CVA Bobcat

[Cowboy]

A lot of seller's on eBay like to part whole muzzleloader's out. They can sell individual parts for a lot more profit that way.

Also if you see a stock with everything included, it is more than likely you'll find the same seller selling the barrel for it in a different auction at eBay.

It's against eBay's policy to sell a whole muzzleloader anyway. The seller can make more money if he parts the gun out in most cases.

You can find some real good bargain's but you can also get burnt too! I use eBay a lot and find very hard to come buy parts. Before I do bid or buy I check the seller's ratings and will only deal with him if he has a good number of transactions under his belt along with 100% positive feedback. Anything less I won't even consider doing business.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Mr. Troll]

I've been using eBay since 1999...buy/sell (a little) and mainly look for off the beaten path stuff. Some of these parts look pretty good in the pictures, so after I have the rifle in hand, and I can do some measuring and stuff, I'll start thinking about customizing. Kinda thinking I'd like to make it into a Hawkin....

 

[nwtradegun]

There is a picture in the hunting site. A guy shot a cow elk in Colorado with a Bobcat.

 

[Mr. Troll]

thank you. I'm pretty sure that a 50 cal bullet would do a pretty good job on something like that!

 

[Zonie]

As I recall, he didn't use a .50 cal bullet.
He used a .490 diameter lead roundball.

 

[Mr. Troll]

I found the posting. Yes, he used a lead ball, and excellent shot placement. This is my whole argument with proponents of large capacity mags...you should know where the first shot is going, so you don't NEED a second!

 

[Mr. Troll]

Well, tomorrow I pick up the Bobcat. I already have a line on some customizing parts. Lyman makes an adjustable rear folding sight that should be an exact replacement. I get a little crazy about getting the holes I make exactly where I want them...I'm looking at a CVA "Trophy" stock with a nice built in cheek piece and a recoil pad... Might have to do a little inletting, but learning is what all projects are really about! I'll link to some pictures of the beastie when I get it home!

 

[Mr. Troll]

Ok, it's home. It would appear it was shot just a little, and a long time ago. There was a little rust spotting in the bore, but running a 20 ga. bore brush up and down a few times, following up with a few patches soaked with Outers nitro solvent, and an oil patch...the bore looks pretty good! Should clean up with some lead blasting. The lock was another thing...clean and just a few scratches on the plate from the TOTAL LACK OF LUBE on anything...no significant wear, but everything was dry...fixed that, too! Not much to these, is there? Nipple came right out, now it has anti seize on the threads. Here's a link to the first baby pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/vA6A4bvvnSyd1v4J7

 

[lefty41]

Looks good, hope it does what you want
Congrats

 

[Mr. Troll]

Thanks. I hope so, too. I'm looking to do 100 yd target work with it. I already have a decent adjustable sight lined up for it....

 

[Mr. Troll]

I had a chance to try out the Bobcat today. Shooting at 50 yds. I cleaned up and polished the sear and trigger when I had it apart, and the trigger is actually pretty good. I had no idea where it was going to print, so I didn't want to have to make a long walk for nothing. Turns out the windage is pretty close, and it was shooting about 8 ring at 6 O:clock...180 gr Hornady with .010 lubed patch, 100 gr of Pyrodex RS, and Remington #10 caps (same as I use on all my revolvers). I guess the big surprise was how much recoil it had. More like a shotgun, very sharp. The stock is WAYYYYY too light, so a wood replacement is going to be a MUST...I found a "gen-u-wine" CVA adjustable rear buckhorn for it...$12 on eBay. Maybe I'll get a chance to try it again, tomorrow, and take some pictures...

 

[Zonie]

I guess I shouldn't ask but why were you loading the rifle with 100 grains of powder?
That's a stout load with any .50 caliber muzzleloader.

Lyman's "BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL" shows a muzzle velocity of 1773 ft per second and 1271 ft/lbs of muzzle energy with that load with a 28" long barrel.

Dropping back to a 70-80 grain powder load would reduce the MV to around 1550-1680 fps which is still very respectable and would be much easier on your shoulder.

 

[mooman76]

I shoot mine closer to 50 gr. just for punching paper. Yes they do have quite a punch with heavy loads but at 100gr you're just punishing yourself and wasting powder.

 

[Mr. Troll]

The reason for the 100 gr. load is the recommendation in the CVA sidelock manual. I thought it was a bit strong, but their chart shows minimum of 75, and max of 110. If I get a chance, tomorrow, I'll go with the minimum charge and see what happens. The ballistics chart shows a 178 gr ball w/90 gr for their ballistics test...Sure does have a nice "crack" to it, though! I only had time to shoot it 4 times, so maybe tomorrow I'll have more time.

 

[Zonie]

Like Mooman76 says, you should be able to go down to 50 grains of powder without having any problems.

That is a bit light for a hunting load but 50-70 grains makes a great target load.
Actually, the 70 -80 grain loads are fine for hunting deer too out to 100 yards.

 

[Mr. Troll]

That would make it a 50-70... sounds like a good idea. Tomorrow, hopefully. No matter what, I think I like it better than my H&A .45...but that was quite a while ago. Sure is easier to load than I remember!

 

[Mr. Troll]

I did get to go out today and fire the bobcat. Stepped back to a 50 gr. charge. Really helped the recoil issue. Took some pics with my phone, so they are not the best. I got one two in one hole, and a pretty good group for not having a truly specific point of hold. It shoots about 10" low at 50 yards, but I'm going to get the new sight delivered sometime next week. I'm not going to file the blade until I see what the adjustable buckhorn can do. https://goo.gl/photos/pdgShzNY87SkTRPM7 https://goo.gl/photos/JXAjp72hiEY1VBdA6

 

[Mr. Troll]

eBay can be a wonderful place...I found a CVA "Deerhunter" stock, used. I paid $40 for it. It came today, and it took about 20 minutes of minor inletting with my Dremel (what did we do before a Dremel?) to make all the parts from the Bobcat fit the stock. A quick look at the Traditions web site shows they still have the Deerhunter model as both a kit and a finished rifle, for $324!!!!! I now have about $100 in mine, and it has a 2" longer barrel!...seems like I have a deal going on, here! Anyway, a picture of the pig in a new dress: https://goo.gl/photos/pZ8RTMe4mx1XaGEb6

 

[Kansas Jake]

Nice and I always love to see someone get a good deal.

 

[nwtradegun]

I pulled by bobcat out of mothballs. it was gotten as part of a trade. I use 75 gr. 3f and a 490 patched ball no need to use anymore. 15th opens primitive season, goin after bear or a hog.