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CVA Mountain Rifle Test Firing

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slumlord44

40 Cal.
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Finally got around to trying out the .58 I bought last year. Gun was built from a kit by an older gentleman who seemed to know his way around muzzleloaders. It seems to like Triple 7 but didn't like some really old Pyrodex that I tried just to use it up. Stuff went bang but accuracy sucked and did not seem to recoil as much. Will try Blackpowder the next time. Accuracy with Triple 7 is encouraging. This one requires thinner patches than I have been using with my other CVA's. Tried to tighten up the screw that holds the socket that the barrel locks in to but then the hammer would not stay cocked. Can get it snug but not as tight as I would like and still have it stay cocked. I recall seeing these issues discussed here before. Suggestions? Think I will use this one for hunting deer next year. Went up to 80 grains of Triple 7. Accuracy was better than with 60 grains. Thinking about going higher. Need to work on BP load. Don't want to go too heavy because of recoil. Maximum I will ever shoot is 100 yards but most shots are 20 to 50 yards. Now I need to find the time to sort out the .45, .50, and .54 Mountain rifles I have as well as the .45 and .50 Browning Mountain Rifles.
 
slumlord44 said:
Tried to tighten up the screw that holds the [strike]socket[/strike] Tang that the barrel locks in to but then the hammer would not stay cocked.

FML said:
shim under the [strike]back[/strike] front of the trigger, its inletted a lil to deep :thumbsup:

It's a known issue with the CVA MR. The old wood is distressed and compresses too much when over tightened.
 
If your accuracy was better with 80 grains than it was with 60, don't think going higher will help with a kill shot at close range. Just burnin' more powder. Especially if you think you might flinch with a higher load.
My GPR 54 with 60 grains of Pyrodex will pop the head out of a quarter at 33 yards, my typical hunting distance up here. At 70 or 80 grains it ungroups a bit. If 60 grains will punch holes in metal I don't think one deer rib at most stands a chance. Why pass up on accuracy if you don't have to?
slumlord44 said:
Finally got around to trying out the .58 I bought last year. Gun was built from a kit by an older gentleman who seemed to know his way around muzzleloaders. It seems to like Triple 7 but didn't like some really old Pyrodex that I tried just to use it up. Stuff went bang but accuracy sucked and did not seem to recoil as much. Will try Blackpowder the next time. Accuracy with Triple 7 is encouraging. This one requires thinner patches than I have been using with my other CVA's. Tried to tighten up the screw that holds the socket that the barrel locks in to but then the hammer would not stay cocked. Can get it snug but not as tight as I would like and still have it stay cocked. I recall seeing these issues discussed here before. Suggestions? Think I will use this one for hunting deer next year. Went up to 80 grains of Triple 7. Accuracy was better than with 60 grains. Thinking about going higher. Need to work on BP load. Don't want to go too heavy because of recoil. Maximum I will ever shoot is 100 yards but most shots are 20 to 50 yards. Now I need to find the time to sort out the .45, .50, and .54 Mountain rifles I have as well as the .45 and .50 Browning Mountain Rifles.
 
he makes a good point. additionally, you may want to check out Dutch Schoultz' method : here's a link: http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

this is probably the best non- shooting accessory you can buy. If you follow this method, your groups will shrink.

guaranteed

hard to argue with that!

now, I know of no deer capable of withstanding a roundball through the 'boiler room' - the overwhelming majority of deer (east of the Mississippi) are shot at under seventy yards, so get a good load at that distance, practice for good groups, and make space in your freezer!

no need for 'magnumitis.' a plain old roundball will do just fine for the conversion of Bambi into little white packages.
 
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I'm not a big advocate of heavy loads in guns but it doesn't hurt to go a little higher just to see if there is improvement. At least you will know what it does. I don't believe you will shoot any better with heavier charges but you never know.
 
In this rifle, 80gr-100gr 2fg Goex, .018" - .020" patch and .570" round ball is all you will ever need. I've taken mine up to the max load of 120gr 2fg and its a mule but still shot just as well as the 90gr load.

This is 4 shots from 100 yards with the above load and 100gr 2fg goex. The .58cal MR barrel I fit to a CVA Hawken stock, so I could get that big beautiful hole we call bore size :haha:
450x710.jpg
 
I knew I had to shim but had forgot where. As to loads, I've been killing deer with a round ball for a lot of years. I am well aware that more is not necessarily better. Been using 90 grains of 777 in my CVA .50 double for years. Accuracy is as good as I'm going to get with it and have taken deer out to 100 yards with it even though I am reluctant to take a shot that far. Settled on the same 90 grain load with my .54 CVA Hawken. With the .54, any more is not any more accurate and recoil is getting uncomfortable for me. I am well aware of the fact that you have to tinker with loads with these and shoot a lot before hunting with them. My first CVA was a .45 Kentucky that I built from a kit in the '70's. I was using a heavy bullet rather than a round ball. The more powder I put in it the more accurate it got. Had to stop at 80 grains because of the heavy recall. Any of these will easily kill a whitetail at 50 yards with 60 grain load and a well placed shot. If you want to reach out to 75-100 yards I am convinced you need a little more velocity to consistently hit and humanely kill. My double would not shoot a bullet with any accuracy at all but a round ball will stay in an 6"-8" circle with both barrels at 90-100 yards. Good enough for whitetail. The heavier the bullet, the more recoil. Simple high school physics which I never thought I would use in high school but keep quoiting all the time now.
 
Finally got around to shimming the front of the trigger. Pretty simple. Cut a thin piece of stainless that I had and epoxied it to the front of the inlet in the stock. Easy to add more if needed. Not needed. Was able to tighten things up and everything works fine. Thanks all for the assistance.
 
he makes a good point. additionally, you may want to check out Dutch Schoultz' method : here's a link: http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

this is probably the best non- shooting accessory you can buy. If you follow this method, your groups will shrink.

guaranteed

hard to argue with that!

now, I know of no deer capable of withstanding a roundball through the 'boiler room' - the overwhelming majority of deer (east of the Mississippi) are shot at under seventy yards, so get a good load at that distance, practice for good groups, and make space in your freezer!

no need for 'magnumitis.' a plain old roundball will do just fine for the conversion of Bambi into little white packages.

Dont waste you money on the Dutch Schoultz book. My gun shot the worst ever with it. Patches with bore butter are 100 times better.
 
Dont waste you money on the Dutch Schoultz book. My gun shot the worst ever with it. Patches with bore butter are 100 times better.

Your experience just goes to show there are many ways to make a muzzleloader shoot well. Many have had good experiences with Dutch's book. I have found it to be helpful.
 
I have the factory version of the CVA .58, and my experiences are very similar to what FrontierMuzzleloading is showing- my go to load is 100 grains of 2f and I believe a .015” patch, but it shoots great anywhere from 80-110 grains.
 
I have the factory version of the CVA .58, and my experiences are very similar to what FrontierMuzzleloading is showing- my go to load is 100 grains of 2f and I believe a .015” patch, but it shoots great anywhere from 80-110 grains.
Had mine for many years and it really likes 100 gr of 3f with a .562 rb, shoots way better than I can see nowadays.
 
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