Cva Hawken .50 rifle

[hawken1983]

Here is a pic of the nipple and hammer. I did screw in the nipple all the way after this pic but it has t changed anything

 

[bpd303]

If the caps went off on the second strike it means they were not seated all the way down. The first hammer strike seated them and the second fired. What size caps do you have? Your rifle should use #11 caps. The nipple may be slightly mushroomed if the lock was dry fired without a cap, or you may not have pushed the caps down far enough.

 

[bpd303]

Another thing I have encountered with CVAs is when you seat the barrels hooked breech into the tang and the drum sets into the lock, the clearance is tight and the barrel will cock slightly throwing the mating of the nipple & hammer off. In the picture it looks like that is happening. Try tapping on the drum with a plastic hammer or piece of wood to make sure the drum is seated into the lock recess, it doesn't take much to seat it.

 

[william cook]

What you said about the barrel seating tight on CVA's is true,on my Frontier it goes down tight and some times I have to wiggle it a little to get it seated all the way down in to the stock!After looking closely at the picture that might be what is happening.Hope that help's,Bill.

 

[hawken1983]

Im using the # 11 caps. Before i tried to fire it, i closed the hammer with the cap on it and pushed against it to make sure it was seated. It will seat fine with a push on the hanmer but it looks like the hanmer may have gotten bent some how by the looks of it. I will take another pic of it. This pic was takin before i screwed the new nipple in all the way. Its the only pic i had so i cropped it to show it. I apreciate all the quick responses.

 

[mooman76]

Caps can very from one manufacturer or another. If they aren't seating all the way down you can carefully file or use emery cloth and a drill to take the nipple down a little. It was common for the CVAs and other guns to not have the hammer line up quite right. They can be bent to line up but I wouldn't jump into that quite yet. You might loosen the lock a little and retighten it and try to get it to line up better. The lock is also designed to support the drum so it doesn't break from the hammer strikes.

 

[Zonie]

I've seen a lot of percussion guns, especially the Spanish made ones that had hammers slightly offset from the nipple.
Although it should be lined up with the nipple, the important thing is, does it fire the cap reliably?
If it does, it is more of a cosmetic thing.

A lot of owners of percussion guns dry fire them without any protection on the nipple.

Although the nipple is somewhat hardened, dry firing can lead to a slight mushrooming of the top of the nipple cone.
This can cause unfired caps to hang up on the cone rather than become fully seated.

More than a few times this can lead to the first hammer fall not firing the cap but, recocking and firing the hammer a second time will fire the gun.

The solution to this is to remove the nipple.
Then, tightening the jaws of a electric drill on the unthreaded nipple body.
Holding the drill in your left hand, run the drill at a slow speed. Use a metal cutting flat file and lightly file the cone paying particular attention to the open end of the cone.
It's also a good idea to have a few unfired caps handy to try on the cone.
The cap should just seat when very lightly pressed onto the cone with your finger.

As for the rusty bore of your gun, if it was mine, I would run a bore fitting cleaning jag with a thin wrap of steel wool around it down the bore.
Use a little penetrating oil or WD-40 to lubricate it.
A bunch of strokes, replacing the steel wool every 10-20 strokes will scrub off most if not all of the loose rust.
This would be followed by a good cleaning and protecting the scoured bore with a good rust protectorate like Birchwood Casey Barricade.

 

[mooman76]

By the way you can fire as is. You got it pretty clean but keep it up. Each time you fire it, clean it good and check it often to make sure the rust doesn't return. Guns that sit around allot not being used still need an occasional cleaning and oiling or they will start to rust. By the way I have seen worse so for a gun that has sat that long, it could be worse. Shooting it will help get rid of some of that gunk. Dry the barrel before you fire it and pop a few caps before loding to insure the oil residue is gone.

 

[hawken1983]

you guys rock.. man im getting some good info here.. i just got home from work about and hr ago and i have been cleaning the barrel since. im getting alot of the rust out from the looks of these patches.. i have run about 50 patches.. ive been using this stuff called T/C Numeber 13 Bore Cleaner. i soak the patches up and squeeze the patches just a lil so i dont overdo it and i use that for like 5 patches then i take a new patch a use that to take the cleaner off and repeat.. im gonna try the steel wool thing.. i have some of that kicking around.. can i use wd 40 to lube the barrel once im done? i dont have any lube at the moment and id like to at least put something on it while im not using it.. here are a few morew pics of what i have gotten so far..

