warboar_21
03-26-2013, 06:53 AM
Guys,
I bought a CVA Hawken back in 1991 and used it for three seasons prior to joining the Army. The last time it was fired was back in 1995 while in the service. My friend had never fired one and we took it to the range. This rifle hasn't been fired since as I kind of went different directions. I have always taken it out of the safe and made sure it was oiled up but just never took it out shooting.
This past weekend we had friends come from out of town. We decided to go out shooting and my friend was talking about buying a black powder rifle to hunt with. When I told him I had one he asked if I could teach him how to load and shoot one since he was only familiar with modern weapons.
Well we loaded up the guns and went out to shoot. I had bought some new CCI #11 caps the day before since I couldn't find my older ones. I fired off a few caps to ensure the nipple was clear as well as the rifle. All three caps fired with no problems. Loaded up the rifle with Pyrodex and patched ball and set out to shoot the rifle.
Now here is where the problem comes. When I put on a cap and pulled the set trigger and then took aim and pulled the trigger the cap wouldn't go off. Ok pull back the hammer and try again. Nothing happened. Pull off the cap and repeat. This went on several times until finally the gun fires. I think I put 6 caps on it. To me it seemed like the hammer was not falling hard enough to ignite the primers or maybe the CCI percussion caps are less than reliable? When I reloaded the rifle and let him and his son try shooting it we went through the whole exercise about as many times as I did.
Have any of you had problems with the CCI caps? Is there a better brand? I just found some Winchester Magnum #11 caps at Bass Pro so I picked them up to possibly see if that is the issue.
Would my hammer spring need to be replaced from the years of not being used?
Sadly they went away less than impressed with the rifle and I was a bit discouraged as well. This rifle went three for three on Whitetail deer when I lived in Indiana and it was always reliable for me back then. I only ever had one time where it didn't fire while hunting but that was because the rain had gotten to the cap.
Any advice on what to do?
I bought a CVA Hawken back in 1991 and used it for three seasons prior to joining the Army. The last time it was fired was back in 1995 while in the service. My friend had never fired one and we took it to the range. This rifle hasn't been fired since as I kind of went different directions. I have always taken it out of the safe and made sure it was oiled up but just never took it out shooting.
This past weekend we had friends come from out of town. We decided to go out shooting and my friend was talking about buying a black powder rifle to hunt with. When I told him I had one he asked if I could teach him how to load and shoot one since he was only familiar with modern weapons.
Well we loaded up the guns and went out to shoot. I had bought some new CCI #11 caps the day before since I couldn't find my older ones. I fired off a few caps to ensure the nipple was clear as well as the rifle. All three caps fired with no problems. Loaded up the rifle with Pyrodex and patched ball and set out to shoot the rifle.
Now here is where the problem comes. When I put on a cap and pulled the set trigger and then took aim and pulled the trigger the cap wouldn't go off. Ok pull back the hammer and try again. Nothing happened. Pull off the cap and repeat. This went on several times until finally the gun fires. I think I put 6 caps on it. To me it seemed like the hammer was not falling hard enough to ignite the primers or maybe the CCI percussion caps are less than reliable? When I reloaded the rifle and let him and his son try shooting it we went through the whole exercise about as many times as I did.
Have any of you had problems with the CCI caps? Is there a better brand? I just found some Winchester Magnum #11 caps at Bass Pro so I picked them up to possibly see if that is the issue.
Would my hammer spring need to be replaced from the years of not being used?
Sadly they went away less than impressed with the rifle and I was a bit discouraged as well. This rifle went three for three on Whitetail deer when I lived in Indiana and it was always reliable for me back then. I only ever had one time where it didn't fire while hunting but that was because the rain had gotten to the cap.
Any advice on what to do?