CVA Percussion Mountain Rifle .58

Hello everyone out there in the MUZZLE Loading world. My question concerns misfiring of a percussion rifle after 4 or 5 successful firings.

I have a CVA Mountain Rifle in .58 caliber. It was assembled from a kit which was purchase in 1979 although it was assembled in 2012.

It shoots very well and is most accurate. The problem is that after firing 4 or 5 times it misfires. So the powder drum was primed with some 3F gunpowder by removing the drum screw and then replacing it. It then fire properly but then the next round loaded as usual via muzzle did not fire.

My conclusion is that after 4 or 5 shots the hole of the powder drum became clogged but removing the drum screw and cleaning out the hole did not seem to work. Again priming the drum with some powder made it fire properly.

Upon throughly cleaning the barrel with hot water and soap the rifle properly fired.

I cannot imagine that during the Civil War that other percussion rifles such as the Springfield would have had a similar problem.

Could the hole in the barrel where the drum is mounted be too small and drilling it out a little correct this problem?

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[Zonie]

When you reload, do you leave the spent cap on the nipple or do you leave the hammer resting on the nipple?

I ask because with a cap lock gun, leaving something that covers or plugs the vent hole thru the nipple can sometimes cause problems with the next shot.

This is especially true if the gun is using one of the breech designs that has a smaller flame channel hole connecting the bottom of the nipple with the main powder chamber (patent breech).

If the nipple hole is left uncovered, the loose powder charge will be blown back thru the flame channel hole to the bottom of the nipple when the patched ball or bullet is rammed down the barrel.

If the nipple is blocked off by the spent cap or the face of the hammer, the loose powder is much less likely to be blown back to the nipple.

Another thing that can cause the problem you are having is wiping between shots.

If you are wiping between shots and you are pumping the patched ramrod jag up and down, you are pumping old fouling back into that flame channel. That can block it off and cause all sorts of misfires.

Another wiping between shots mistake is to use a wet patch. If that is done, often the water will get into the flame channel and kill any powder that might get into that area. The wetness left in that area can even cause the next powder charge to form a plug that prevents the caps flame from reaching the main powder charge.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Okay, I think we need to know what is happening during those 4 or 5 shots.

If you are wiping the bore with a very tight fitting wet patch, fouling is being pushed into the CVA interlocking breech. If your wiping patches are ver wet, then moisture is soaking the fouling and a plug of fouling is collecting at the breech. When you added powder to the drum, the cap set of the powder which blew through the plugged breech and set off the main charge.

Do search on this site for drawings of a CVA breech. You shouldn't have to open the hole in the drum.

So tell us the brand and grade of powder. Tell us the size of your cap. For your gun you should be using a spitfire or hot shot nipple for #11 caps. Use magnum caps for a bit more heat. Tell us all the details of your loading procedure.

We want to help. You should get a lot more shots before the breech is too fouled to reliably fire.

 

[cynthialee]

Due to the CVA breach issues when I fire my CVA rifle I leave it on its side as I swab after each shot. If I swab it with the butt to the ground it sends too much crud into the breach and I get a FTF.
{I also use a lightly moist with alcohol mop to swab with.}

 

[AZbpBurner]

Whether cap or flint rifle, I swab out the barrel after every 4-5 rounds with a cleaning patch moistened with a few drops of a 1:1 mixture of GoJo hand cleaner (without pumice) and water with a couple drops of liquid dishsoap added. I use a little squeezie bottle that dispenses a drop at a time, and use 4-5 drops on the patch. After mopping out the barrel, I run a dry patch down the bore next and I'm ready to go.

Once, when removing a rifle nipple, I noticed the residual film of crust in the drum where the flat of the nipple was seated, but it had a hole in it, and wouldn't have affected flame travel, so I paid no further attention to it.

As Zonie already mentioned, leave the nipple open with no cap covering it, (and the hammer at half cock). I always pull the rod out of the bore with a little more force, since it would suck thru more air, removing any loose particles out of the fire channel.

 

[BrownBear]

One of my hunting pard has that zact rifle he assembled from a kit. He used to get misfires too, until he started loading as Zonie describes. Not a single issue now.

 

[Shifty]

I have CVA's that fire flawlessly but only after I learned how to load them, do as Zonie say's but I will add one more thing to do ,after you have poured the powder charge into the barrel hold the gun up by the barrel and give it a few rapps to the side of the gun near the breech area with the plam of your hand,works for me hope it will help you.

 

[Stubert]

I had one of the original mountain rifles back in 1978, mine also would mis fire after a couple of rounds. I had to remove the cleanout screw and open the flash channel with a small drill bit. I do not remember what size, but that cured the problem. Be carefull not to damage the threads in the cleanout hole. Good luck

 

[shawn_c992001]

I also have a CVA M.R. in 58 caliber, I have never had a problem. Goes off every time even shot it about 5 times in a row without swabbing the barrel.