Have the chance to pick up a percussion one for $175. Wood looks like very blond birch, metal was a poor almost golden, not really a brown finish. But no corrosion evident.
Any ideas? Thoughts?
Any ideas? Thoughts?
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What's a CVA 12-ga double worth?
- Thread starter Flint62Smoothie
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Dunno offhand, but I'd say it's worth more than $175 unless condition warrants otherwise. I see the various CVA doubles at gunshows now and again and I've yet to see one, regardless of condition that was under about $350-400. I keep eyeing their double rifle, myself.
paulvallandigham
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I paid $155 for a CVA shotgun kit back in the late 1980s, and had to put it together. I think that $175.00 price is great, even for a used gun. No, the wood is nothing to write home about. But, what do you expect for those prices?
I put a recoil pad on mine to length the stock for my size. It certainly doesn't recoil enough to need the pad. I am thinking of having a stock made for the gun, but with enough length that I can eliminate the recoil pad, and use a standard buttplate. Of course, the wood will be a much better grade. I believe my stock is either ash or oak. It was hard to carve to open up the mortise for the actions to fit correctly.
I did have to bend the hammers to get them to hit the nipples on center, and then had to grind the face of the hammer( inside the skirt) to get the face to strike the top of the nipple squarely, but if your gun is a factory build, that kind of thing should already be done.
Put a piece of folded over paper towel under each nipple, one at a time, and drop the hammers. You should get an almost complete punch out like a paper punch would produce. The difference is that with paper towels, there is enough fibers in the paper that the donut hole will not be completely severed. If you only have a partial arc, rather than a full circle, you will have some grinding to do on the hammer face to take the high sides down so that the nipple is struck evenly by the face of the hammer.
Make sure the nipples come out easily. The flash channels should be clear and free of rust, too. Those flash channels angle down to the center rear of the barrels, for straight line ignition. That makes it easier to ignite the powder charge, and also a bit easier to clean the gun after shooting.
You also want to remove the lockplates to make sure there is no rust on the inside of the actions. As clean as this gun is described, I doubt that you will find any, as it sounds like the present owner knows how to clean and store the gun properly.
At retail, those guns sold for close to $300.00 back in the 1980s. They are bringing that price now as used guns. People shy away from them because of the brand, and the non-traditional stock wood. That is a mistake. You can always replace the stock, and have a stock made that fits you better. Any time you buy a gun, new or used, you should be considering whether its going to be necessary to alter the stock to make it fit you.
One of my best friends was a chamion Trap shooter. One day, he invited me to drive with him to the Peoria ( Il. ) Trap and Skeet club on a Thursday, to take a break from work and shoot some trap for practice. Mostly he just wanted my company. On the way over there, he told me he had just bought a new shotgun, a Ljutic, which was then, and is now one of the more expensively made shotguns. This was a Trap model, Single barrel, break open. He had dropped the gun off at a gunsmith he knew that lived near the club, and he was going to stop by and pick up his new gun. He was having the gunsmith cut the new gunstock to " his measurements". I found out that he had this gunsmith work on many different shotguns over the years.
Well, this gun was stocked in some of the most beautiful Walnut wood I have ever seen. I could not believe he was having the stock shortened without even firing ONE SHOT from it. But, he knew his guns, and had been measured for stock fit, and that is what he needed to be able to shoot a gun at championship level. He took that gun with us to the club, and fired 100 rounds through it, breaking 98 targets. He alibied his performance by saying he needed to get used to that " trigger". I thought he did just fine. Most of all, he told me the new gun fit him like a glove, and he was going to love shooting it. He used that gun for years, all over east central Illinois and west central Indiana.
Only when I found out what the gun cost did I understand why the other Trap shooters were looking at the gun as it stood in the gunracks while he waited his turn to shoot.
I have since discovered my " measurements" for shotguns, and I can assure you that once you have a shotgun stock that fits you, shooting becomes a real joy.
The money you save on buying that shotgun should be set aside to invest in a better stock, shaped to fit you.
I put a recoil pad on mine to length the stock for my size. It certainly doesn't recoil enough to need the pad. I am thinking of having a stock made for the gun, but with enough length that I can eliminate the recoil pad, and use a standard buttplate. Of course, the wood will be a much better grade. I believe my stock is either ash or oak. It was hard to carve to open up the mortise for the actions to fit correctly.
