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.