Question on a CVA .50 pistol

[YellowthornofTexas]

I recently obtained a CVA .50 mountain (?) percussion cap pistol. The trigger is a little lose, is that normal? I took out the trigger housing and there’s nothing to adjust. Also the lock seems to me to be somewhat weak on the strike. Again, normal?
Thanks for any assistance.
Al

 

[Grenadier1758]

The answer is, "Yes, these are normal". The simple trigger has no spring to lift the trigger to the sear and the locks are known to have weak mainsprings.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Thank you for the reply!!! I guess now to go experiment with it!!!

 

[Desperate Lee]

Lots of people like them. Not hard to work on and they can have very good accuracy with the right load. You didn't buy a $2K target pistol, but you got a good working everyday firearm.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have one in 45 and it goes bang every time I pull the trigger and off sand bags it is very accurate. In my hands alone, not so much.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, no $2k for me!!! Lol it was practically given to me. “Not sure how to fix the trigger and ‘hammer’”. Looks like nothing is wrong with it.
I’ll probably use it mostly for an early CW officers impression. Even though it has the belt clip on the side, club rules state that all pistols must be in holsters. So I made one.

 

[Eddie2002]

I've a CVA Kentucky pistol in .50 caliber with a loose trigger. I"m not sure if your Mountain trigger is the same but mine has a pin through the trigger's pivot hole which is held down with a "U" shaped clamp and a screw. I used a larger size pin made out of a cut down nail which took up most of the slop in the pivot hole. It's not perfect but a lot better than before. I was thinking about drilling the pivot hole larger and going with a tighter fitting pin but didn't feel like firing up the drill press at the time.
The same trigger assembly is used on a CVA Frontier rifle I have, the only difference is the the rifle's trigger assembly has a flat spring that presses on the top of the trigger blade and keeps it from moving around as much.
My Kentucky pistol is plenty accurate out to 25 yds and can pretty much put 4 out of 5 shots in a tight group off of a rest with 25 grains of 3F. I think most of the fliers I get are from me and not the pistol, it's a good shooter for the price.
Check that the lock plate screws aren't too long and dragging on the back side of the hammer causing a weak hit. I've seen that problem on a lot of the pistols that have two screws holding on the locks.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Thanks Eddie! I’ll have to take a photo of mine. Too hard to try to explain.
Eddie, does your trigger have like a hooked trigger?
Al

 

[Kansas Jake]

My pistol was a kit gun and included both the belt hook and washers to replace the hook. The one washer is round and the other is oblong to fit the inlet. You may be able to purchase or make them if you don't want to use the hook. I used the washers. They are steel and I browned them to match the barrel.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

My pistol was a kit gun and included both the belt hook and washers to replace the hook. The one washer is round and the other is oblong to fit the inlet. You may be able to purchase or make them if you don't want to use the hook. I used the washers. They are steel and I browned them to match the barrel.

Cool!! Yeah I’m sure this was a kit gun also. I’ll just leave the clip on for now, lol I kinda like it!!

 

[Eddie2002]

All the single triggers on my CVA guns are brass with a curve trigger, not hooked or anything fancy. Think they used that design on the small pistol locks without a fly or bridle. Even the Frontier rifle has a trigger and lock assembly that could be interchanged with the Kentucky pistol if needed.
Always wanted a pistol with a belt hook, think it looks way cool having a pistol hanging off a belt with no holster.

 

[fishmusic]

I recently obtained a CVA .50 mountain (?) percussion cap pistol. The trigger is a little lose, is that normal? I took out the trigger housing and there’s nothing to adjust. Also the lock seems to me to be somewhat weak on the strike. Again, normal?
Thanks for any assistance.
Al

I have one also in .50 cal and the lock is crisp and tight. I also have a mountain rifle and I had to replace the spring because it was too weak. The replacement spring from Deer Creek was only a little better after working it to fit properly but it worked. If the spring is too weak replace it with a Deer Creek spring or make one or have someone make one for you.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Thank you Sir! I shall keep your advice under consideration.
Al

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Okay, so y’all are the experts. I’m wanting to shoot this thing. I’ve got a Sportsman’s Warehouse (awesome military & LEO discount vs Cabela’s/ Bass Pro), nearby. Besides black powder (I have plenty for my 53 Enfield for CW re-enactments), .50 cal rounds (other sizes?). Can make patches, just guide me on material and size (I could google...lol). I’ve seen guys write that they just pop patch in mouth? I think my powder measure device I use for Enfield will work. Any other advice? And of course #11 caps

 

[Zonie]

When you say you have ".50 cal rounds" do you mean they are .500 in diameter or, are they smaller like .490 or .495 balls?

Because the gun should be loaded with a patch on the ball the ball should be smaller than .50 caliber. The .490 and .495 balls are the size it should use.

Rifle shooters use very tight patches on their loads so you will read about them using .015 to.020 thick patches. Not only are these thicker than a pistol needs but they can make loading it just about impossible.

Because you are most likely to just do some plinking and casual target shooting I think you will be fine just using an old T shirt for patching. Just make sure it is cotton. The modern polywhatever material is a plastic and it won't work.

Your powder loads should be somewhere between 15 and 30 grains. Don't underestimate the power of 15 grains of powder under the ball. It will be deadly.

If you have any old cartridge cases laying around a .380 ACP will measure out about 10 grains of powder. A .38 Special will measure out about 23 grains of powder and a .357 Mag case will measure out about 27 grains.

 

[Eddie2002]

Cotton Tee shirts or an old cotton sheet works great for patches and cleaning at the end of the day with soapy water. Don't know what you have on hand but you will need a .50 caliber cleaning jag or some way to swab out the bore. I use Bore Butter on my patches but there are a lot of other lubes out there, even wetting the patch with water works just don't use it dripping wet, moist is all that's needed.
Shooting a real light load around 10 grains could cause a ricochet back at you with a wood backstop which can be comical depending on if you get hit or not. Got a good bruise on my leg once and am still chuckling about it.
Check the hammer after each shot, sometimes pieces of the cap will get stuck in it's head and cause a miss fire.
Sounds like you know what you are doing, go out and shoot that puppy and have some fun !!

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Oh I don’t have .50, I was listing what I needed. Sorry for miscommunication.
Thank you for the info!!! I’ve got 38 and 357
Lol and I thought I hit post !!!

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Eddie, thanks. Yeah experience with my Enfield, but I’ve never shot rounds out of it only BP at events. This pistol, luckily I had an all caliber cleaning kit. Barrel inside was rusty, nipple was seriously clogged. Any suggestions on where to get spare nipple(s)? Any preferred brands?
Yeah not into self inflicted wounds! Lol
I know what’s gonna happen.... I’m gonna go shoot this thing and catch the bug!!! Lol
Check hammer, roger that.
Bore butter... sounds like something out of Vegas!

 

[Grenadier1758]

The nipple should be metric and 6 x 1.00. This is common enough to be available at the Local Gun Shop (LGS). The thread pitch is easy enough to check out at the hardware store. I made a pistol rod to use as a separate rod is easier to use at the range than the one on the pistol. Not to mention that the accessories on the CVA ramrod with your pistol require metric threads too. If you are asking about on line vendors, there are several good ones out there such as Track of the Wolf, Dixie Gun Works, October Country, Muzzle Loader Builder's Supply, and others.

 

[YellowthornofTexas]

Thanks Grenadier!