I did have to bend the hammers to get them to hit the nipples on center, and then had to grind the face of the hammer( inside the skirt) to get the face to strike the top of the nipple squarely, but if your gun is a factory build, that kind of thing should already be done.
Put a piece of folded over paper towel under each nipple, one at a time, and drop the hammers. You should get an almost complete punch out like a paper punch would produce. The difference is that with paper towels, there is enough fibers in the paper that the donut hole will not be completely severed. If you only have a partial arc, rather than a full circle, you will have some grinding to do on the hammer face to take the high sides down so that the nipple is struck evenly by the face of the hammer.
Make sure the nipples come out easily. The flash channels should be clear and free of rust, too. Those flash channels angle down to the center rear of the barrels, for straight line ignition. That makes it easier to ignite the powder charge, and also a bit easier to clean the gun after shooting.
You also want to remove the lockplates to make sure there is no rust on the inside of the actions. As clean as this gun is described, I doubt that you will find any, as it sounds like the present owner knows how to clean and store the gun properly.
At retail, those guns sold for close to $300.00 back in the 1980s. They are bringing that price now as used guns. People shy away from them because of the brand, and the non-traditional stock wood. That is a mistake. You can always replace the stock, and have a stock made that fits you better. Any time you buy a gun, new or used, you should be considering whether its going to be necessary to alter the stock to make it fit you.
One of my best friends was a chamion Trap shooter. One day, he invited me to drive with him to the Peoria ( Il. ) Trap and Skeet club on a Thursday, to take a break from work and shoot some trap for practice. Mostly he just wanted my company. On the way over there, he told me he had just bought a new shotgun, a Ljutic, which was then, and is now one of the more expensively made shotguns. This was a Trap model, Single barrel, break open. He had dropped the gun off at a gunsmith he knew that lived near the club, and he was going to stop by and pick up his new gun. He was having the gunsmith cut the new gunstock to " his measurements". I found out that he had this gunsmith work on many different shotguns over the years.
Well, this gun was stocked in some of the most beautiful Walnut wood I have ever seen. I could not believe he was having the stock shortened without even firing ONE SHOT from it. But, he knew his guns, and had been measured for stock fit, and that is what he needed to be able to shoot a gun at championship level. He took that gun with us to the club, and fired 100 rounds through it, breaking 98 targets. He alibied his performance by saying he needed to get used to that " trigger". I thought he did just fine. Most of all, he told me the new gun fit him like a glove, and he was going to love shooting it. He used that gun for years, all over east central Illinois and west central Indiana.
Only when I found out what the gun cost did I understand why the other Trap shooters were looking at the gun as it stood in the gunracks while he waited his turn to shoot.
I have since discovered my " measurements" for shotguns, and I can assure you that once you have a shotgun stock that fits you, shooting becomes a real joy.
The money you save on buying that shotgun should be set aside to invest in a better stock, shaped to fit you.
Mike Brooks
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Those CVA doubles are stocked in beech.
I bought one about '87-'88 as a kit and paid $104.66. The reason I remember this is that I was amazed at the price even then. Yes the wood is plain and very hard but it is a lot of gun for the money. Mine has taken a lot of various types of birds over the years.
Many Klatch
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Sounds like a good price. I used to have one and it shot pretty good. The wood wasn't pretty, but what the heck, it shot straight and didn't kick too bad.
Many Klatch
Many Klatch
Condition, condition, condition.
Having said that, the Fifth Edition (2007) of the Blue Book of Modern Black Powder Arms, page 65, lists the value of a CVA SxS percussion shotgun at $275 in 100% condition and $145 in 90% condition. This model was discontinued in 1989.
Blue Book prices are only a guide. Actual prices can and do vary considerably in either direction.
My own experience is that the Blue Book is low on this particular gun. $200 is the lowest I've seen it go for in the last couple of years. I'd say that, based on your description, $175 is a good, fair price, and I'd buy it.
