CVA Mountain Questions

This thread finally made me go and look at my CVA mtn rifle. I knew it had "made in USA" in large letters...looking closer I find the #0011107 on the bbl, and that the patch box has 4 screws, and that the thimbles are six sided...I bought this gun, new, as a kit, in the early '70's, say as early as 1972...it is a tack driver...Hank

Apparently you missed the post by Walks Alone. Here is his text:

This same debate has been going around for years. I got the real answer for myself by calling and talking to a very nice old timer at CVA when I wanted other information on all my old CVA's. They do have it all in their records. So this is from the horses mouth, not the other end or speculation. The early CVA MR's did in fact have Douglas barrels on them and I was told there is an easy way to tell on your own rifle whether Douglas or Spanish made. Check your patch box... 4 screw PB's on the MR's had Douglas, 2 screw had Spainish barrels.

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Now, if you think that for some reason that Walks Alone is going to put his reputation on the line by stating something that did not happen, then I guess it could not be a Douglas barrel. I don't see any reason to doubt him though as his posts have been helpful and accurate as far as I can tell.

In all honesty, I could not care less if it is a Douglas barrel, a Spanish barrel, or even a barrel that was filed out of an old fence post by a monkey. It shoots and looks neat, so that is all that I need to know. I took it out on Wednesday and shot it for the first time since I bought it. It hit where I aimed, so that is all that I need to know...

I have trouble seeing the thin front sight on mine if the light isn't good anymore. That and I have bent the darned thing several times at just the wrong time. Other than that, it is a great rifle. Just about everyone that ever had one and got rid of it says they wished they still had it. If you like the rifle and plan on keeping it, order a sear, tumbler, fly, and mainspring. In some batches the locks are prone to chipping, springs get weak with use sometimes, and that darned fly is real easy to lose when you are replacing the other parts!

Thanks Pork Chop. I agree, they do shoot very well and the barrel controversy is really just a bunch of bunk.

Swampman said:

Can anyone prove that Douglas made barrels for CVA? I think it's an urban legend.

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I think the information that CVA gave me personally and I posted here has enough merit to prove they indeed did. See no reason to doubt their word or any of the other information they gave me about my CVA's myself.

Swampman said:

How does "Made in USA" equal "Made by Douglas Barrel Co.?

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Well, my 45 MR has the large "Made in USA" stamped on it, the 6 sided thimbles others have mentioned, serial number and 4-screw patch box exactly as CVA told me that their early MR's with Douglas barrels had. So I'll offer that most folks would agree its reasonable to believe it does have a Douglas barrel.

Still not convinced Swampman? That's fine and you certainly are entitled to your opinion. But I at least have made the effort to get something to back up my opinion, and will stay with it until YOU can prove otherwise.

Walks Alone

The guy at CVA told you..... :hmm:

Swampman said:

The guy at CVA told you..... :hmm:

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Yep, as I said in my first post on this palaver I "got it from the horses mouth, not the other end or speculation".

Why are your comments usually so negative... :hmm:

....Hey, I got one also!
Love it.
all the reasearch I have done on it, from several sources (all reputable) have pointed to the Douglas barrel.
Even if it wasn't or isn't a douglas barrel, It shoots so well, it really is moot point.

I would have to say that SUNDOWNER has the douglas barrel on his mountain Rifle. Good for him!

Mine has round thimbles with a wedding band on each end.But it still shoots as good as the nut behind the buttplate, round thimbled or hexoganal, douglas barreled or spanish....dont matter.

Brett sr

None of this was intended to be negative. I just wanted to know if anyone had any hard documentation. I suppose my years as a reenactor/living historian have made me skeptical of rumors. Three written primary sources are the normal minimal standard for Living History. I understand even the Deer Creek Mountain Rifles shoot fine. :thumbsup:

Didnt we go thru this a month ago? Wasnt it CVA that has the real one that they made the others from? The first 500 or so was a "collector" run and had the Doug barrels? Ive got one of the DC made ones, it can shoot better than I can, then again so can my Ithaca it just cost a bit more, if your like me you got for your own reasons and thats all thats important anyway, so yes they did have those barrels we found out , how many for how long???? :hatsoff: fred

Not a collector run and it went well past the first 500. The Mountain rifle was the CVA flagship gun. Things got changed to spanish barrels and such at a later time.

They all shot well that I know of.

Ya I never had one of the 3 I think it is Ive had that didnt shoot very good. What I was saying was we had a site that had the history of that rifle and the real one they used to make it from and the first run of the D barrels ect and maybe how long they used them if someone can remember how far back that was on here. Fred :hatsoff:

Swampman said:

None of this was intended to be negative. I just wanted to know if anyone had any hard documentation. I suppose my years as a reenactor/living historian have made me skeptical of rumors. Three written primary sources are the normal minimal standard for Living History. I understand even the Deer Creek Mountain Rifles shoot fine. :thumbsup:

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Swampman - :thumbsup:
Multiple sources may be a good gauge certainly, but I think the information confirmed from the manufacturer themselves and from their own company records does suffice in this case. A second may be possible from Douglas themselves but have no idea where to get a third though. As most who own them agree, they shoot well regardless so it really may be just a moot point anyway as long as pressures are kept reasonable in the Spanish barrels(?).

I think photocopies of the factory records would have been acceptable hard evidence.

At any rate, the Spanish barrels seem to shoot well enough. :grin:

Swampman said:

I think photocopies of the factory records would have been acceptable hard evidence.

At any rate, the Spanish barrels seem to shoot well enough. :grin:

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Personal choice. I'm from the old school where you trust folks until they prove otherwise. I have no need for photocopies of their records for my interest in this nor have any reason to doubt their word. They have nothing to gain at this late date - neither do I.

Considering a Mountain Rifle I came across in cyber-surfing. Here's my question: How were the last series of these guns made in the late 90's or so? I know CVA re-introduced them for a while. Is the furniture any different? I recall something about their being blued, et cetera. How can you tell if it's a later gun? (Guess I'll be calling CVA tomorrow.)

Thanks in advance,

RedFeather

Just talked with the nice customer service rep at CVA. Gun in question was made from aroun 1977 - mid-80's and is Spanish barreled. He talked about the four screw patch box and said those are Douglas barreled. That's straight from CVA.

RedFeather

The last ones sold about two years ago. I shot with a young man shooting one of the new ones then.