Express rifle

[Mountainman56]

Always had a hankerin to own a double barrel "express" percussion rifle. Do any of you gurus have experience with these? I seem to recall Kodiaks?.....and CVA's?.......or were they CVA Kodiaks?

I figure one of these might be fun to take on a pig hunt.....although I may need a gun bearer :hmm:

 

[jethro224]

Pedersoli made a Kodiak double rifle.

CVA had the Express double rifle. In addition to the SxS Express, they also made an Over and Under version. I have only ever seen one of the OUs.

 

[jethro224]

Oh yeah, CVA does make a Kodiak. It's one of them unmentionables...

 

[BrownBear]

It would sure be worth handling them before buying. The 50 is heavy, the 58 is heavier, and the 72 is a tank. I had a bad hankering for either a 58 or 72, and almost pulled the trigger on a used 72 I found. Then I shouldered it and changed my mind. The 58 isn't a whole lot lighter, either.

If you plan on lugging them over hill and dale, sling options should be near the front of your mind.

 

[satx78247]

Pedersoli makes (or at least did once make???) a .72 caliber SxS double-rifle AND once made a .72x12-bore "Cape-Gun", too.

I'm told by a local "authority on such things" that the .72 caliber Cape-Gun is no longer made/for sale.

ImVho, a .72cal X 12-bore Cape-Gun, properly loaded with ball & shot, should be A KILLER on most any critter, anywhere on Planet Earth.

yours, satx

 

[Billnpatti]

I used to have a Pedersoli .50 cal. Express double rifle that was sold by Trail Arms in Houston, Texas. It was a fun gun to shoot and having a quick follow-up shot was nice insurance. My only problem was getting it to shoot to the same point with both barrels, I fiddled and tweeked it and got it close but could not get both barrels to shoot to the same point. So, my solution was to use the two folding rear sights differently than they were intended. It was the intention of the maker that one rear sight was for close distance and the other for a long distance. Rather than set them up that way, I set one for the right barrel and the other for the left barrel. Then, I would shoot one barrel with one rear sight and then flip up the other sight for the other barrel. It worked. The guy to whom I sold it later wrote to me and told me that through a lot of experimentation, he had managed to make both barrels shoot to the same POI at either 50 or 75 yards (I don't remember which distance) using conicals and he was extremely happy with the gun.

Like I say, mine was Pedersoli, so I can't say how the same gun made by a different manufacturer would perform. Pedersoli makes fine guns.

 

[George]

The first express rifle on the American market, as far as I know, was the Kodiak Mark III offered by Trail Guns Armory. It was made by Pedersoli, and after a few years Pedersoli began marketing it under their brand. I don't know about the CVA version.

I have the Trail Guns Armory version in .54 x .54, but have basically never shot it, never even finished sighting it in. I bought it because I was invited on an Alaskan moose hunt, but before I got it ready one of the other invitees objected to a BP shooter on the trip and I was uninvited. I had fired 13 Buffalo bullets through the right barrel at that time, none through the left. I never fired it again, it's been hanging on my wall, unused, since.

They are an impressive gun, beautiful, well built and fitted, cool engraving, and they handle well, Built for heavy charges, the info which came with it mentions "“a 500 grain mini bullet, 140 grains of FFg powder, 1400 fps". Came standard with a sling, and that's handy because the gun weighs 9.5 lb. They have two rear sights, you sight one for each barrel, two triggers, one front sight. Here's a slideshow of my rifle.
http://s881.photobucket.com/user/Spence_2010/slideshow/Kodiak MK-III

Spence

 

[Mountainman56]

They are an impressive gun, beautiful, well built and fitted, cool engraving, and they handle well, Built for heavy charges, the info which came with it mentions "“a 500 grain mini bullet, 140 grains of FFg powder, 1400 fps". Came standard with a sling, and that's handy because the gun weighs 9.5 lb. They have two rear sights, you sight one for each barrel, two triggers, one front sight. Here's a slideshow of my rifle.
http://s881.photobucket.com/user/Spence_2010/slideshow/Kodiak MK-III

Spence

Oh hell! That is beautiful! :thumbsup: What did you have to go and do that for? I remembered they were nice but damn......now I GOTTA have one.

500 grain bullet, 140 grains of powder, steel butt plate, ruptured disk in my nedk..... :hmm: might be I ain't man enough to shoot it.

 

[Mountainman56]

I have the Trail Guns Armory version in .54 x .54, but have basically never shot it, never even finished sighting it in. I bought it because I was invited on an Alaskan moose hunt, but before I got it ready one of the other invitees objected to a BP shooter on the trip and I was uninvited. I had fired 13 Buffalo bullets through the right barrel at that time, none through the left. I never fired it again, it's been hanging on my wall, unused, since.


