CVA .32 cal. Squirrel Rifle

[Pigboat]

I was in a small pawn shop yesterday and noticed a CVA .32 cal. Squirrel Rifle on the rack with the other muzzleloaders. It had a price tag of $159 and I'm after some opinions on the price. It looked to be in great shape with just a little rust showing in the barrel. I didn't want to linger too long because this guy has a habit of raising his prices if you show too much interest and decide to wait.

I haven't been able to find anything on line about the twist rate of the barrel in these. Does anyone know?

[John Allen]

If it is a crocket grab that sucker up. Most of these rifles are made for a 310 to 315 roundball with a patch.

[aspangler]

If you don't want it, buy it and I'll buy it from you and pay the shipping. These are great and they are no l;onger made to my knowledge. I am getting ready to build a 32 for squirrels.

[Beagle333]

It don't take long to fire up some interest when somebody starts talking about .32-.36 cal rifles being up for sale! They are always sought after.
Nab it!

[bedbugbilly]

I don't know if this will be of any help or not but I had a left handed one a number of years ago with a TC scope on it. It was an awesome little shooters and heck on squirrels. Like an idiot, I sold it and now wished I'd kept it. If I remember correctly, I got about $300 out of it and it had some wear but was still in nice shape. I'd picked it up in a trade when I was down at Friendship for the Nationals.

The guy who bought it was tickled to death with it and so it all worked out fine. I'm older and my fingers don't always work the best. I finally got away from .32 due to the small ball size and fumbling aroun with it. I have a 36 H & A under hammer and love it. If a person is young and nimble - a .32 is a great tree rat rifle as well as a good cottontail nailer. The older I get, the more I love the smaller calibers - less lead, less powder and still a lot of fun!

Good luck - I really don't think you could go wrong at that price if it's in good shape. If you don't like it after you get it, you'd have no trouble getting your money out of it. My wife and I never had kids but if I had, one of these would have been a great "first rifle" for a youngster . . . and they are even nice for an oldster!

[John Allen]

It don't take long to fire up some interest when somebody starts talking about .32-.36 cal rifles being up for sale! They are always sought after.
Nab it!

Beagle, I know we can not help ourselves.

[Pigboat]

Too late !! I went down there as soon as I read your replies but it was already gone.

[richhodg66]

I wish I had a .32 muzzle loading rifle of any type. What a fun, cheap to shoot thing that would be!

[TCLouis]

I had a Flinchlock 32 that was just a bit more than I could tame.

Traded it for a little CVA 32 caliber cap gun last fall. I have yet to shoot it, but guess I should get it out and see if it will hold minute of squirrel.

I know that compared to the 80- 100 grains of FFFG I am used to measuring out it ought to be hard to measure a full BP load in the 32!

[Kevinakaq]

I have a 36 cal green mtn barrel for my TC Hawken and have not shot it in 20 years or so. Use to sit off my back porch and plink at 60 yards in quarter size groups with round ball and some pillow ticking using a lyman tang mounted peep. Boy I miss those eyes... Paid for that barrel and sight working the block pile as a laborer for my stepfather during the Florida summer.

Last squirrel and gravy I ate in KY was killed with that rifle. Great squirrel gun and all around fun. Perhaps it is time to blow some dust off after reading this thread.

Shame you missed it but there will be another. Will keep my eyes open fer ya!

Watch your top knot,
Kevin

[beroen]

If it has a set trigger buy it!

it might be worth it with a upgraded lock on it

[wgr]

i have a .36 green mountain barreled rifle with a mule ear lock. great small game getter.

[GARD72977]

I started shooting ML with one of these 20 something years ago. They are great little guns. It a little on the small side but so much fun to shoot.

[swamp]

I have a T/C Seneca(36cal) and got a 32 Cherokee barrel and ramrod for it. Finally got out and shot the 32 barrel. Alot of fun on a little bit of powder and shot. RB and Maxi.

The small bores are just plain fun.
swamp

[kopperl]

$159! I've got more than that in just the barrel of the 32 I'm building.

[MarkP]

I bought a CVA 32 squirrel rifle kit from Target (when they sold guns) in about 1983, I think the price was $99 on sale. I have not shot it for years, when I did it was fun to shot.

[waksupi]

$159! I've got more than that in just the barrel of the 32 I'm building.

I always kinda shake my head at the ML's for that kind of price. You are right, a quality barrel will cost more, and a quality lock isn't far behind that. On average, I get into parts around $800 to start building a gun.

[Coffeecup]

I was in a small pawn shop yesterday and noticed a CVA .32 cal. Squirrel Rifle on the rack with the other muzzleloaders. It had a price tag of $159 and I'm after some opinions on the price. It looked to be in great shape with just a little rust showing in the barrel. I didn't want to linger too long because this guy has a habit of raising his prices if you show too much interest and decide to wait.

As I recall, the ROT was 1:48.

Yeah, I had one--or rather, I purchased one as a kit for my then-wife. I built it for her, put on a decent buttplate, re-built the lock, cast a nosecap, installed good sights, etc.

It shot well, but while shooting it in, my little brother pointed out that it was "leaking smoke" around the drum. After watching him take a couple shots, I was able to locate the gas leak. I pulled the barrel from the stock and sent it in to CVA. A couple months later they sent a letter saying the breech had been tampered with, was unrepairable, and would only cost me about $100 to replace.

Since the kit was new and I was the first person to open the box, I knew the breech hadn't been tampered with. I asked for the return of the barrel, and they did so (after I agreed to pay for it). I wound up epoxying a dowel in the stock and letting my nephews and godson play with it, and traded my shotgun for a different rifle for my wife.

The barrel and copies of the correspondence were on display at our state ML convention the following year. I learned that a number of other people had similar problems, and got the same response from CVA.

If I remember correctly (it has been 27 years or so), the problem was that the first version had a barrel flat the same size as the shank of the drum. If they didn't line the drill up perfectly, or monkeyed about too much setting the drum so the hammer hit the nipple correctly, some of them would leak gas. I'm told later versions had a larger barrel, and that this solved the problem.

[shdwlkr]

Not to get anyone upset but I have 2 seneca's and 2 cherokees took me a long time to get them and nope at the present time they are not for sale. Just found some hornady buck shot for the 36 caliber. No hornady doesn't list them for this but they do work. I have also used ww lead round balls in mine.
I look every time I walk into a LGS to see if they have any and will buy if the price is right and I have the scratch to do so. TC made a mistake when the fire happened to not continue with them and S&W has made a even bigger mistake walking away from black powder firearms. With the cost of shooting going up more and more are going to turn to bp to keep shooting.

[swamp]

shdwlkr PM sent in re Cherokee.
swamp