Thoughts on my touch hole alignment

[4deer]

I've got an old CVA kit that was missing a few pieces. On of those pieces was the lock. For a replacement I have been trying to make a small Siler lock fit. I thought I had it pretty decent and already have the lock plate drilled and tapped in alignment with the pre-drilled screw holes.

Tonight I noticed that the frizzen does not cover the entire touch hole when it is down.

I know that my pan is slightly out of alignment with the touch hole, but I was hoping it would still be close enough to light it up.

Now with this gap above the frizzen I am concerned about it making it to easy for rain to get down in there.

Just now I looked at a factory CVA gun that I have and it actually has a small amount of touch hole showing about the frizzen too. It however, is less obvious because it is not a white lightning touch hole.

What are your thoughts? Do I have a problem with the rain? Yes....I know its going to be hard either way to keep moisture out of there. Is the alignment at least close enough to fire consistently?

If I should move the alignment what is the normal option? Moving the barrel back and down seems like a lot of work, but likely won't leave gaps. If I try to move the lock the screws will sit in slots and the lock will then have a gap I will have to fill.

Thank you all for your advice. :bow:

 

[flattail]

I don't think the "front-to-back" alignment will be a problem. The touch hole does seem to be too high, though. You MIGHT be able to help the situation by changing the touch hole liner to an internally coned type. :idunno: The smaller diameter hole on the outside might be covered by the frizzen. :hmm:
Good luck, hope you find a solution.
Ed

 

[Captjoel]

I would go ahead and try shooting your rifle before moving anything. IMO the rifle will shoot just fine, as I have one with a similar touch hole placement. If it is possible, and a white lightning type of liner can be made to fit, I would go that route to get the hole under cover. You could also place a bit of welding slag on top of the frizon cover and then smooth it out with a file, then brown it to match your lock and barrel.

 

[Birddog6]

well..... :idunno: obviously don't hunt in the rain. :slap: :grin:

The front to rear alignment can be adjusted a tad with a dremel & sanding drum & carefully widen the pan some
next to the barrel. End result is the pan is sort of V shaped.

As far as height. you make a new vent liner out of a piece of SS bolt, and you file it flush & you drill the hole low.
Preferably one would remove the breechplug & cone that vent liner from the inside, but getting that CVA breechplug
out can be an issue. So I would drill vent hole to .070 & give it a try & see how it does. If it fires off well, no
worries. If not, remove & try a different vent liner. I would try fixing what you have First & use correct metric thread.
If you go to a White Lightning, that could be an issue as well. First issue is you will have to go to at least a 5/16 vent
liner & that is going to put the vent liner up into or over the barrel flat & that can be more issues.

Another option is run a bead of weld across the frizzen & build up the edge, then send it to Chambers and ask they
re-carborize the frizzen & temper & etc. I did this on one about 10 yrs ago & it worked fine for me. I suggest ya call them
prior to doing this to insure that will do it. And you will have to wait til they are doing a bunch of frizzens.

Keith Lisle

 

[Scota4570]

Inlet the barrel deeper. Inlet the tang end more toward the but plate. Get a real liner.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

The placement is not ideal, but I think you'll be OK. That type of touch hole with the recess for the allen key is helping you channel a good flame. A touch hole with a screwdriver flat would be more challenging to channel flame.

What I think might be an issue here is the gap between the lock and the barrel. If that's not completely flush, you can get powder in there and blow the lock off the stock.

Make sure that touchhole is flush with the barrel before making the final inletting adjustments. I'd run a file over the face of the touch hole, if it sticks out a bit from the barrel.

IT's really hard to tell if that's a problem with your gun or not from the picture, but it does appear to be a bit from the angle we see it at.

 

[Birddog6]

:thumbsup: Good thought. And normally that may work, but it is not that simple on this. If you lower the barrel you run into other issues, such as maybe RR hole issues, Wedge Pins won't fit & have to put new Underlug on & refit keys to it, change shape of top of stock at breech, reshape tang, etc.

Keith Lisle

 

[4deer]

...try shooting your rifle...

Great advice! I gave it a go this morning shooting just powder. Upright it went off each time for about 3 or 4 shots. I tried firing it upside down and out of 6 tries or so and it went off twice. I know my factory CVA will shoot upside down, but I can't remember its percentages of going off. Do you guys think the not firing well upside down warrants enlarging the pan as Birddog6 suggested?

...What I think might be an issue here is the gap between the lock and the barrel. If that's not completely flush, you can get powder in there and blow the lock off the stock.

Make sure that touchhole is flush with the barrel before making the final inletting adjustments. I'd run a file over the face of the touch hole, if it sticks out a bit from the barrel.

IT's really hard to tell if that's a problem with your gun or not from the picture, but it does appear to be a bit from the angle we see it at.

Great point to bring up. The touch whole is recessed slightly into the barrel. When I put black paint on the back of the pan and put on the lock I got a print on the barrel. At least there I'm good. Thank you for asking that question though.

...Another option is run a bead of weld across the frizzen & build up the edge, then send it to Chambers and ask they
re-carborize the frizzen & temper & etc...

Hmm, I really like that idea. The nice thing is I can wait and do this later if I think I need to do it.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Great advice! I gave it a go this morning shooting just powder. Upright it went off each time for about 3 or 4 shots. I tried firing it upside down and out of 6 tries or so and it went off twice. I know my factory CVA will shoot upside down, but I can't remember its percentages of going off. Do you guys think the not firing well upside down warrants enlarging the pan as Birddog6 suggested?

Well, it prevents you from shooting 18th century gangsta style.

 

[ZUG]

Print a picture of a large Siler lock from TOTW and place it on your rifle if it covers the vent hole then buy a large Siler and use that. My two cents worth :hmm: .

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yeah, the folks have covered the options...it isn't complicated with the right techniques, BUT the situation does need to be tended to. Kinda need to go the full monte and replace that touch hole liner, and do a different one. The advantage of having it custom done, is that you can off-set the touch hole back just a fraction of an inch from the true center of the insert...and just a fraction lower too...to aid in your correction.

LD

 

[jerrywh]

One more thing not often thought of is this. Is there room to lower the barrel a little?

 

[nchawkeye]

Just make you another touch hole out of stainless steel rod, cone it from the inside and drill the touch hole where it should be...

 

[54ball]

Honestly, the lock is worth more than the gun.

I would have fun with it like it is and build the kit up very nicely.

If and when I was ready to build a nicer rifle out of more expensive parts I would use that small Siler.

 

[MSW]

I agree with the shoot-it-and-see idea... if it fires OK as you would normally use it (as opposed to shooting it standing on your head, and who shoots while doing yoga?) then leave things as they are ... if you're concerned about rain sneaking in, I would recommend a good cow's knee.

good luck with your project!

 

[brubincam]

make a new plug out of a bolt--

 

[Col. Batguano]

since hunting situations are usually 1 shot a year deals, you might think about smearing some grease or something like it over the top of the frizzen when you really WILL be hunting with it, It's obviously not a permanent solution, (the others are much better) but for only 1 shot a year it's a pretty easy temporary fix.