Spence

That is a shame. I spent the first 42 years of my life Western Canada and have been on quite a few moose hunts. Although I have never taken one with a muzzle loader I think your rifle would have been ideal.

 

[Billnpatti]

Yep, exactly like mine except mine was a .50 X .50 with blued barrels. You need to take it down from the wall and shoot it. It would make a fine deer rifle.

 

[George]

You need to take it down from the wall and shoot it. It would make a fine deer rifle.

Haven't you heard? In 1997 I came down with a terminal case of smoothbore flintlock, and still suffer from it. :haha:

Yes, 28" .54 caliber barrels, 1:48" twist, loaded with 70-90 grains powder and PRB it would be an excellent deer rifle. Double threat.

Spence

 

[Mountainman56]

You need to take it down from the wall and shoot it. It would make a fine deer rifle.

Haven't you heard? In 1997 I came down with a terminal case of smoothbore flintlock, and still suffer from it. :haha:

Yes, 28" .54 caliber barrels, 1:48" twist, loaded with 70-90 grains powder and PRB it would be an excellent deer rifle. Double threat.

Spence

That poor thing should be taken down and sold to some kind deserving sould who would take it out for some exercise :wink:

 

[FishDFly]

Standard Kodiak Express Double Rifle has blued barrels, engraved locks, adjustable rear sight, a straight English Walnut stock with cheek piece.

L.245 Standard Kodiak Express Double Rifle 54, & 58 caliber

Barrel length 28 9/16", overall length 44 11/16", weight 10.57 pounds, (54 cal.), weight 9.91 (58 cal) pounds

,Suggested retail price: $1495.00
SPECIAL: $1295.00
plus shipping and handling

You save $200!

Call Flintlocks, Etc.

 

[Grumpa]

[/quote]
That poor thing should be taken down and sold to some kind deserving soul who would take it out for some exercise :wink: [/quote]

Hint...Hint..Anyone we know? :haha: :haha:

 

[longcruise]

Maybe the weight problem could be solved with a SXS 16 or 12 GA? A double smoothie.

 

[19 16 6]

That poor thing should be taken down and sold to some kind deserving soul who would take it out for some exercise :wink:

Hint...Hint..Anyone we know? :haha: :haha:

Me Me Me
O.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Haven't you heard? In 1997 I came down with a terminal case of smoothbore flintlock, and still suffer from it. :haha:

Yes, 28" .54 caliber barrels, 1:48" twist, loaded with 70-90 grains powder and PRB it would be an excellent deer rifle. Double threat.

Spence

Yeah guy, that's a might spreadable disease...got it myself! :wink:

In the FWIW department, Pedersoli makes the Kodiak series in .50 x.50, .54 x.54, .58 x.58, .72 x.72, .50 x 12 gauge and .58 x 12 gauge...and yes they are expensive, averaging about $1,300 new. Used ones appear quite often. One of the funniest stories I've ever heard was the late, great Mike Powosnik, the founder of Trail Guns Armory reciting his adventure of dragging a double .58 with 'Stake Cutter" Minies around the plains of South Africa after a Cape Buffalo...listening to a good ole southern boy tell a story like that, now that was supremely entertaining! :wink:

 

[Cbriggs57]

Be still my beatin' heart! I think ah've got a case o' the vapors! That...is the most gorgeous rifle I've ever seen.
My knees have gone weak. I think I need to sit down.

 

[slumlord44]

The Kodiak is a beautiful gun. I have had a CVA .50 Caliber Express for many years. No where the fit and finish of the Kodiak but they are good serviceable hunting rifle. They have 1/48 rifling that was shoot the elongated bullets but mine never did. Shoots fine with round balls. It will keep both barrels in an 8" circle at 80-100 yards. They also made a few in .54. Saw one on the web a while back. Early ones had fixed barrels and the later ones had a screw on the end of the barrel to regulate the point of impact. Good ones are selling for $375-$475.

 

[RedFeather]

CVA finally went to the collared barrels in a last attempt to regulate them. They tried lasers, too. I recall they had only fair success. Older Dixie catalogs listed the 54x54 Pedersoli as 1:66", the only tubes to have a slow twist. I have a Cabelas Kodiak in .54 from the 1990's but haven't gotten around to measuring the twist rate. While I can't shoot heavy recoilers such as the conical/140 grain loads mentioned, I thought a .54 double in round ball might be fun. Incidently, I wanted the .54 for wild pigs/boars. After watching the special on Hogzilla, the 600 lb monster from North Carolina and the attendant photos of hog gored legs, I decided maybe not such a good idea after all. Still kept the gun, though. I can fondle it and pretend I'm on safari in Darkest Africa.