Thanks, 777... I never even checked Midsouth. I was just so surprised at seeing prices that were essentially the same as what I paid in a walk-in store (Gander Mountain) some 5-6 years ago, that I jumped to tell everyone. I have been so pleased with mine that I figured other folks might be, too. For one thing, it's pretty authentic looking, with the blued furniture and plain stock...it looks like a "working rifle". Jim Bridger might have carried it. And, from bench at 50 yd., it throws "one-holers" pretty regularly. The only thing I changed was the sights...the front sight covers an awful lot of landscape out there, and I don't like buckhorns. I put a Marbles' folding rear with windage on it, and the front sight is a T/C Hawken front. The folding rear is for when I manage to find a nice, period rear aperture sight to go on the tang or some such place. Haven't found it yet.
I wasn't familiar with the CVA you mentioned, so I went to the website and looked...it's a right purty rifle, 'specially with the maple stock, but I can't figure out what you mean by "having no tenon pins to deal with". There are two wedge plates, they must have something in them.