Need help with CVA Mountain rifle lock

[Larry (Omaha)]

I shimmed the stock under the barrel and have them fitting tightly.

This reply is not meant to criticize, but ask: Why would you not want to re fit the keys or loops in order for the stock to hug the barrel?
Flintlocklar

 

[renegadehunter]

This reply is not meant to criticize, but ask: Why would you not want to re fit the keys or loops in order for the stock to hug the barrel?
Flintlocklar

Simply because I've read where several other folks have shimmed the stock (on various other rifles), so the barrel would sit on the shims, and they ended up with a tight wedge pin fit and an accurate rifle. Worth trying to me since it's so easy, if the rifle doesn't shoot well then I'll try closing the loops a bit. If I do go that route I plan to put the wedge key in the slot and then lightly tap with a brass punch and hammer until it closes up some.
Now I'm really curious how the shims will do and am determined to see if it will shoot accurately with them in place. Just the way I'm wired I guess. It won't take much time to remove the shims and close up the loops if necessary.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Hmmm .. a popsicle/ice cream bar stick works wonders as a shim … trim, sand, fit, glue, stain .. voila!

 

[ohio ramrod]

Seriously, I believe that the CVA mountain rifles with "made in USA barrels" were the best rifles CVA ever made . Quality right up with the best T.C.'s. While the rest of the parts were made in Spain they were much better than other CVA's. I restored one for a friend who had inherited it in very poor condition and was very impressed by it.

 

[JCKelly]

If all this shimming & inletting doesn't work, consider putting this lock gently into your recycling bin.
Log on to track of the wolf & peruse RPL replacement locks by L&R
CVA seems to make good barrels but their locks are, well . . .

 

[Cherrybow]

If the return Spring is hanging up on the threads of the tang screw, it will act like you described. I had to put a small bend in the return spring to clear the screw In two of mine.

 

[renegadehunter]

For closure, I worked on it again yesterday and got everything working correctly.
I removed the trigger assembly again and took out the washers I had shimmed the front and back with.
Looking closely at the return spring I could see that it had so much bend in it that it was being made too short to function. I removed some of the bend and got it positioned so that it returned the front trigger arm to it's lowest position every time, this was most of the reason that the set trigger wouldn't catch every time, gravity was the only thing working on it with the way the spring was set.
After that I decided to try just shimming the front of the trigger assembly with the flat head screw method. It took some playing around with the height, it turns out it needed very, very little shimming to get it right. I would say it was around half the thickness of a credit card, anything thicker than that and the set trigger wouldn't catch.
So, a bit of shim in the front and none in the back now has the hammer holding firmly and the set trigger functions every single time. Any amount of shim made the hammer hold so it wouldn't release with a lot of force pushing forward on it, but too much shim resulted in the set trigger not catching.
I gave the adjustment screw in between the triggers a drop of blue Loctite and adjusted it per manufacturers instructions plus an extra half a turn (1-1/2 turns out from dropping the hammer). The screw turned very easily and I remembered that my Renegade was that way and it was lost in short order.

Edited to add thanks to all who helped! One member even PM'd me and gave me his personal phone number so I could call if I ran into problems I couldn't figure out. I love this forum.

 

[firestick]

Glad it all worked out. The CVA Mountain Rifles shoot very well. Enjoy!

 

[fishmusic]

My CVA Mountain Rifle is my go to gun. The advice you see here about the trigger inletting, underlug tapping (the best idea) and trigger tuning is excellent. Polishing the the trigger bars helps with the gritty trigger feel also. Go gently with it using very fine grit sandpaper (I used 400 grit wet dry). I built mine from a kit that i got from a guy for a song and it is a really goo shooter.

 

[CVA Enthusiast]

Easiest way to Identify a USA made C.V.A Made in the U.S.A is stamped on barrel, If it is stamped Made in Spain, it is not a U.S.A. And yes they are out there however most are elusive.

 

[renegadehunter]

I made it out for a bit last weekend to start testing loads for this. The trigger and lock functioned flawlessly. The trigger is definitely lighter once set than my Renegade, I will likely increase the travel a bit. I was shooting 50 yards from sandbags. .490 RB with a .015” cotton patch hand lubed with Frontiers Patch Lube.
The first target was with 70 grains of Goex 3f. The low shot was the foul shot, and I adjusted the sight up before the next 3 shots were taken. The squares on the target are 1” squares.

The second target I bumped to 75 grains of 3f. I felt myself pull the left most shot, but all other shots felt good so not sure about the other shot that went left. The other 4 shots are in the ragged 1” hole. Looks like she’s going to be a shooter. I was at a range, so didn’t try to recover patches.

 

[Pete G]

Hmmm .. a popsicle/ice cream bar stick works wonders as a shim … trim, sand, fit, glue, stain .. voila!

You didn't list first step
...Eat popsicle