Re-stocking A CVA

[4deer]

I have been reading books and watching videos about building longrifles, but I do not have much real practice at working with wood. So, I was thinking that for practice I could stock my CVA synthetic half stock in wood. What do you think of that for a cheap first project?

I found a plain maple half stock blank for $38 from Dunlap Woodcrafts. Any ideas for anyplace cheaper? Or, does anyone know of someone in the Armstrong, PA area who sells stock blanks?

 

[Zonie]

That's about as cheap as I've seen.

As for restocking your CVA with an inexpensive blank like this I cannot think of a less expensive way to get some real "hands on" experience.
Hopefully you realize these blanks are just that. They are just a large chunk of aged wood so you will have to do everything from planing a surface and edge straight and smooth and square with each other for a reference surface to work from, to cutting the barrel channel, drilling the ramrod hole and shaping the stock.

You will have the original gun for reference and parts and if things don't go well you can still reassemble your gun as long as you don't modify the parts.

Going this route is going to be a LOT of work.

If you can afford to spend more I would recommend buying a pre-shaped stock from Pecatonica River. http://longrifles-pr.com/stockprices.shtml
You would have to talk to Dick Greensides (815) 968-1995 to tell him you want just the barrel channel cut to XX size and the ramrod hole drilled. You might also tell him about the parts you intend to use and ask if he thinks it will work.
You could choose from Hawken, Leman, or Vincent style (look thru the shapes on the above web site). It's just a thought. :hmm:

 

[MikeChapin]

Years ago I restocked a CVA Mountain rifle because the off the shelf stock didn't fit me very well. In my case I picked up a preshaped Leman half stock that had the right barrel channel and ramrod hole cut.

Zonie is right about it being a lot of work. It is pretty much the same amount as building a rifle except you have all the parts and a configuration you can check against. In my case the CVA nose cap and buttplate were too wide for the new stock so I Had to get new items for those areas.

It is a great way to get into gun building and you get a little nicer rifle out of the deal.

 

[flinter40]

Hi there,

I am attempting exactly this same thing. I have a CVA bobcat that the lock ate itself apart. Very happy with how the barrel shot and was able to get a hold of another lock which is a traditions I believe. I am very happy with the blank half stock I received from Dunlop. I will be progressing slowly, but will post my progress.

Regards,
flinter40

 

[mr.flintlock]

Here is my idea. Go to the lumber store and buy a short section of 2X10 pine. Draw off and saw your blank. Then start shaping and inletting.This is a cheap way to get an idea of what is involved in building a rifle. If after you see that you really want to do this project, order a nice piece of wood.
Good luck

 

[ohio ramrod]

While pine is cheaper I find that poplar is much easier to work with. I often use poplar when making a custom stock as a "try piece" to fit the stock to the shooter. Since they are "try stocks" and will not be fired you can glue them up out of thinner stock.Also if you screw up on inleting the barrel or lock, trigger etc. You can just cut out a piece glue in a plug and start over. This saves a lot of good wood when you are trying to "fit " parts, or a stock to a shooter.Once you know what you want for dimensions you can then copy it onto good wood.

 

[4deer]

Thank you everyone for the comments. I like Ohio ramrod's idea of using popular and just cutting out pieces and gluing new pieces back in when I mess up. Then after I get a bit of practice doing that I could go on and do the maple stock.

 

[ebiggs1]

Not only is this way of going about re-stocking a lot of work there are critical measurements to be made. That may be the hardest part.