CVA "squirrell rifle" - range report

[patch knife]

I finally put fixed sights on my .32 CVA rifle . I never liked the adjustable rear sight that came with it , IMO it's a real piece of junk . I could never get the kind of accuarcy out of it , to hunt squirrels . So I ordered a semi buckhorn rear sight , and a silver blade front sight (partridge) . I installed them and took the rifle to the range two Sundays ago , and adjusted the sights . It was a calm day and the rifle was shooting 1" or better groups at 25 yards , using .315 swaged roundballs patched with .010 Ox Yoke cotton , and 30 grns. 3f Goex . I got my elevation done , but didn't have time to get the windage done , it was close but not close enough . This past Sunday , I went back to the range to fine tune the rear sight . The wind was a little gusty , so I decided not to mess with the sight . At 25 yards , I shot a 1-3/8" group with a .315 prb , .010 patch and 30 grns. 3f . I shot an 2-1/8" group at 25 yards , with a .310 prb , .015 patch and 30 grns. . At 50 yards I shot an 1-5/8" group with a .315 prb , .010 patch and 30 grns. . The next target was a 4" group , low and to the right of POA :shocked2: . The wind maybe ? Bumped the load up to 35 grns. , the ball hit 1" left of POA :hmm: . BTW the barrel is 24" , with a 1:48 twist , and I was cleaning after every third shot . Next time I go , I'm gonna shoot some more with 35 grns. and see how it does . I tried to post pics of the targets , but it didn't work :cursing: I don't know much about using PC's :shake:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Sounds like you are well on the way to getting the kinks out.

Nothing like BP garnered tree rats with biscuits and gravy.

 

[flintlockmdj]

I am glad to see your post. I have an old CVA Squirrel rifle thart I am rebuilding to use hunting this year and you have given me some needed starting information on proper loads.

 

[patch knife]

I built the rifle from a kit about 20 years ago . I could never get much better than 4" or larger groups @ 25 yards , which is not anywhere near good enough for hunting squirrels . I stumbled onto the Forum here and learned alot of new things . Just for kicks , I decided to replace the adjustable rear sight with a fixed sight . Since I was putting on a fixed rear sight , I needed to replace the front sight with a blade sight so I could file it down in order to adjust my elevation . I had been using .310 balls with a .015 patch . I got some .315 balls and tried them with a .010 patch . My rifle shoots the .315 balls a little better than the .310's . The new sights made a BIG differnce , on a calm day I can get 1" or better groups @ 25 yards . Next time I take it out I'm gonna clean after every second shot , since it seems all my 3 shot groups have 2 shots side by side and 1 that is a little high . The small .32 bore fouls pretty quick . I always take some scrap leather and pliers with me in case my jag gets stuck , but if I clean after every third shot all I need is the leather to give me a good grip on the rod , so I can pull it out . I'll post a report from the next range session and let you all know how things went . :thumbsup: