I first became aware of muzzleloaders when i was a kid in the 70's. Almost every historical biography i read portrayed them and the full page CVA and TC adds were in every Field & Stream\Outdoor life i read, which was every one they printed. Somewhere along the way a seed was planted that CVA's were junk and best avoided. For the next 30 years i did just that, trying \owning most TC rifles but never buying a single CVA till very recently.
A .50 Mt rifle popped up in the GBO classifieds a month ago and after looking at the pics, did some online research on the rifle, read good reviews and bought it. Was pretty happy with the rifle when it showed up, an unfired late model Mountain rifle, blue\walnut and no patchbox. Was probably one of the last ones made, no Douglas or Deer creek barrel here, this one is marked Spain. I was really really taken with the rifle by the time i stripped and refinished it, the balance is excellent considering the length of the gun, it balances better than the beastly TC's of similar lengths. I much prefer the semi buckhorn and silver bladed sights over a TC and just felt the entire rifle better fit the image of a historical weapon. I wish i had "discovered" CVA's sooner.
In spite of the few weeks that had gone by with the rifle in my possession, i had not fired it. It took maybe 2 weeks for the newly browned barrel to stop re rusting and until it cured i didn't want to fire it. Last night i finally
shot it just a few times and just thought i'd write about it.
I used only 50gr of Triple 7 and only fired the rifle 5 times in the backyard. My backyard range is best suited to airguns but if shooting diagnal across the yard can stretch out to about 45 yards, so thats what i shot at. I went to load the rifle after wiping the barrel clean and found that the only rb's i had were .495 and that with even my thinnest tshirt patch, just wouldn't start down the barrel easily. As this was just a practice run, i skipped the patches and went bareball. Also discovered the nipple is smaller than i'm used to, might be made for number 10 caps, i had to pinch 11's to get them to stay. Also, strange but the barrel seems choked, unintentionally i'm sure but the first few inches of the barrel is much tighter than the rest. Finally though, i was loaded and ready for my first shot. Slipped muffs on and sighted on my pizza box pegged to railroad timbers for a backstop. Brought the hammer to full cock and pulled my set trigger. My finger reached for the front trigger, and internally i felt something in the lock slip. "Snick" and the front trigger didn't work. Did this about 5 times and wondered if this was Gods way of telling me i don't want this rifle in my face for a test shot. I unloaded the rifle, screwed around with it for a bit and realized the main trigger would still work, it just needed about 20lbs of pull. I reloaded and went back out. The sun was setting as i squinted and sighted on the orange target dot, yanked the heavy front trigger and made smoke. The rb and 50gr. of powder kicked like a .22 only softer. I was thrilled to see i actually hit near my mark, i enjoyed 4 more shots and couldn't really make out my front sight on the last shot, in the fading light. I was really really happy with the results, at 40 yards my 5 shots did about a 4" group, not good accuracy by my usual standards but considering the new rifle, open sights, no patch, no load development, fading light, 20lb trigger and shooting off my knee i'm pretty pleased. Absolutely thrilled actually as i know with minimal work that group should shrink by half.
Went inside and spent hours trying to get all the petroleum residue crud off the rifle, left from curing the brown job on the barrel. Scrubbed all the petro off and have replaced with natural oils. Also backed the 2 adjusment screws on the triggers off by a full turn and my set trigger appears to be working correctly. Hopefully i'll prove this next time out back.
Couldn't be happier with the rifle and only problem now is Bubbas .45 Mt. Rifle for sale in the classifieds..oh how i want it
