CPA Schuetzen rifle but no intention of competition

[GARD72977]

I'm really wanting to sell off some stuff and invest in a very good quality single shot.

I have looked at CPA rifles. I love to shoot off hand and being able to use a Ubert scope.

I'm thinking a 32 h&r or long colt. I'm only going to shoot 50-100yd. The straight wall cases will be easy to load progressive. I have no intention of breech loading bullets.

I shoot USPSA and do not care to compete with the rifle. I'm only wanting to enjoy offhand shooting. I'm serious about accurate shooting and want a nice gun to do it with.

Any opinions on caliber.

[JSnover]

A good falling block in .25 to .32-anything would be very easy to shoot.

[country gent]

Get with Paul and Gail tell them what you want to do with the rifle and theywill be very helpfull giving you alot of information. They are very nice accurate rifles. I really like my Shillouette model in 40-65. I did opt for the filled lever and fancy wood on mine.

[GARD72977]

I love the idea of a 25-20. Loading would be much slower. I think a low power 32cal that will shoot lead plain base bullets would be great. I know a small straight wall case is not the most accurate but it does have a cool factor..

I shoot a Ubeti 1873 32-20 and love it. I keep then on the tame side and they shoot great.

My thought was chamber a short straight wall 32 and if I'm not happy with it I could have it re chambered to a 32-20.

[GARD72977]

I like the filled lower. Nice wood really makes a rifle. Did you have them finish the wood or di it your self? I'm thinking about trying to save some money by finishing it myself.

I love the checkering but can't justify the cost.

I wanted to hash out the options here before i call. Don't want to waste there time. There are a lot of guys here with good information.

[Don McDowell]

25-20 single shot would be a better option than a 25-20 wcf. 32-40 is another good cartridge.
If all the distance you're shooting is 100 yds, you may want to give a simple 22 lr chamber some consideration. My CPA 22 shoots very well to 200 meters.

[rbt50]

I have one in 25/21 and 22lr, gun shoot better then I can. I breach load the 25/21,so no loading dies need. if you get one ,finish the stock your self.
finishing the stock is easy and you will save a little money.

[rbertalotto]

For what you want to do, a 32-20 or 32-40 might hold its resale value better than anything else. Build something that most folks want so when you tire of it, it can easily be sold.

[country gent]

Ihad them finish mine for me. I like the looks of the filled lever loop and the feel but its weight occasionally raises the block slightly making removing the blow tube hard if you dont reset the lever. One other big plus to the CPA is that they are a swap barrel rifle. You can have your centerfire caliber and a rimfire barrel fitted. A quick change over time and your shooting one or the other. Send them an e-mail asking your questions and what your wants are. This way they can answer at thier convience and you know just what they can do. If you want a traditional cartridge the 32 -40 might be a choice. A simple e-mail as to calibers available, cases that will work, Swap barrels, finishing and such. Thier color case hardening is just lovely and the fit and finish exceptional. GGive them a chance to toute their wares.

[marlinman93]

If you enjoy accurate shooting, I wouldn't think using a high volume progressive press on a CPA singleshot rifle is what I'd do. I'd pick a caliber based on what I wanted to do, and not on what press I wanted to reload it with.
The .32-40 is an excellent all around choice for both accuracy, and not a lot of recoil in a singleshot rifle. Since the CPA uses the Stevens design, you can also purchase extra barrels later if you decide you want other calibers.

[WALLNUTT]

Breach seat. Forget about fixed ammo. No dies,better accuracy, and you'll learn to love the pace. I didn't think I wanted to breach seat either.

[GARD72977]

Its funny that you posted about Bree h seating. I have been thinking about this all day at work. Maybe two barrels would work for me. A small capacity case and then a more traditional caliber.

[WALLNUTT]

I picked up an old Hiwall a couple of months ago from a friend who has a few and shoots BPCR regularly. I thought breach seating would be too much trouble so was going to shoot fixed ammo. I bought dies and tried it with some success. The friend handed me a breach seater and said try it. I never thought a plain base lead bullet could possibly shoot that good. I'm hooked. Now I have a set of useless 38-55 dies collecting dust. I do however have a .22 barrel also but have not really tried it out.

[Chev. William]

The .22 RF Cartridges come in various varieties but are All Single Use for most People.
I would suggest a barrel in .25ACP "Match Grade" Chambering as one option. It is a Center Fire cartridge and does Head space on the Rim so it can be loaded to above SAAMI or CIP Factory Specs in such a STRONG Action.

This would give a rifle that could be loaded to shoot Well out to over 100 yds and still be above Tran-sonic transition problems or loaded down to shoot "Subsonic and Quiet for backyard Vermin" if desired.
Depending upon your choice of barrel length, your choice of Propellants may be much wider than the "Pistol/Fast Burn" ones usually recommended.
That said; I have fired Bullseye Charges of up to 1.89 grains behind 63 Grain Lead FN bullets out o f a 10-5/8" Barreled Ruger Single Eight custom revolver with Good results and about 1200 to 1300 fps Velocity at 5 feet from the muzzle.
The Heaviest charge I have fired is a slightly compressed 3.1 grains of BE-86 behind a 50 grain FMJ-RN bullet (not Chronographed yet).

The BBTI Website claimes Factory .25ACP ammo yields 900 to 1000 fps out of an 18 inch
barrel, which considering the SAAMI and CIP Testing Uses a 2 inch Pressure Test barrel is pretty good.
For a Rifle, I would suggest Let CPA recommend a Length so it will "Balance Well", possibly somewhere Longer than 18" and maybe up to 24" depending upon the contour chosen.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Don McDowell]

22lr in a proper rifle will shoot with remarkable accuracy to 200 meters and beyond.

[marlinman93]

I just tried breech seating finally this summer. I built up a couple tools to use with my Ballard rifles in .32-40 and .38-55 calibers. After working up a charge for my .32-40 and a 170 grain bullet, it shot extremely well! I found that I prefer using 50 cases, and charging them as I'm ready to shoot; vs. using one case and de/re-priming it over and over during shooting. Just speeds things up for me, and once I've shot 50 I can stop and prime them again at one time.
I can't say that I'll switch to breech seating for all my singles, but I will certainly do more of it now that I've tried it, and enjoyed doing it.

[WALLNUTT]

I do prefer priming and charging ahead. That way it's not a whole lot different than fixed ammo time wise and gear hauled around and set up.

[GARD72977]

Alright you guys have made good points. I have really warmed up to the idea of breech seating. The 32-20 CPA (.321) seems like a great way to start. Cases are cheap and 500+ shoots per pound of powder really sound good. There are plenty of good molds for the .321 caliber.

I'm going to wait till after Christmas to put a deposit on a gun. I think I want to sell several guns and spend the money on a really nice CPA Stevens. I doubt that I want to finish the wood my self.

[Chill Wills]

WOW! That beast looks like you could breachseat a piston into a locomotive cylinder.

[marlinman93]

WOW! That beast looks like you could breachseat a piston into a locomotive cylinder.

It's actually not all that large, but with the short distance between the action hook and the seating rod, it does give extremely good leverage! It's a little over 6 to 1 ratio, and with properly sized bullets it doesn't take much effort to seat. I also designed it to work with scoped guns, so the "pitchfork" handle straddles a scope easily.
Took this picture when I was building it. Checking to ensure it cleared the action, sight, and high enough to clear a target scope: