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What to do with old CVA Kentucky rifle

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Flint Striker

40 Cal
Joined
Sep 21, 2022
Messages
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Almost 50 years ago, my father built a 45 caliber CVA (or maybe Jukar) KY rifle. As was common with them, the frizzen wore out. The entire lock was lost in an attempt to get it fixed, and the rest of the gun ended up abandoned in a trailer for years until I “rescued” it. The stock was covered with several coats of polyurethane so it’s actually still fairly solid, but the lock is gone and the barrel is pretty bad. Is there any plausible (affordable) way to restore this gun, or should I just pull the brass hardware and chuck the rest?
 
I don't think it matters what the forum would do.

What do you want to do?

I’m thinking about seeing if the original barrel can be bored smooth and a vent liner installed, then trying a L&R replacement lock. The other option might be looking up a decent 45 or 50 caliber barrel that’ll fit. The original stock needs refinished, but it’s not terrible. The only costs with the stock should be sandpaper, walnut stain, and time.
 
I’m thinking about seeing if the original barrel can be bored smooth and a vent liner installed, then trying a L&R replacement lock. The other option might be looking up a decent 45 or 50 caliber barrel that’ll fit. The original stock needs refinished, but it’s not terrible. The only costs with the stock should be sandpaper, walnut stain, and time.
Sounds like you answered your own question. I’d go for it.
 
Is the bore of the barrel really badly pitted or just dirt and surface rust? Have you tried cleaning it up? Is it more of a bad exterior finish? More than one of us have taken a barrel that looked bad and found they shoot pretty well after cleaning and polishing.

A replacement lock may not be that hard to find.
 
It’s kind of ugly on both the interior and exterior at the moment, but I did enlist my brother in cleaning and assessing it. I’m away at the moment and he didn’t mind the project. He’s a little intrigued about getting the rifle useable again too. We were able to get the breech plug out last time I checked the barrel out, and I think the threads are solid at least. I’m not as worried about the exterior as long as it’s safe and shoots OK.
 
It’s kind of ugly on both the interior and exterior at the moment, but I did enlist my brother in cleaning and assessing it. I’m away at the moment and he didn’t mind the project. He’s a little intrigued about getting the rifle useable again too. We were able to get the breech plug out last time I checked the barrel out, and I think the threads are solid at least. I’m not as worried about the exterior as long as it’s safe and shoots OK.
Look up old guns in Fire arms traps and tools of tge mountain men, or mm sketch book. Lots of old guns with random repairs. That look much the same as CVA.
I THINK you could end up with a good looking ‘rough gun’ that you would be supper proud of
 
Look up old guns in Fire arms traps and tools of tge mountain men, or mm sketch book. Lots of old guns with random repairs. That look much the same as CVA.
I THINK you could end up with a good looking ‘rough gun’ that you would be supper proud of

The brass transition band between the two halves of the stock already looks like a repair. I’ll probably add a couple brass tacks through it to class it up if we can get this project moving.
 
It’s kind of ugly on both the interior and exterior at the moment, but I did enlist my brother in cleaning and assessing it. I’m away at the moment and he didn’t mind the project. He’s a little intrigued about getting the rifle useable again too. We were able to get the breech plug out last time I checked the barrel out, and I think the threads are solid at least. I’m not as worried about the exterior as long as it’s safe and shoots OK.
You’d be surprised what an improvement you can make to the bore with a small piece of scotchbrite, an undersized jag to put it on, some JB bore paste, and a little elbow grease. Some Kroil helps too.
 
The brass transition band between the two halves of the stock already looks like a repair. I’ll probably add a couple brass tacks through it to class it up if we can get this project moving.
I did one and wrapped the joint in rawhide. Then a fake rawhide repair to the wrist. Made a trigger guard from square stock added some tacks and voom had a genuine injun gun rode hard and put up wet. Sold it at a rendezvous for more then I had in it.
 
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