 

[hawken1983]

Should i keep going?

 

[mjulihn]

Nope. That should be clean enough. Good job!

 

[hawken1983]

I got a wire brush tip and cleaning rod from a guy at work so im gonna pass that through the barrel and see if i can clean it up some more. So by that last patch you think its clean enough? I thought it should be cleaner lol

 

[Zonie]

Good luck with the TC #13 bore cleaner.

I got a new bottle of that as one of the extras thrown in with a used gun I bought.

Somewhat later on, I had been to the range shooting a few of my cap & ball revolvers and thought I would try it on one of them.

It cleaned the bore all right but when I wiped the bore with a clean patch I got some left over fouling, as expected. I also got a coating of rust! :shocked2:

Just as a point of reference, none of my pistols have ever had rust in their bores.

I wiped the bore with a few more clean, dry patches and then thought, "I'll try another wet patch of #13 just for the H of it."

The next patch, wet with #13 went thru the bore and was withdrawn. I immediately ran a clean, dry cleaning patch thru the bore and it came out coated with rust. :shocked2: :shocked2:

I'm not sure what they put into that stuff but anything that causes rust in my guns bores goes instantly into the trash. That's where it went and to that I say "good riddance!".

Maybe your TC #13 isn't causing your rust problem but I strongly suggest that you try cleaning your bore with plain water with a bit of dishwashing detergent in it.
Plain water and detergent has never caused any of my muzzleloaders barrels to instantly rust and I've been shooting black powder muzzleloaders for over 40 years now.

Don't forget, cleaning steel with soap and water (or #13 bore cleaner) will leave the surface bare and unprotected.
It must be protected or it will rust.

As I mentioned before, I've had good luck with Birchwood Casey Barricade. Other brands may work as well. Even 3 in 1 oil or motor oil will work.

Just don't leave the bore unprotected.

 

[hawken1983]

Wow that does make sence.. i just got home from work and thought i would clean the bore again, but this time using a wire brush tip and i went through the bore a bunch of times with it, then used a wet patch, no cleaner and it came out as dirty as it was the first patch i put through it when i started the cleaning yesterday.. so i think that #13 stuff does like u say and causes rust.. wierd.. i guess i wont be using that stuff again... but using the wire brush took all the rust out of my barrel.. it looks really nice now.. once i was done with the brush i went through the bore a few times with wet patches (witout the cleaner) and it came out clean as a whistle.. i then used some gun barrel lube that must of came with the gun when my dad had bought it, cause it was in the bag of stuff my dad gave me. so its clean and protected.. but.. i broke my ram rod that came with the gun... had to use my buddies rod. broke the tip right off trying to pull it out of the barrel.. so now i dont have a ramrod. do you guys suggest wooden or aluminum/brass rods?

Pics after using the brush on the bore

 

[Sandan027]

When I re-assemble my rifle after cleaning, I leave the lock plate screws a little bit loose. I hook the breech in, seat the barrel in the stock, tap in the wedges and then tighten down the lock plate. With the lock plate tight sometimes it's a bit of a pain to get the drum seated correctly.

 

[hawken1983]

Ok thanks for that info. I never really have a hard time putting my barrel back on usually it just pops right in. But il try that method. Thanks

 

[mageckman]

I use a metal "range rod' for cleaning and general shooting at the range. It saves wear and tear on my wooden ramrods that go with my rifles.
These are nice little rifles. I have one, and most of the CVA's that I have shot are extremely straight shooting guns. I hope you enjoy yours.

 

[bpd303]

The CVA Hawken takes a 3/8 X 27 1/2 or 27 3/4 ram rod. If you are planning on using the rod that is stored on the rifle, I would go with the Derlin (synthetic) rod. Track of the Wolf along with a dozen other suppliers carry them. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/567/1

For general range and cleaning I would pick up a good range rod. The one I like the best is the Treso GI Cleaning & Loading rod. It accepts standard 10-32 tips. http://possibleshop.com/g-c-cleaning-rod.html

 

[Billnpatti]

Here is a source for replacement wedge keys
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=wedge pin

And here is your rangerod
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/33/1/RAMROD-C-36-10

 

[hawken1983]

Ok thanks i will look at them when i get out of work.