Made in America?

Got a guy at my gun club trying to sell me a 1970's "originally" browned CVA mountian Rifle ($125.00) Says its in good shape and all, I'll see it tomorrow. BUT he keeps saying that it was "made in America". My understanding is that CVA is made in Spain and maybe assembled here. Were they EVER made in the USA?
ANY insight would be welcome!!!

PLEASE and THANK YOU!

As I understand it, some of the CVA "Mountain Rifles" were made in the USA.

I'm looking at a 1980 Dixie Catalog and on page 31 is shows a CVA Mountain Rifle.
Quoting the ad, "...The overall length of this gun is 48 inches. This quality gun is made in the USA. It is available in kit form also..."

This "Made in the USA" only appears on the Mountain Rifle. This gun uses two barrel wedges and has a pewter forearm cap.

About 1975-1977 my wife bought me two CVA Kits. One was the "Hawken" and the other was the "Frontier". Both of these guns were made in Spain and the later "Mountain Rifles" were made in Spain as well.

The Made in the USA Mountain Rifle has a reputation for being extremely accurate and well made.

My first ML was a CVA Mt. 50 cal Rifle made in USA.
Wish I still had it Great shootin old rifle.Could have been I didn't shake so bad, and could see the target back then :surrender: I can still hit a barn size target at 30 yards.........(Well) 20 yards anyway.

The barrels are supposedly made by Douglas. If it's a "Made in USA" CVA Mountain rifle in good condition that's a great price.

If it is a 70's era CVA, it will be almost all Made in the USA, with the stock being beech, barrel being Douglas, but the Lock was made in Spain. Great shooters, but nothin to look at. Have heard guys gripe about the lock but I have never had an issue with mine, I have had one since 70's and it has never failed me, & no tellin how many thousands of rounds thru it & it will still group great at 50 yards. I bought mine in mid 70's in kit form from Bowhunters Warehouse in PA, it cost $ 119.95 and it was called a Big Bore Mountain Rifle and .58 cal. Ugliest rifle I ever built.... and I have kept it just to remind me of what they looked like when I started & what they look like now.

I got it out & used it to shoot a deer a few years ago. Had not shot it probably in 10 years. This is the first group out of storage, I raised the POI to center of the bull, shot a big spike buck the next morning & dropped him dead in his tracks.



If the bore is good on that CVA you found, that is a good price on it & if you want it, do not hesitate to get it.

And check that bore with a light & A JAG & PATCH !! Oil in a barrel with a light can be misleading & easily cover pits & crud........

if it is a mid 70's Cva mountain...(2 barrel wedge keys and a pewter nose cap) check the barrel for what is printed on it...if it does not say "made in spain" it should be USA made...the lock would be made in spain....(if flintlock it can be kinda weak sparker).. I built mine from a kit in 1978 and put a new L&R lock on it last year and it is a great shooter!!!

hdgarfield said:

I built mine from a kit in 1978 and put a new L&R lock on it last year and it is a great shooter!!!

Click to expand...

Which L&R lock did you use? Did it fit right in?

Yes!



I have the two, the one in .45 never fired made in USA. The other one has a barrel from Spain.

That is a great price if in good shape :thumbsup:

The L&R lock dropped right in with no wood removal?

I have two. The cap one says USA, the flinter don't. But it don't have Spain on it. The cap one has never been fired. I put it together from a kit a guy had on E-bay. He had lost 150.00 worth of parts. I got the parts from CVA before they quit the sidelocks. Both .45. Have 10 other Spainish guns. Buy it, you can always sell it. Dilly

There is an L&R lock on mine. My buddy put it on before he sold it to me. I am pretty sure he had to remove some wood to make room for the spring on the L&R. I think he also did a little filing on the new lock plate to get it to fit rather that alter the original dimensions of the lock mortise.He had a lot of trouble with the original lock and after shooting it with both locks there is no way I would ever go back to the original. That L&R lock is fast! :shocked2: The hammer has a very short throw and the main spring is very strong.If your caps and powder are good your gun is going to go off. Thge only thing lacking on the L&R is a notch on the front of the hammer so the spent caps will fall out, but that is easily taken care of with a triangular file.

I used th L&R RPL (replacement) lock that I got from Track of the Wolf...it it designed to replace the spanish original lock on the CVA...I did have to deepen the inletting some to fit the mainspring..thenhad to modify the sear bar on the lock and on my set trigger.....but it was worth it

Back when I knew less about proper cleaning and loading procedure I sold mine to a friend for $50.00 it was a tack driver when I could get it to fire. I have since found out it was operator error not the gun. I have kicked my self for selling it every since.

BTW it was 50cal

Bought the gun (the CVA Mountian Rifle) 32 inch barrel. Made inn America" stamped on the barrel. .50 Cal precussion. Browned barrel. Avg wood in GREAT shape. A little rust in hammer cap cup. Bore wiped clean. Attractive in its plain-ness. Half stock of course.
Went to the range straight away (it was only 4 more miles :grin: ) and realized that the nipple is slightly smaller then the T/C nipple with the same threads :hmm: :hmm: (will probably have it bored out to match) made it so that I was stuck with the #11 cap VS the musket caps that I prefer.
Had a couple of HANG-fires then a no fire that required some powder under the nipple to shoot off. FINALLY remembered someone talking about "tapping the barrel" to get the powder into the nipple chamber (do NOT have this issue with my T/C Hawken or Renegade :nono: ) then I set the ball a little firmer and walla! NOW we are shooting a little more normally.
Shot 12 rounds from that point (then time to go back to work) 3 ea with 50, 60, and 70 grains of Pyro RS ... These 9 shots in a 1.25 inch group at 25 yards. A little low and 1.5 inches to the left. Raised the POI shot three more at 60 grains (feel GOOD about that charge / group) and counted it deadly for the day.
All in all VERY happy with the purchse and the gun even though I swore that it would be T/C or custom for me.
Price $150.00 for gun, 1 lb of powder (shot some & it was good), 100 # 11 caps, 100 lead balls and pre-lubed t/c patches, solid plastic "whippy" range rod (havnt decided IF I like it yet or not), wood short starter, and two leather ball pouches (One with some nifty stitching on it), a nipple pick, and a brass measure that I dont care for compared to mine. Ummmm yep that was the deal. :grin: Figured the cost of the stuff I woulda ACTUALLY bought anyway, at some point and decided that I got the gun for less then $125.00.

I'm glad you bought it. The CVA Mountain Rifle is one of my favorite inexpensive production guns.

I have the twin sister to Mule Brains Made in USA MR 45 capper. But mines far from unfired... won a lot of matches with her and used her to shoot quite a few predators too before I went down to my 36's for them. Excellent shooter. Unlike others I've never had a misfire and she still wears all factory parts. IMO $125 is a give away price (less than half what I paid for mine several years ago).

Yer MR's nipple size is 6X1mm - not the same threads as a TC nipple.

Welcome to the USA made CVA mountain rifle club!
I got one too.

...so, what shop did you find it in?
I hope you 'taint gunna tell me down down Newberg??? :wink:

brett sr said:

Welcome to the USA made CVA mountain rifle club!
I got one too.

...so, what shop did you find it in?
I hope you 'taint gunna tell me down down Newberg??? :wink:

Click to expand...

:haha: :haha: Private party Newberg at 2nd and main. Had a "for sale" sign posted at the gun range. :blah: :wink:

Deal of the decade!
Its a terrible shame that I drive by that intersection twice a day!
my loss, your most excellent gain!
If it doesnt work out for you........ :thumbsup: