CVA Hawken

[EMC45]

Got a CVA Hawken .50 cal. Caplock from my local shop last night. Bought it and a Baby G G Shock watch for my daughter. He had $80 on the G Shock (It was NIB) and $100 on the CVA. I got both for $100 OTD. I think I did good. The bore is near perfect. I ran a wet patch of Mil Spec solvent (think Kroil) down the bore and then wiped it out dry. Looked real good down there. Got powder and caps at my Dad's, along with patches and ball. We shall shoot this weekend.

[gbrown]

Make sure the patches are well lubed. Sounds like a great deal to me. What kind of load are you thinking of, as far as powder charge?

[EMC45]

90gr. FFG is what I will start with. Patched RB of course.

[Maven]

90gr. FFG is what I will start with. Patched RB of course.

Save that for a hunting load. For starting loads @ 50 yd., I try 60gr. FFg v. 70gr. v. 80gr. Your cheek and shoulder will thank you. (Don't ask....!)

[frontier gander]

excellent gun! Ours for target shooting loved 40gr pyrodex rs .015 patch and .490 round ball.

For a good heavy duty hunting load, ours loved 70 and 80gr pyrodex rs with the 370gr maxiballs.

[Leslie Sapp]

I've been loading 70 gr behind a 370 gr maxiball as a hunting load for many years. Never felt the need to go any higher and have never recovered a bullet out of any of the dozens of hogs and deer I've taken with it. I've seen it go through both shields on a big boar and exit, spraying a five foot wide fan of blood and lung tissue on the ground on the off side.

Granted, most of the places I hunt in musket season in Florida, I can't see over 30 yards. If I hunted out west, I might pump it up a little to try to improve the trajectory. None of the critters I've shot with it have complained, though:)

[longbow]

Sounds like the same gun I bought in kit form back in the mid 1980's. Nice gun.

Sounds like you got an excellent deal to me!

By the way, if it is the same as mine, the rifling will be 1:66". Unlike Leslie Sapp, I have had no good results with any minie's, maxi's or any other elongated boolits with my gun. They are sideways by about 75 yards (never bothered to shoot closer than 50 yards with them). I stick with patched round ball in mine and it does pretty well.

Enjoy!

Longbow

[waksupi]

I have come to believe that 1-66 is pretty much perfect for patched round ball.

[EMC45]

Well gents I just got a sc .490 RB and I plan to cast a good pile of them up and let 'er rip. i cast a good bit already, but gave them to my Dad for his Lyman flinter.

[Leslie Sapp]

I neglected to mention, mine is a Thompson Center. There may be significant differences in twist rates or bore sizes between the two. Anyway, it'll be fun just to shoot it a bunch and see what it likes!:-)

[EMC45]

I bought some #11 caps today. Ready to shoot this thing!

[longbow]

Yes, I am pretty sure the TC uses 1:48" twist which makes a big difference.

Never hurts to try though. In fact I have been thinking about trying the short Lee REAL bullet to see if it works. Not sure if there is any benefit of the light REAL over RB but I may try anyway just to see.

I did try the Lyman 370 gr. Maxi and my gun did not like it at all (or maybe vice versa?). I recently gave the mould to a friend who has a CVA double rifle with 1:48" twist. It shoots well for him so he is a happy camper.

Longbow

[mooman76]

Lee REALs usually shoot in a 1/48 twist.

[longbow]

Lee makes the REAL in 250 and 320 gr. in .50 cal. I know the Lyman 370 gr. Maxi doesn't work in my gun but thought the light REAL might have a chance. If so, it has a little more weight and might be a bit faster to load that PRB. Not traditional I know but sometimes I get lazy and just want to plink.

[Leslie Sapp]

Even if it won't shoot maxi balls and such, I wouldn't feel a bit undergunned with a 175 gr RB moving out at about 1700 fps. That'll put a serious hurt'n on most anything east of the Mississippi.

[Boerrancher]

One of my best shooters is a piece together Hawken from pieces parts, with no two being from the same mfgr. It does have a CVA barrel though, and the gun is fairly well put together. For the price I paid for the gun I was not expecting it to be much other than a 50 yard or less whitetail shooter, but as I got to playing with it I found it to be quite accurate. CVA made some good shooters over the years. For the price you paid for it, you really can't go wrong. Let us know how it shoots.

Best wishes,

Joe

[EMC45]

Plan to shoot it at my Dad's cabin. Will report back with details!

[izzyjoe]

i built one from a kit that was laying around for year's, it's a 1-66 twist. it shoot's very good with a .490 PRB, 70grs. of 2F. i was having accuratcy problems using pre- cut/lubed patches. so i went to wal-mart and got some pillow ticking in the fab. dept. it mic's at .019, but it will now shoot a 2" group at 50yds. and all i did was change the patching material, i think it'll do better with some more load development. you will love you're new rifle, the fun part it shooting it and learning what it likes. have fun and good luck! :-P

[EMC45]

Never did go out. Rained like crazy. I did find out the nipple was a little too fat though. It wouldn't allow the cap to go on and it took 2 hammer strikes to go off. One to seat it and one to fire it. I took it out and dressed it down chucked in my drill with a Swiss file and and some sand paper. Now works great.

[OverMax]

Have to ask. Are you or your father acquainted with B/P arms? As there are a few rules you should follow. For your safety and those around you, including your rifles.

[EMC45]

Shot the BP rifle yesterday. It did well. The manual called for a charge of 70gr. of FFFG and it also called for a 90gr. charge of FFG. I settled in with 65gr. FFFG and it did real well. I think the loads listed were near the upper end. Used the 40gr. and 25gr. brass dippers I made for the load. Worked out nicely.

[Boerrancher]

I am glad to hear it shot well for you. I just want to know if you wore the bandit mask you were wearing when you picked it up from the pawn shop? If that gun is a shooter and there is no reason it shouldn't be if it was well cared for got it for a steal.

Best wishes,

Joe

[EMC45]

I really don't think it was fired. There was a ton of dust down the bore and when I ran the solvent wet patch down it it shined like new money.....I think it was a wall hanger.

[Boerrancher]

I really don't think it was fired. There was a ton of dust down the bore and when I ran the solvent wet patch down it it shined like new money...

So you do admit to wearing the bandit mask when you picked it up... That is one heck of a find that is for sure. I think the more you play with it the more you will like it. If you decide you don't like it I will gladly reimburse you for it, and provide amply funds to have it shipped to me.

Best wishes,

Joe

[EMC45]

Thanks, but no thanks Joe!:wink: I'll be holding on to this one for a while. It shoots good and hope to draw blood with it this fall. Here in Ga you can small game hunt with any caliber ML. AND............feral hogs are considered small game here. So in theory I can tromp through the lowlands and smoke a porker if need be with the smoke pole.

[Boerrancher]

I have a blast hunting with my MLs. MO is the same when it comes to small game. Any rim fire, center fire shotgun, or ML is legal to hunt with. For years before I got my 32 cal I use to squirrel hunt with my 50 cals. I would use a 38 spl case for a powder measure and a PRB. Often times I wouldn't completely shoot through them. It is interesting to watch that RB yank a squirrel off a limb and send it flying 20 ft through the air. My record is 9 squirrels with the same RB before I finally shot through one. Give the bushy tails a try, you may enjoy it with your new toy.

Best wishes,

Joe

[EMC45]

I have a blast hunting with my MLs. MO is the same when it comes to small game. Any rim fire, center fire shotgun, or ML is legal to hunt with. For years before I got my 32 cal I use to squirrel hunt with my 50 cals. I would use a 38 spl case for a powder measure and a PRB. Often times I wouldn't completely shoot through them. It is interesting to watch that RB yank a squirrel off a limb and send it flying 20 ft through the air. My record is 9 squirrels with the same RB before I finally shot through one. Give the bushy tails a try, you may enjoy it with your new toy.Best wishes,

Joe



I may just do this Joe......