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CVA Mountain Rifle Catalog Specs

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Hi. I have a catalog of Dikar that is in Spanish and in English. It must be from the early 80's. In it come the muzzleloading weapons that they made, and among them the "Mountain", that in Spain we call "Montana". I have it in PDF format but I do not know how to share it here in this forum. Greetings friends.
 
I looked at one of three mountain rifles I have and it does not say Spain on it.One is out in the shop and I will look at it later.My third and proud of it mountain rifle says MADE IN USA.
 
Any CVA factory finished mountain rifle made in Spain, would not only say so, it would have Spanish proof marks, (required by their law) USA made guns would have No proof marks, (not required here) This simple difference is clouded by the fact that kit rifle barrels were not always marked back in the early days, In addition, CVA offered their barrels for sale to gun builders back in the late 1970's. For a time, I had a full stock rifle with a 45 caliber CVA barrel that had a Chambers lock, tennesee Bean style brown iron furniture and breech tang, I thought somebody had just used an old CVA barrel, until I saw the barrels for sale in the catalog. I actually met the guy that built the rifle at the 1988 Eastern in PA. He told me that the bottom flat near the breech was engraved with Made by (his name) and when I pulled the barrel, it was so marked.
 
I was looking at ebay yesterday and just did a search for CVA Mountain Rifle. One of the items for sale was a 1976 magazine advertisement. I still recall that I hunted with mine in '76 (still in HS) and that it was a Christmas present in '75.

I haven't shot it in 20 years or more that I can remember, but thought it was about time. I just made a new rod for it, and ran a tight patch down the bore. It feels good despite the abuse it took at the hands of a teenager. :shake: Its going to the range this weekend and may get to hunt in Virginia's early MLer season.
 
zimmerstutzen said:
Any CVA factory finished mountain rifle made in Spain, would not only say so, it would have Spanish proof marks, (required by their law)
And this is where the major flaw of the myth is.
You are of course right about that, a fully finished rifle and/or barrel made in Spain will have their proof marks.

What CVA actually did in the beginning was have the barrel machined, bored and rifled at the plant in Spain,,
,,then have them shipped to the States un-breeched,, basically they where just machined pipe,,
,,Spain had no requirement to stamp them.
The barrel had the breech installed and the rifle components assembled here,, thus still stamped "Made in USA".
A few years went by before Spanish proof houses pressured their government inspectors to put a stop to the practice and the lost money,, that's when the Made in USA was dropped and the complete barrels were made over there with the proof marks.

The original owner of Deer Creek Products (the CVA pro shop) was involved even in those early days and told me in a long conversation that only about the first 200 barrels were made here stateside, then the rest in Spain.
Deer Creek did buy the Douglas machines,, and they did make the 500 commemorative anniversary models. The current Deer Creek owners no longer have those machines nor do they make any barrels,,and as far as anyone knows those fabled Douglas machines probably got worn out, may have been refurbished, parted out and/or scrapped.
 
Per CVA 1976 Catalog

CVA Mountain Rifle "NEW"

Model PR 405- .45 Caliber
Model PR 406- .50 Caliber

Specifications
Lock: Engraved Percussion style. Adjustable sear engagement.

Stock: Polished European Walnut. Oil Finish.

Barrel: .45 and .50 caliber, 32" octagon, 11/15"across the flats. Hooked breech with two barrel tenons. Rifled one turn in 66" for patched ball accuracy.

Triggers: Double set, well fire both set and unset.

Length: Overall 48"

Weight: 8 lbs

Sights: German silver blade front sight. Screw adjustable dovetail rear.

Finish: Rich brown steel. German silver patch box, and tenons-plates, plus pewter-type nosecap.

Price
PR405 159.95
PR406 159.95
KA405 109.95
KA406 109.95

No mention of USA made barrel. But it is interesting the picture shows a 6 screw patch box on the cover and in the description.

I bought my MR in the spring of 1977. For $88.88. It does have a US marked barrel and a 4 screw patch box and pewter ramrod tip.
 
necchi said:
The current Deer Creek owners no longer have those machines nor do they make any barrels

I've handled more than a few CVA rifles and have never seen one with proof marks on it.

I spoke with the owners about barrels a few years ago, well maybe three or four by now, and back then they were making barrels.
 
swathdiver said:
I've handled more than a few CVA rifles and have never seen one with proof marks on it.
Wow,

I spoke with the owners about barrels a few years ago, well maybe three or four by now, and back then they were making barrels.
The lady I talked to 3-4 weeks ago said they no longer make barrels.
The place has changed hands and who knows how many employees in the last few years,,
I'll try again next week and see if I can talk to an owner and get a straight story.
I just get so tired of the myth and stories about these rifles,, it just seems to never end.
 
