CVA kentucky pistol questions

[superdown]

I have a 45cal cva Kentucky  pistol and i want to know if anyone has or can tell me were to find safe loading data i have a small brass powder measure i am using fffg goex i have shot a few times but with very mild loads with speer .451 round balls would like to use it for small game i don't know if this matters but i put it together from a kit  .   Thanks ,Superdown

[quickdtoo]

You can download the sidelock rifle manual, it has pistol load data in it. If that isn't good enough, call CVA Customer Service at (770) 449-4687.

Tim

http://www.cva.com/warranty/Side.pdf

http://www.cva.com/warranty/index.htm

[superdown]

Thank you Tim , Justin

[Elijah Gunn]

You should NOT be using a  .451 dia. ball in a .45 cal kentucky pistol. I have one,and I use a .440 dia ball surrounded by  a cloth patch of about .015 to .018 thickness. I buy the precut-prelubed  patches at the gun store. A powder charge of 25 grains is what I'm shooting with now. With blackpowder that  25 grains is measured by volume, and NOT by weight.
Always make sure you get the ball ALL the way down the barrel to the powder charge when loading. Back when I was ignorant about this I figured "Well, the ball went down the barrel 2/ 3rds of the way. I'll just shoot it out , and try again. Luckily  this situation only happened a couple of times ,and my powder charges were light otherwise I would have had a potential hand grenade in my hands! You see, if there is a gap between the powder and ball, the powder explodes extra fast and this makes for much higher pressures inside the barrel which can make the barrel bulge or even burst! Even if the patched ball gets tight while being rammed down the bore just make sure it gets all the way to the powder and it will be ok. Use a lubed cleaning patch on a jag after every third shot or so and that will help keep loading easy all day long.
Hope this helps, Mark

[superdown]

elijah . thanks for the info i guess i will be getting some .440 dia balls and patches do you know of any published data on line for these pistols ? i thought 45cal pistol i should use 45call balls ?

[Elijah Gunn]

You're welcome superdown. I totally understand why you thought you needed to use a .451  ball.  The patch around the .440 ball acts as a gas seal, and also is what grips the rifling in the barrel in order to impart a spin to the ball so that it flies straight.
I checked my old (1977)" CVA Start Muzzleloading Handbook" and for a .45 cal pistol it says use from  20 up to 40 grains of    f f f  powder. I also checked the link quickdtoo set up  (the top one) and it said the same. 20- 40 grains. The brass measure you have, is it adjustable? If not do you know how many grains of powder it holds? Being able to adjust the amount of powder will help you work up an accurate load fo your pistol.
Regards, Mark

[superdown]

i am going to have to get a different powder measure as well mine is a Tc 50-120gr.Superdown

[blhof]

If you get a pistol measure; usually 0-50 grains, once you find your perfect load you can measure that amount and pour it into your powder spout on your flask and if the spout is larger just measure the difference with a dowel and cut to have an accurate and quick loader. I have 6 b/p guns and I've made a horn with cut to measure spout for each.  You can buy spouts in specific powder loads. but I've found some to be off slightly from my measure and trimmed to get best performance.

[His lordship.]

I used to have one of those, nice gun, traded it off for a Jap Arisaka rifle.  I also had the CVA deringer, the copy of the gun that was used to shoot President Lincoln, also in the same caliber.

The barrels on those pistols must have been pretty good as I gave the CVA deringer to a friend to pay him for some favors and he proceeded to over load the gun for laughs, I thought he was crazy and stayed away when he fired it off.  The gun took it though, which amazed us all, I don't remember the charge that he used as it was in the early 1980's.  I do not recommend that anyone over load their guns, and this way the hobby will be a safe activity.  The guy I traded the derringer to later had a nervous breakdown.   He told me he sold all his guns, became a pacifist, and I have not talked to him since 1983.