CVA squirrel rifle....

[GANGGREEN]

I may have an opportunity to buy a like new/unfired .32 CVA squirrel rifle in percussion. I have used the search function and done some reading but most of the threads are a bit older (not that anything has changed with the gun since those threads were written).

I guess I have a couple of questions and then was just generally interested in people's thoughts about the quality and suitability of the gun for general plinking or squirrel hunting.

First of all, what would be a ballpark value? He says that it's unfired and that he lost the box so I'm presuming that it's a factory gun and not a kit that someone built. I think I'll be buying it "right" but not getting the bargain of the century either because I know they weren't expensive guns.

Secondly, I see that they were offered in .32 and .36 but also were sold as two-barrel models (I guess .32 and .45 or .36 and .50). That would seem to indicate that the 32 and 45 barrels had the same outside diameter. If I wanted to add a .45 barrel, what would they cost and are they ever available or hard to come by?

I also see that they sold them in flintlock too. Was the flintlock reliable? Could you easily convert from flint to percussion or vice versa? Would those locks still be available anywhere or are used ones out there on the market?

Thanks for any thoughts or reviews.

 

[galamb]

32 cal is a little small for my tastes - would prefer the 36 even just for plinking. Some claim the smaller bore fouls quicker - I have no opinion either way, just prefer the 36 because you have considerably more options with loads and projectiles (you can get a conical "off the shelf" for a 36 which gives you "varmint shooting options")

There may have been a time when CVA was still producing the rifle that you could get another barrel for it.

Nobody ever made a drop in replacement barrel for a CVA in the "aftermarket".

CVA breeches, which would be required to make an extra barrel (from a custom/semi-custom shop) likewise were never available directly from CVA and to my knowledge none of the aftermarket builders etc ever made one.

So while you may be able to find a used barrel scavenged from another rifle, it would be far too costly to obtain a barrel then get a custom machined breech to work with it.

Ditto with the conversion to flint - would need a "flint" breech, although "maybe" the current breech could be adapted with a liner in place of the nipple (maybe) but again you would have to find a donor lock.

L&R makes a couple replacement locks for CVA models, but it doesn't look like this model is one of them.

But, if the rifle is new and the price is right - you think you will use it and can live with it "the way it is", then go for it...

 

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks for the info and thoughts. I thought that there may have been a screw in adapter and an L&R replacement lock to convert this one but even though I'd be getting it for what I thought was a good price, I surely wouldn't want to pay another $150 or more to convert it.

As for the question of .32 versus .36, I have a .36 southern mountain rifle in flint that I built myself so I'm covered on that score. I'm typically not a big fan of percussion guns at all but I think the price is right on this gun, it's in new condition and I might purchase it just because.

 

[azmntman]

I had that gun...plastic stock with .32 and .50 barrels. Was an OK gun. Cheap but get a good deal and ya cant go wrong. Mine was accurate enough for tree rats no roblem. I have a crocket and recently sold a blue ridge .32 and they do foul quickly. The short lil CVA I dont recall the same issues with. When I hunt with the crocket I carry cleaning and drying patches n possibles bag with pre moistened (hoppes # 9 or simial and swab abut every 2-3 shots, dry and fire a few cap. I say get it! Just resell if unhappy

 

[GANGGREEN]

I only have the seller's word that it's in unfired condition and a picture but unless it's a really good "fake", this one has a plain wooden stock.

 

[Wes/Tex]

"Just because" has always worked for me! I can't give you any direct help with the CVA .32, I've never owned or shot one. The .32 has been popular for a long time with small game hunters. My first was a TVA long gun from back when Jack Garner & Ernie Tidwell first left Dixie and set up shop for themselves. Had called Jack to inquire into possibility & time frame and he told me they'd finished a .32 a couple months before but the guy had never returned any of their notification calls...I mailed in my money! Between that one and a TC Cherokee I learned a lot and got all the main ingredients for hassenpfeffer or Brunswick stew! My first small bore was one of the .36 caliber H&A "Minuteman" rifles back in the early 60's...should have seen me trying to fine .350" balls around Houston back then! :haha: That and finding a M.1809/39 Potsdam musket introduced me to the pleasures of melting lead on Ma Williams gas stove!! Keep plugging away at it, it's fun and tasty!! :thumbsup:

 

[mooman76]

I have one in a 32 and it has a wood stock. You could get them either way. Didn't hear of one being a kit but that doesn't mean there weren't some. I'd love to have a 36 but they are even harder to come by at a inexpensive price. I like mine.
I got it cheap on clearance and if I knew they wouldn't make them any more, I would have bought another one or even tried harder to get one in 36.

 

[bpd303]

I've got a wood stock one that I bought in 2011 for $230 very accurate with a .310 ball .10 patch and 25 gr fffg Goex. Tree rats don't stand a chance out to 50 yards.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks for the help fellas, if I purchase it, I'll post a pic and details.

 

[sleeperNY]

Back some years ago CVA did make a kit squirrel rifle. I have one that I bought for my oldest boy in the later 80's. It shoots well but hasn't been fired in many years. I am going to change that in the spring. Oh ya did I tell you it was a flintlock??? It is :wink:

Jim

 

[Lonegun1894]

I have a .32 caplock that I bought as a kit, and it is a great little shooter. It has the wood stock you mentioned also, and single trigger--seen photos of ones with set triggers, but mine is fine without one. Also, between this one and a 42" barreled flint .32, I don't get any more fouling than any other caliber. Aside from being a caplock, which I prefer flinters but still shoot caplocks also sometimes, my only complaint is that the stock is a bit short. Not quite to the point of some of the "youth" stocks being sold on moderns today, but short enough that I have to be consciously watch my position. Makes it great for teaching women and kids though, or in cold weather when wearing thick clothing, or when I just want to carry the lightest "long"-gun I have. I'd say buy it, and if you don't like it, I'm sure you can easily get your money back very easily, but I bet you end up keeping it.