CVA Mountaineer

[Hank Mcmauser]

Won this today on GB. It's a pretty plain model. From what I've read it comes with a 28" barrel. 1 wedge, recoil pad on butt stock. No patchbox. Should take a bit to get here. Seller only deals in check, or Money Orders. More pics when it arrives.
Most every search I do is coming back with Mountain rifle. This is the Mountaineer.

 

[Hank Mcmauser]

Got the rifle in today just before the snowmaggedon hit the Gulf Coast . It is in pretty decent shape, rifling looks good, has a some hard fouling in the barrel. The nipple appears to not be seating all the way into the drum. One of the ramrod tube's appears to be a handmade replacement. Rear sight looks to be a home brew peep sight.a little crude looking, but perfect for fast shots. This rifle is pretty well balance and seems quite nimble. It looks to be made in 1989
There's a little speckle of rust here and there maybe caused by a bloody/sweaty handprint .
For the nipple I was thinking about getting a 6x1 mm bottom tap and chasing the threads to see if that solves the nipple issues. I've attached a bore shot of the breech. There are pipe wrench marks on the drum, it appears to be seated fully.

 

[Thomas.bill92]

Got the rifle in today just before the snowmaggedon hit the Gulf Coast . It is in pretty decent shape, rifling looks good, has a some hard fouling in the barrel. The nipple appears to not be seating all the way into the drum. One of the ramrod tube's appears to be a handmade replacement. Rear sight looks to be a home brew peep sight.a little crude looking, but perfect for fast shots. Looks to be made in 1989.
There's a little speckle of rust here and there maybe caused by a bloody/sweaty handprint .
For the nipple I was thinking about getting a 6x1 mm bottom tap and chasing the threads to see if that solves the nipple issues. I've attached a bore shot of the breech. There are pipe wrench marks on the drum, it appears to be seated fully.

Clean that gal up and get to the range!

 

[Hank Mcmauser]

I will be soon, I have to get the nipple situation sorted out first. I shoot left handed, so it's even more importanter, cuz my face is right there by the hammer.

So the issue turned out to be the clean out screw was screwed in to a depth that it was interfering with the nipple
. I had to resort to an old school impact screw remover the type you smack with a hammer turn the screw. Once it was out the nipple was prettyeasy to screw in completely. Then I put the clean out screw back in place snugly.

There does appear to be some pitting mostly in the few inches from the breech. I used hot water, and dawn soap and brushed it pretty vigorously with a 20 ga shotgun brush. Then followed with several tight patches. Also put some of my homebrew cutting boards wax in the last few patches equal parts mineral oil and beeswax . Also warmed the barrel up a bit with my heat gun to help draw out the water.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Hank Mcmauser, I was going to suggest that you check to see if there was interference from that manufacturing plug called a "clean out" screw. Now that you have determined that it will interfere with the nipple, shorten it so it doesn't lock the nipple in place. Use some neverseize lubricant on the treads and forget it was ever called a clean out screw. After all you will want to remove the nipple for cleaning.

 

[Hank Mcmauser]

I have a new screw ordered from deercreek, along with a new rear sight, and the proper ramrod thimble&screw.
The screw that's currently in the drum doesn't have a head on it, it's more like a set screw. I used anti-seize on this, and the nipple. I keep a 16 oz bottle of that stuff around. I grew up working on old cars in Ohio. Was taught anytime you take something apart itngets a liberal dose of antiseize. And the rest of the day you feel like the tin woodsman.
I also ordered a more primitive rear sight for my other rifle I'm resurrecting. I was going to make one, but for what it costs to get a burger and a coke Ill have one pre-made.
I scotch-brite patched the bore today. As it has some pretty rough spots in it. I'm really anxious to see how bad this is going to be to load after it gets fouled. Added a video of the borescope going in.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Well, @Hank Mcmauser, one of the facts of life with a traditional muzzleloader is that fouling happens. What we have to do is learn how to deal with the fouling.

One of the means to deal with the fouling is to use a working rod and jag to wipe the pore with a damp patch to remove fouling before it builds up too much. I like either a brass or stainless steel working rod and a jag reduced slightly in diameter to let the damp patch slide over fouling without pushing fouling to the breech and then bunching up to pull the fouling out.

Then we can allow the patched ball to remove the fouling by using a near wet patched ball to push fouling down to be between the powder and the patched ball. The firing will essentially remove the fouling so quite a few shots can be fired without the patched ball becoming hard to load. I have found accuracy on target to be less than wiping between shots, but this means that we must be prepared to prevent fouling from building in chambered breeches and blocking flash channels. A chamber brush with patch to clear the chamber. A percussion cap can be fired to clear the flash hole.