CVA pawn rescue.

[Phil]

I used to to have a CVA Colonial pistol and a CVA Hawken rifle.Just recently sold.I am thru with black powder arms I said. Must be why I traded for four BP rifles and rescued this from a pawn shop!Would like to know anything about it.All I know for sure is I have determined it is a 45 cal.Know it is not valuable but it just spoke to me.Would like to know safe load of BP or pyrodex. What wad to use.Without further rambling here she is. Thanks for any help.

 

[Carbon 6]

Google CVA Tower pistol

 

[Phil]

Thankyou

 

[Carbon 6]

Funny thing is, I thought the tower pistols were .69 caliber, not .45
Glad I didn't bet money on that one.

 

[Phil]

Interesting you put me on the right track.I found an original kit for sale. They did not have caliber listed.Also found magazine add from the time period describing it.No cal there either. Thing is it is described as smooth bore.I assure you mine has rifling.So I will continue my search.69 cal would be much larger than 45?

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

As said above... it sure looks like a CVA/ Jukar Tower pistol to me. If I remember, they only came in .45 cal.

A good starting load would be about 25 gr. FFFG, and a .440 cal ball, plus the usual patch and lube.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

It is a 45 cal. No sights on the barrel. Yours is an early model before about 1981. The breech is a bolster and after around 1982 they switched to a different lock with a drum and nipple. Also, the early ones were made by Jukar and the later ones by Ardesa. The rifling on the early ones was fairly shallow and after the breech switch, the barrels had deeper rifling. If for any reason you decide to install sights, keep in mind that horse pistols of the early percussion years had rear sights over the breech, NOT part way up the barrel. So on that gun the tang just where it meets the barrel.

 

[Zonie]

This pistol shows up in the Dixie Gun Works 1987 catalog. It might be in other years but this is the catalog I have. It did not appear in the 1980 catalog which is the other old Dixie catalog I have.

Dixie calls it a CVA PERCUSSION TOWER PISTOL.
The ad goes on to say,

"This is far from being an authentic Tower reproduction, but this percussion pistol does display the lines of the big flintlock pistols that were used during the late 1700's. CVA's decision to offer this gun in percussion likely stems from the fact that percussion guns are easier for the beginning black powder shooter to learn to load and master when shooting. Although the gun is called a "Tower," it more resembles the big percussion military styled pistols that were produced in Spain during the mid 1800's. The 9 inch round barrel is .45 caliber and we recommend using a .440 round ball. Overall length of this pistol is 15 1/2". Weight is 2 1/4 lbs. To maintain the styling of the Tower pistols, this pistol comes without sights of any sort. Shipping weight 4 pounds.
Price - Finished.....$89.95"

For a powder load I would use somewhere between 20 and 35 grains of 3Fg or Pyrodex P powder under a .440 diameter roundball patched with a .010-.015 thick patch.
Thin patches work quite well in pistols and they make loading the gun much easier than the .015-.020 thick patches often used in rifles.

 

[Phil]

Thanks for all of the replies. Anyone know Pyrodex equivalent.And also can I use a conical bullet?And if so will not need patch right?
Must say I belong to another forum with BP and folks there were not nearly as helpfuL,nor responsive.You have made me feel very welcome here!

 

[Zonie]

Pyrodex or 777 will work just fine in your percussion pistol.

I'm reasonably sure your pistol is a smoothbore.
Bullets require rifling to spin them so they will remain stable after they leave the barrel. If they don't have this spin or it is too slow, elongated bullets will tumble but this might not be noticable at close ranges. Especially if they are shot out of a pistol that doesn't have sights on it.

I guess the real problem is trying to find a bullet that will fit in the barrel. As you may know, .45 caliber bullets for modern guns are larger than .450 in size. A lead Colt .45 bullet is .452 in diameter. Two thousandths of an inch doesn't seem like much but if you were designing something and you wanted a moderately heavy press fit on a diameter of .450 shaft, a .002 interference will produce a heavy press fit. Also keep in mind, lead bullets made for modern guns are usually made from hard lead, making it less likely that it will "give" when it is forced into a barrel.

Although the Cap & Ball pistols do use interference fits between the chambers in the cylinder and the ball/bullet, the extra material is sheared off of the projectile by use of the loading leaver which produces a LOT of force. Much more force than one could exert while loading a projectile into a muzzleloading barrel.

 

[Phil]

Oh no she is not a smooth bore!What I used to test the theory of fit.A saboted 45 cal to shoot thru a 50 cal bore. what a waste used at as made i would think it would reduce the impact and power .She is a rifled .45.And my Pyrodex is of r value.Thanks again to everyone.

 

[rafterob]

The CVA Tower was a .45. The .69 smoothbore Tower pistols were Japanese and pretty good quality for the price. The one my Brother had was advertised as a replica of "The Personal Sidearm of George Washington"

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I created a web site with old gun catalogs and the 1979, 1981 and other CVA catalogs are there. But the programming for this forum will not permit me to post the link.

 

[11th corps]

Oh no she is not a smooth bore!What I used to test the theory of fit.A saboted 45 cal to shoot thru a 50 cal bore. what a waste used at as made i would think it would reduce the impact and power .She is a rifled .45.And my Pyrodex is of r value.Thanks again to everyone.

Mine is also rifled. Its a kit gun my Dad assembled some years ago. Either the spring is not strong enough or some other issue but mine won't pop percussion caps.

 

[ppg1949]

I created a web site with old gun catalogs and the 1979, 1981 and other CVA catalogs are there. But the programming for this forum will not permit me to post the link.

Z, can you PM the site to me? Thanks

 

[Phil]

11th corps that is a nice looking one.After taking mine apart there is A small patch of unfinshed wood right under the barrel.This makes me think she started life as a kit gun also.

 

[Dave Dworshak]

the pistol is a cva percussion tower pistol. .45 cal .440 rb. rifled barrel. i got a kit back in the early 80's, and i still use it . 20-25 gr 3f. You got a nice find . looks like the steel ramrod is missing. its a nice shooter. use it. they did not cost a lot of money back then. must have been one of the cheaper kits or i would'nt have gotten it.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

From the 1979 CVA catalogue. The tower still had the bolster breech: