I picked up a .50 on the cheap at a pawn shop and am rehabbing it for my youngest son (adult). Anyhow the wood was actually pretty nice under that orange whatever it was finished with. The gun shoots functionally but I noticed when I put it back together, the hammer is a bear to cock. It may have been that way from the start but I don't remember. There is nothing binding that I can see, it just feels like it has a beast of a mainspring. Anyone else experience this? I think its way more than is necessary and am thinking about filing it down some.
CVA Frontier Carbine Caplock
- Thread starter Rocklocker
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longcruise
70 Cal.
CVA and beast mainsprings are not often seen together. Take the lock off and see if it's still as beast.
I did remove and inspect the lock parts and everything looks good. It may well be my imagination or maybe in the words of the late Jack Elam "My thumbs ain't as strong as they used to be."
They are fairly stout springs, stronger than they need to be in my opinion. I have an older CVA with a considerably weaker spring and it still fires . Some guys have thinned springs down to reduce pull weight, but I'd leave it if it fires okay.
That's my thinking as well. I have been rescuing these old, dusty forgotten rifles from pawn shops and refinishing them so I can learn some about the craft before I mess up a really expensive kit or build. But anyway, I built a Traditions (I know, I know, LOL) flinter and bought a long rifle sight unseen form Oklahoma (oops) so I have a few locks I have taken apart and carefully polished and the Traditions is a fairly light mainspring but a ball buster of a frizzen spring that had be relieved. I think the overall shape of this frizzen spring is the issue. But the TC Hawken caplock (totally different spring configuration) but a larger lock has a similar pull as the CVA and the Durrs Egg flint lock which is quite a bit larger doesn't have much harder of a pull. The CVA Frontier that I'm working on right now fires fine and I should just leave it be. I'm just not sure I can. HA. t least the parts are still available.
So to be SURE, something might be rubbing which is why @longcruise suggested removal and checking the lock. Disassemble, clean, and reassemble the lock, dry. Then take a common candle, light it, and use the flame to deposit soot on the interior parts of the lock. Nice and thick. Gently replace the lock into the stock, and try to move the hammer. Gently remove the lock, and SEE where the soot has been rubbed onto the wood inside the lock mortise. THEN you'll know, and if it is rubbing, take some sand paper and carefully remove the sooty marks. You may also find hidden corrosion when you clean the lock the first time.
LD
Thanks, I've had it apart several times and polished off some light surface rust but I didn't think to soot it up. I will try that before thinning the spring I just found an old spring scale that I used to calibrate fertilizer spreaders and it registered 15 pounds to full cock. Probably not the most accurate scale but it is the one I have.So to be SURE, something might be rubbing which is why @longcruise suggested removal and checking the lock. Disassemble, clean, and reassemble the lock, dry. Then take a common candle, light it, and use the flame to deposit soot on the interior parts of the lock. Nice and thick. Gently replace the lock into the stock, and try to move the hammer. Gently remove the lock, and SEE where the soot has been rubbed onto the wood inside the lock mortise. THEN you'll know, and if it is rubbing, take some sand paper and carefully remove the sooty marks. You may also find hidden corrosion when you clean the lock the first time.
LD
