.95. After talking for 30 minutes I was able to purchase the rifle for $44.95. The barrel looked a little rough inside but the stock, lock and triggers looked very good. I was able to clean most of the rust out and have looked at the bore with a homemade bore light and it looks fairly good now. The cleaning patch moves smoothly now after the cleaning. Will be taking it to the range this weekend.

 

[tg]

Good deal, I hope it works out well for you.

 

[StewartLeach]

I got a similar deal about five years ago, but the barrel didn't clean up so well. Fire lapped it with 50 cal Minie's to the point where it requires a heavy patch- #40 pocket drill- and it now shoots acceptably.

Deer Creek- see adds in Muzzle Blasts- has a good stock of parts for old CVA rifles.

White Fox