A few questions

[Pork Chop]

I have the opportunity to purchase a CVA Mountain Rifle in .50 cal. It has the MADE IN USA barrel. There are some issues. The stock has a crack that is not structural, the nipple is broken off, the drum is turned slightly and boogered up, and it is missing one wedge. The wedge is no problem. The crack does not concern me much. The nipple and drum do concern me. How tough is it to remove the drum? This one has some rust around it, so I suspect it will be tough. Are replacement drums available? Can anyone recommend a gunsmith that would do the drum replacement without breaking the bank?

Oh, and what should this be worth?

 

[paulvallandigham]

IN that condition, $75.00, tops! Talk to any gunsmith about removing that drum and nipple. You should be able to replace them through some of the suppliers, as there are still parts around. If the current owner fixed the gun, he could get much more money for it.

Talk to Track, and Dixie, and October Country about parts. Someone mentioned another source of parts for the CVA here recently, but I don't remember what they wrote, and I can find the post. Perhaps someone else can help you out.

 

[smokehouseman]

IMHO I would hold out and find a better gun. By the time you get through fussing and fixing you could easily have purchased one in fair to good condition or better for $125. Just my thoughts.

 

[boar]

You can get parts from Deer Creek, I did.The drum treads into the breechplug. Soak it good and you should be able to get it loose.Make sure it is not loaded and put a little heat to it, this helps. I use PB Blaster, then heat, then spray some more PB. The heat helps drive the PB in. I got a new(70's) kit off E-Bay,It was marked Made in USA. I had to buy 150.00 worth of parts that got lost. It is a new gun now. Never been shot yet. Dilly

 

[silverfox]

The E-Bay bunch over the last month has enough parts to build a mountain rifle. There is a stock on there right now. Deer Creek is a good spot also. You can try the GunWorks to they have everything you need.
The question is, is it worth it to you to do this work. If the price is right I would. I think the drums run under $10 and the nipples under $6.
As to value they have risen in the last couple of years as sidelocks become harder to find and prices for new ones have gone up. IMHO I would say a Mountain Rifle Made in USA under $200 would be a ok deal in shooting shape. There aren't that many people willing to give them up lately.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

IF you buy this rifle, don't order a replacement drum until you have the old one removed.

The "patented" drum that CVA uses on its newer sidelocks wasn't even thought of in the early days of production of the "Mountain Rifle".
I believe they used the conventional side of the barrel drum that does not enter the breech plug.

If the drum needs replacing and it is of the older type it shouldn't be too hard to get a replacement however it will need to be "fitted" to your rifle to get the nipple in the right place.

If it were me, I would pass on this one.

 

[mykeal]

Paul - put this in your Rolodex:

Deer Creek Products
PO Box 246
Waldron, IN 46182
(765) 525-5181
Purveyor of parts from the original CVA Co.

 

[cowpoke1955]

Wish someone would put that info on Deer Creek in the resource section or some place. I can never find it when I need it.

 

[Pork Chop]

Here is an easy solution. Open a notepad window, copy and paste the information, and then save the notepad to your desktop. Always available - even when the web is unavailable!

 

[paulvallandigham]

Thanks for the good idea, Mac. I bookmarked this page, under "deer creek address & phone"> I was going to keep their address when they were still selling Underhammer actions, but then they stopped, and the word here was there weren't going to be any more. So, I had no personal reason to get in touch with them. I do not own, and will not buy a CVA, or traditions rifle. Now, there is some indication that Deer Creek may have more underhammers made.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I have the opportunity to purchase a CVA Mountain Rifle in .50 cal. It has the MADE IN USA barrel. There are some issues. The stock has a crack that is not structural, the nipple is broken off, the drum is turned slightly and boogered up, and it is missing one wedge. The wedge is no problem. The crack does not concern me much. The nipple and drum do concern me. How tough is it to remove the drum? This one has some rust around it, so I suspect it will be tough. Are replacement drums available? Can anyone recommend a gunsmith that would do the drum replacement without breaking the bank?

Oh, and what should this be worth?

The nipple and drum do concern me. How tough is it to remove the drum?
EASY FIX! I had the same issue and orderd through "dixie gun works" I believe a replacement drum for about $12.00. A little turn with a pipe wrench and the old one is out and a little grease on the new one and its in. under 10 minutes. Shoots GREAT!

 

[chapmans]

The CVA Mt. Rifle was the first to use this breech design by CVA, it is an English design from the flintlock era it is called a Nock breech. Here is a photo of a cross sectioned CVA Mt Rifle that Don Kammerer took right off the shelf at CVA's booth at Friendship. They were breeched this way from the start of production.

Regards, Longball 58

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The CVA Mt. Rifle was the first to use this breech design by CVA, it is an English design from the flintlock era it is called a Nock breech. Here is a photo of a cross sectioned CVA Mt Rifle that Don Kammerer took right off the shelf at CVA's booth at Friendship. They were breeched this way from the start of production.

Regards, Longball 58

In looking at the cut away breech, it looks like using a simple drum and cone setup would give faster ignition just by shortening the distance the flame front has to travel. A flintlock wouldn't be that much slower either and both would be easier to clean.

 

[mazo kid]

Yeah, but doesn't that drum go all the way through the breechplug and opposite wall of the barrel?

 

[theDuck]

If you look close you can see that the threads of the breech plug on the opposite side of the drum are uncut by the drum thus indicating the drum does not go into the opposite side. Took a bit of a look at the cut away but I finally noticed it.

 

[Pork Chop]

The drum came out and other than having plier marks on it from the PO, it is serviceable. The threads are nice. Now to soak it to try to remove the remains of the nipple...