Ballshooter
50 Cal.
I have a few 54s
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
My .58 cal. CVA Mountain Rifle
- Thread starter Ballshooter
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
HighUintas
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2022
- Messages
- 514
- Reaction score
- 577
They still exist! It would be the Traditions Mountain Rifle. But, they only come in 50cal
TScottW99
40 Cal
Very nice, hope to get a .58 sometime
Congratulations! Your rifle is a beauty!
Regarding ball size, CVA recommended a pure lead .562" ball with patches of .017" to .020". I have the manual right here in front of me, and that's what's in the chart. As for powder charges, they recommended starting with 60 grains of FFg, up to a maximum of 120 grains of FFg.
It isn't discussed much because these rifles are really not very common, but it is pretty generally known that the .58 caliber CVA Big-Bore Mountain Rifles were not true to size, but ran somewhat under. This is why CVA recommended the .562" ball. I have one of those rifles, assembled from a kit, and had a gunsmith check the bore for size. He found the bore was .575". I think a .570" ball might be pretty hard to load. If you cast your own, also bear in mind that round ball moulds are sized for pure lead. I have a quantity of lead salvaged from a cowboy action range. It is harder than pure lead, and I have found that balls from it drop out oversized, around .602" - .603". Others have reported similar results on this forum.
So, if you already have a .562" round ball mould and pure lead, you should be good to go.
As a final thought, Deer Creek Products has digitized all of the old CVA manuals and put them on their website. It's always a good idea to at least take a look at the manual.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
Regarding ball size, CVA recommended a pure lead .562" ball with patches of .017" to .020". I have the manual right here in front of me, and that's what's in the chart. As for powder charges, they recommended starting with 60 grains of FFg, up to a maximum of 120 grains of FFg.
It isn't discussed much because these rifles are really not very common, but it is pretty generally known that the .58 caliber CVA Big-Bore Mountain Rifles were not true to size, but ran somewhat under. This is why CVA recommended the .562" ball. I have one of those rifles, assembled from a kit, and had a gunsmith check the bore for size. He found the bore was .575". I think a .570" ball might be pretty hard to load. If you cast your own, also bear in mind that round ball moulds are sized for pure lead. I have a quantity of lead salvaged from a cowboy action range. It is harder than pure lead, and I have found that balls from it drop out oversized, around .602" - .603". Others have reported similar results on this forum.
So, if you already have a .562" round ball mould and pure lead, you should be good to go.
As a final thought, Deer Creek Products has digitized all of the old CVA manuals and put them on their website. It's always a good idea to at least take a look at the manual.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
Last edited:
Ballshooter
50 Cal.
Cool thanks for the info my homemade black powder is like 2 1/2 F grain size.
Attachments
Last edited:
Because many of the CVA Mountain Rifles have a slightly undersized bore. Mine does great with a .562 ball .010 patch and 110-120 grains of goex 3f.
Tried .570 ball and a .005 patch and couldn't get it to start and didn't think that a 5lb sledgehammer would be either a good idea or practical to carry Elk hunting.
Ballshooter
50 Cal.
Well, a .562 ball is more than a .530 ball lol. At any rate my 58 Mountain Rifle seems to like the 440 grain L.E.E. R.E.A.L. bullets just fine and I am sure the. 562 roundball or the R.E.A.L.'s will put them down right quick.
I think a rifle that a person might use to hunt bear, bore or any type of possible dangerous game should load fairly easy so a .562 ball if accurate makes sense. I prefer a ball that a short starter is not needed and also less stress on the ramrod.
