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Found a NIB CVA Kentucky Rifle Kit

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gunnerasch

32 Cal
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I picked up a still NIB CVA Kentucky Rifle Kit still in a rather ratty original box and paid the lady a whole $20 for it. This is my 8-9th percussion rifle, several of which were CVA kits from decades ago.
Is it possible to convert this to Flintlock? I do not have a single flinter in my BP arsenal and would like to have one.
Is this possible or is it just a very expensive dream?
Thanks guys.
 
The CVA's drum screws down into the breech plug and is kind of unique. You have to make an insert that is shaped like the drum and then drill it for your flash hole. Can't just insert a flash hole liner into it. Other than that, you just need a proper lock that fits. I've never done it, but it doesn't appear to be too difficult if you have the tools to do it.
 
Upper right corner.
16589-DRUM2.jpg

You can see that it goes all the way through to the other side, and then part is drilled out for the chamber. You have to make a piece that fits like this, and the chambered part has to be indexed to point the proper direction. Then you can drill and thread it for a flash hole liner. Or just drill a flash hole and use the whole thing as the liner.
 
I converted a percussion CVA Kentucky barrel to flint from a kit I bought cheap and used it in a build recently. It has worked great by using an insert made from a metric bolt in M10-1.25. I drilled it out and tapped for a stainless 1/4-28 vent liner instead of just a flash hole in the plug. You must drill a powder pocket in the M10 bolt at the correct spot to receive the powder from the barrel just like the drum does. The lock from L&R is what I used but it's expensive. This is a picture of the new insert part and the original drum removed from the barrel. This fills all the inside barrel & breech plug threads, but you must index everything correctly to work properly. You really need to have a drill press and vise to do this easily.
 

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This is the above plug installed in the barrel which lined up just right to the powder pan in the L&R Lock. It was a bit of work, but I enjoyed tinkering with it to use this barrel that only cost me $35. These old CVA barrels of which I bought two cheap are accurate shooters for me.
 

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Thank you gentlemen! It looks doable. Im astounded how much flintlock actions are. Why? While there is a bit more machining/parts than a percussion... Im stunned at the cost of a flintlock action.
 
Upper right corner.
View attachment 174058
You can see that it goes all the way through to the other side, and then part is drilled out for the chamber. You have to make a piece that fits like this, and the chambered part has to be indexed to point the proper direction. Then you can drill and thread it for a flash hole liner. Or just drill a flash hole and use the whole thing as the liner.
 
I converted a percussion CVA Kentucky barrel to flint from a kit I bought cheap and used it in a build recently. It has worked great by using an insert made from a metric bolt in M10-1.25. I drilled it out and tapped for a stainless 1/4-28 vent liner instead of just a flash hole in the plug. You must drill a powder pocket in the M10 bolt at the correct spot to receive the powder from the barrel just like the drum does. The lock from L&R is what I used but it's expensive. This is a picture of the new insert part and the original drum removed from the barrel. This fills all the inside barrel & breech plug threads, but you must index everything correctly to work properly. You really need to have a drill press and vise to do this easily.
Thanks! Ive got a reasonably equipped home hobby shop, 2 milling machines, 2 lathes, surface grinder.. etc etc (I repair machinery in machine shops for a living for the past 26 yrs) so I believe I have the gear to do this. What does the "vent liner" consist of?
 
That liner is made of stainless steel and contains the flash hole that opens up to a larger inside channel that carries the flash into the main powder charge. The M10x1.25 bolts are hard to find in stainless steel, so this gives you a stainless flash hole. I thought it was easier to get a correct shaped channel in the metric bolt than just drilling a 1/16" flash hole into it. Sounds like you have plenty equipment to make whatever it takes to convert this barrel to flint. I'm glad I did mine it works great. Here is a picture of the front and back of the stainless liners. You can drill the larger channel into the powder pocket and the liner threads into it to make the small flash hole.
 

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The ones I have are .041 or a #59 drill size diameter as received but I like mine at 1/16" so I drilled it out to that.
 
The ones I have are .041 or a #59 drill size diameter as received but I like mine at 1/16" so I drilled it out to that. I got a double post too don't know why.
 
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