The young lady who I always spoke with, her name is Talara and the owner's name if memory serves is Jim. Placed my last order about two years ago and they were the same ones I'd always spoken to since y'all directed me to them for CVA and ASM parts back around 2012. Got some barrels back in 2014 or early 2015.
 
CVA did sell unbreeched barrels early on to try to capture some of the market from the build your own custom gun folks. Their barrels were listed individually for sale in at least one of the late 1970's catalogs I have.

As for unproofed barrels. My first CVA kit was a Kentucky pistol, circa 1972 shipped with no touch hole drilled. (Guess that meant the barrels were Indian conduit or something) The instruction were rather clear about how to drill the touch hole and size of the hole. There were no proof marks on it, at all. No stampings of any kind. later in production, completed barrels had the stampings and proof marks, even when shipped as a kit. Had a Frontier kit, from about 1989 and that barrel had proof marks and deep stamping of Connecticut Valley Arms. Draw filing that barrel to remove the marks would have required going too deep, but I also know of folks having earlier CVA guns who did not like the blue and "defarbed" them while prepping to brown the barrels.
 
I just bought a Mountain Rifle from a forum member (thanks Richard!) and it’s really a beautiful little .58. Feels almost dainty and very well balanced. Mine has no barrel markings or markings elsewhere that I have seen. It shoots well. I’ve only put a few round balls and a few r.e.a.l. Bullets thru it but so far so good!
 
My son won the 2005 NMLRA Junior championship with a CVA .50 cal mtn rifle with made in the usa stamped on it. For me the best part of his winning was that cva out shooting all of those high dollar custom made rifles.
 
Like many, I had a perception of the CVA’s as being bargain basement, cheap guns while the T/C were much higher perceived quality, and then there were, are, the custom and semi custom rifles. Out of reach for most of us. Certainly for an enlisted man with a family, I settled for a Renegade .54 for my first serious smokepole.
I have no regrets, but I’m also happy to have found this little mountain rifle...
 
I just bought a Mountain Rifle from a forum member (thanks Richard!) and it’s really a beautiful little .58. Feels almost dainty and very well balanced.
Wow, Woodnbow,, good job finding and resurrecting this olde thread. The 54 and 58 is/was the big bore MR, there were only a few runs of that model and most done by the CVA custom shop Deer Creek Specialties here state side.
(many years ago)
Go back and look for the other MR thread started by Walks Alone and follow all the links. If it's still intact,, that archive is the best "gathered" information about the CVA MR available on the internet today.
 
I just bought 1 of these as well! .45 Cal Brand New unfired, in Original Box. I dug this Thread up from a Google Search and gathered a LOT of info before buying the Gun, I used Parts of this Thread on Modern Muzzleloader where i started a Thread about my new Gun, Giving Credit to Walks Alone. This thread is what helped me make up my mind to Buy my Gun.

Mine is a Factory finished Gun PR405, Box it came in
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Got mine in 1978, I saw an add on the back page of "Hunter safety news" a paper for firearm safety instructors that offered a Mountain rifle at cost and engraved with our name on the barrel direct from CVA . Mine is clearly marked spain on the barrel and as it was a Xmas gift from my wife it is engraved "Francois de Anne-Marie" on the barrel .
 
I just bought 1 of these as well! .45 Cal Brand New unfired, in Original Box. I dug this Thread up from a Google Search and gathered a LOT of info before buying the Gun, I used Parts of this Thread on Modern Muzzleloader where i started a Thread about my new Gun, Giving Credit to Walks Alone. This thread is what helped me make up my mind to Buy my Gun.

Mine is a Factory finished Gun PR405, Box it came in
WuMRzyMl.jpg

Hps90Q7.jpg

r49EFC8.jpg

8E3osZI.jpg

U1xTamY.jpg

8eTCTlX.jpg

qydFl8u.jpg

OKpEEwI.jpg

Let me know if you ever want to sell it
 
Wow, Woodnbow,, good job finding and resurrecting this olde thread. The 54 and 58 is/was the big bore MR, there were only a few runs of that model and most done by the CVA custom shop Deer Creek Specialties here state side.
(many years ago)
Go back and look for the other MR thread started by Walks Alone and follow all the links. If it's still intact,, that archive is the best "gathered" information about the CVA MR available on the internet today.
Thanks @necchi, I’ll take a look at that. Mine may be a newer version, it’s got the round rod pipes and the barrel is unmarked. The rifling looks much like that in the T/C rifles. I need to run a borescope down and see how it looks. Twist is very slow. Maybe 1 in 70 or so? I’m pretty stoked, it’s a beautiful elk slayer!
 

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