Here's mine, bought as a kit in 1983 and finally assembled two years ago:
Having said that, the Fifth Edition (2007) of the Blue Book of Modern Black Powder Arms, page 65, lists the value of a CVA SxS percussion shotgun at $275 in 100% condition and $145 in 90% condition. This model was discontinued in 1989.
Blue Book prices are only a guide. Actual prices can and do vary considerably in either direction.
My own experience is that the Blue Book is low on this particular gun. $200 is the lowest I've seen it go for in the last couple of years. I'd say that, based on your description, $175 is a good, fair price, and I'd buy it.
Here's mine, bought as a kit in 1983 and finally assembled two years ago:
I just did a search on an on-line auction site and there were 2-3 similar guns. One was at $175 and the other around $400 with no bids, can't remember if there was another or not. As stated before, if you haven't bought it yet, I would be willing to go for it.
mykeal said:Condition, condition, condition.
Having said that, the Fifth Edition (2007) of the Blue Book of Modern Black Powder Arms, page 65, lists the value of a CVA SxS percussion shotgun at $275 in 100% condition and $145 in 90% condition. This model was discontinued in 1989.
Blue Book prices are only a guide. Actual prices can and do vary considerably in either direction.
My own experience is that the Blue Book is low on this particular gun. $200 is the lowest I've seen it go for in the last couple of years. I'd say that, based on your description, $175 is a good, fair price, and I'd buy it.
Here's mine, bought as a kit in 1983 and finally assembled two years ago:
I find it interesting your has a Wedge and mine has a Bolt.
oneshot
A bolt from the bottom of the forestock into a fitting on the bottom of the barrel, right?
CVA also used that bolt on a Kentucky pistol kit I inherited from my father-in-law. I'd built one in the 70's and bought him a kit in the 80's; he never got around to putting it together and I got it back a few years ago. Took it out to finish last winter and was surprised to find several detail differences between it and my gun.
However, it might be a different model; CVA made three different sxs shotguns over the years. The most obvious difference is the lock - case hardened vs polished steel. They also came in .410 bore and with shortened barrels.
CVA also used that bolt on a Kentucky pistol kit I inherited from my father-in-law. I'd built one in the 70's and bought him a kit in the 80's; he never got around to putting it together and I got it back a few years ago. Took it out to finish last winter and was surprised to find several detail differences between it and my gun.
However, it might be a different model; CVA made three different sxs shotguns over the years. The most obvious difference is the lock - case hardened vs polished steel. They also came in .410 bore and with shortened barrels.
Here is your answer!!
Buy It!
They are fetching 3-400, and maybe even more! I think Pedersoli is the only double percussion gun that is mass produced any more. Therefore prices of even cva's have gone up!
I sure would like to see a return of a sxs kit!
Buy It!
They are fetching 3-400, and maybe even more! I think Pedersoli is the only double percussion gun that is mass produced any more. Therefore prices of even cva's have gone up!
I sure would like to see a return of a sxs kit!
What do you plan on hunting with it? They were great waterfowl guns when it was still legal to hunt with lead, now the non-toxic shot has made that an expensive arrangement. Some of the Pedersoli's will work OK with cheaper steel shot, I don't know how the CVA would handle that though.
Russ T Frizzen
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There is a CVA double for sale on Track's site. Not sure of the price, though.
I have used it in mine but with a modern steel wad to keep the shot off the bore. Those plain steel barrels will score badly if conventional/traditional wadding is used. Read RB's topic on "Debuting Steel Shot" and you will see what I do as well as get some good info from the others.
I was told by CVA to use Bismuth.
Plus on my CVA 1 1/4oz. of shot is Max.So you want to let Game get very close.I found with my Gun,I use just a Thick Over Powder Card and a Thin Over Shot Card.No Felt Wad.I got my best Pattern.
oneshot
Plus on my CVA 1 1/4oz. of shot is Max.So you want to let Game get very close.I found with my Gun,I use just a Thick Over Powder Card and a Thin Over Shot Card.No Felt Wad.I got my best Pattern.
oneshot
Thanks for all the informative replies,specially you Paul. I ended getting it for $150 out the door. All metal is perfect! I'll refinish it, albeit the beech stock, as she's much too light in color.
Off to go reading on loads. Cheers :thumbsup: !
Off to go reading on loads. Cheers :thumbsup: !
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