cva hawkins ???

[boker]

i bought it used but gun looks like new inside and out , took it out today and cant get it to group at all, i am useing 3 fff blackpowder ,hornady 490 round ball , .15 pre cut and lube patch. i played around between 70 to 85 gains of powder. gun is shooting left really bad and up and down every other shot.season starts here in three weeks .any advice.thanks

 

[Bill Hall]

Well, now you know why the original owner sold it. :rotf:

Seriously, check the entire gun for anything that could be loose. Sights, tang screw, key, barrel. If you have a tight fitting load, good rifling, and a bore in good shape, then it sounds like something must be wigggling around from shot to shot. Good luck. Bill

 

[huntinguy]

Take a good look at the barrel, could it be bent?
How does if feel when you load it? is there a possibility that the crown is messed up?
I have only seen a few CVA Hawkins but they all have shot reasonably well.

 

[SgtSchutzen]

My CVA Squirrel Rifle was driving me crazy like that when I first got it. Stringing shots up and down over about a foot at 25yds. I finaly figured out the problem was a loose barrel key. I tightened it up by giving the tennon a rap with a ball peen hammer and solved the problem.

 

[brubincam]

had one with plastic sights--if so throw them out

 

[Amikee]

I did not own one, however, my friend did. On his, there was a problem with the sights, but... do you should off bench, support? or just offhand? For sight-in maybe it'll be better to use support, to make proper adjustments. Also, I would go with 60-65. When I bought my .50 "hawken", only charge I've ever used was a 60gr of Pyrodex RS. Your charge seems kinda high. As you may know, when using 3f you are supposed to reduce the charge. So, maybe that's the way to go. I'm sure you'll find your answer here. Good luck!

 

[boker]

thanks to all . i think i will drop the charge to 60 and see what happens .i need to clen the gun as soon as i get home from chruch today so i will check it out real close

 

[cowpoke1955]

You may also want to try different powder. Try some FFg or pyrodex RS. Each rifle is different. Let your rifle tell you which powder it likes.

 

[Swtodd]

Have you recovered any of your patches. Maybe a sharp area in the rifling or at the crown that is cutting the patches. Speaking of the crown, how does it look?

steve

Oops, someone already mentioned the crown.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

needs the thicker .018 patch IMO.

 

[rawhide]

check your sights. make shure there tight. mite back your charge down to say 50-60 grains and see what that dose. if it only ben shot a few times or not at all rifling mite have sharp lands. you can lap them and it should help. I have one in .54 that I lapped the barrel on boy what a diffince!

 

[russecv58]

sounds like your patches are getting cut by a sharp edge at the muzzle crown when loading. take a look at your fired patches and see if theres any cuts on them, if so you might want to smooth the crown with a scotch brite pad or fine emery cloth. if it's a 50 cal i'd reccomend dropping the charge to 50 grains of 3F and see if you can get it to group, then adjust your charge from there. something else i noticed that can be a problem on cva is the rear sight has side to side adjustment screws, if those are loose it will let the rear sight move around. good luck :thumbsup:

 

[boker]

ok . looked the gun over every thing is tight , crown looks good ,rear sights are tight i had to move them all the way left . and its still going alittle right . how much powder is enough "power" for deer out to say 100 yards ?? i am going to try the thicker pact next time out . the gun did seem pretty easy to load with the pre cut patches compared to my 45. cal with pillow ticking. thanks for all the help with let y'all know how it turns out soon i hope .thanks again

 

[russecv58]

maybe try drifting the front sight a bit. if its hitting right, drift the front sight to the right. as for powder charge, theres alot of differing opinions, but i'd reccomend the most powerful charge that still gives you acceptable accuracy. i use 70 grains for hunting with mine, but above all else shot placement is everything. every rifle has its own preference for what charge it likes, once you get it grouping decently play with the powder charge and find your most powerful accurate load. just my 2 cents :v

 

[russecv58]

i just re read your post...it was shooting left, now its hitting to the right? if thats the case move your rear sight back to the right a bit, but if its still shooting to the left, drift the front sight to the right. i wouldnt play with the sights too much until you get a fairly consistent group somewhere on the target. be it 1 inch or 4 inch group, just as long as its consistent. then adjust the sights from there. just be sure to keep aiming at the same point that you aimed at for the first shot. (i.e. if you aim for the bulls eye keep aiming for the bulls eye no matter where it hits, and see if the ball keeps hitting in the same place as the others). just out of curiosity, are you swabbing between shots? and if so what are you swabbing with? one other thing, maybe try some thicker patching too, like #40 cotton drill or some denim with a good lube, they'll be tight but should help especially if there might happen to be any rough spots in the bore. lots of guys love bore butter, but ive had better luck with straight lard, or a home brew of bees wax/olive oil/lard mix. mink oil from Track of the Wolf is an excellent lube also.