CVA Frontier Carbine - pawnshop rescue

[Sixgun_Symphony]

I needed an inexpensive percussion rifle for loaning out to new shooters when I take them to the range for instruction. So I went pawnshopping, for a factory sidelock. I found out that alot of the pawnshops no longer deal with them as it is too small of a niche market these days. Then I came to Top Kick Jewelry & Loans in Tacoma and scored paydirt. I looked at their T/C Hawken and Renegade rifles that averaged about $350, then I spotted a much cheaper looking CVA percussion Frontier Carbine, a .50 caliber caplock. The bore looked good, the lock functioned like it should, and the price was marked $149.95, exactly what I was looking for!

So I took it home and cleaned it up that night. I then attended a scheduled monthly shoot at Capitol City Gun Club the next morning, my first time there and I did not know that "shoot" meant "match", I never had a chance to zero it in but I came in 5th place out of 11 contestants.

I used patched .490 ball over 75 grains of ffg Schuetzen BP, ran out about halfway through the match and had to use the cheap stuff, an old can of American Pioneer Powder ffg equivalent BP substitute, which has been in my range box for a long time as I rarely use it because it does not want to flow out of the spout.

 

[Sixgun_Symphony]

This Frontier Carbine is a cheap gun, but it is very accurate. Anyone needing a a brush gun should not pass them up if spotted for sale at a pawnshop or gunshow. The short length would make it easy to load when sitting in a canoe. Applying some decorative brass tacks will make it look much more frontier era.

 

[Trapper Scott]

I needed an inexpensive percussion rifle for loaning out to new shooters when I take them to the range for instruction. So I went pawnshopping, for a factory sidelock. I found out that alot of the pawnshops no longer deal with them as it is too small of a niche market these days. Then I came to Top Kick Jewelry & Loans in Tacoma and scored paydirt. I looked at their T/C Hawken and Renegade rifles that averaged about $350, then I spotted a much cheaper looking CVA percussion Frontier Carbine, a .50 caliber caplock. The bore looked good, the lock functioned like it should, and the price was marked $149.95, exactly what I was looking for!

So I took it home and cleaned it up that night. I then attended a scheduled monthly shoot at Capitol City Gun Club the next morning, my first time there and I did not know that "shoot" meant "match", I never had a chance to zero it in but I came in 5th place out of 11 contestants.

I used patched .490 ball over 75 grains of ffg Schuetzen BP, ran out about halfway through the match and had to use the cheap stuff, an old can of American Pioneer Powder ffg equivalent BP substitute, which has been in my range box for a long time as I rarely use it because it does not want to flow out of the spout.


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Excellent score! I bet I called twenty gun stores and pawn shops within 60 miles of my house and got the same answer. We haven't had an ML in years. Sad really. I finally found a Lyman Trade rifle flinter on GB at a decent price.