Trouble with CVA Scout, .44 mag

[Wilson]

I bought a CVA Scout to use as a loaner for new hunters this season. I have been unable to get it to group any better than 6" at 50 yards. I've used cast boolits, JHP and JSP. I have not tried factory ammo you due to the cost. Has anyone else had problems with the Scout in .44 mag? If you are having success, what load are you using?
The gun seems tight. I've checked the mount and the rings and even changed scopes.

[NSB]

Wilson, don't take this the wrong way but I'm having trouble believing what you're saying. I can't conceive of any gun shooting 6" at 50 yards if the scope or scope mount is not defective. I think any load, and I've found lots of bad ones, will shoot 6" at 50 yds. I think you could do that with a smooth bore if the scope/mounts were good. I've seen some really bad shooting guns but 6" is terrible. Is this off of a rest or off hand shooting? If you reload try using 296 powder 25g with a Hornady XTP 240g HP bullet. I've never seen that load shoot bad out of any gun. If there's a "standard" 44mag load this has to be it. One question, where and how is the scope mounted to the gun? Can you attach a picture? My inclination is to think the mounting of the scope is somehow at fault if you've tried two different scopes.

[Jim]

Ten or twelve years ago, I bought a new '94 Winnie in .44 Mag. I couldn't hit the bottom of a five gallon bucket with it at 50 yards. Handloads with cast, jacketed or factory ammo, didn't make a bit of difference. Wound up sending it back to Winchester and they sent me a check for what I paid for it.

It IS possible it's the gun and not the scope and/or mounts.

Wilson, I understand the factory ammo cost issue. I would break down and buy one box just to prove to myself it is or is not handloads or scope/mount issues.

[Wilson]

My goal in posting was to see if anyone else was having this kind of problem with the CVA Scout in particular.
I am out of town till the first of the year, so no photos of the gun with mounts etc. The mounts/rings came with the Scout. NSB I won't take it wrong, mounts and rings are the first thing to check when having this kind of problem.
I know this may be hard to believe. I'm not the most experienced fellow around, but I am an NRA certified instructor with 10 years of experience teaching gun safety an marksmanship to 1,000+ students. I'm also an experienced competition shooter, (mostly USPSA and Steel Challenge, but also NRA High Power and Small Bore Silhouette). I have set up 8 single shot Handi Rifles for my family, .45 Colt, .444 Marlin, 45/70 BC. I stepped away from Handis this one time to try CVA to use as a low budget loaner.
After checking the mounts and rings I was convinced it was the scope. I pulled the new Nikon 3X9 off and installed a new Sightron 3X9 and got the same 6" groups.
I have 296 and Hornady bullets so thanks for the load suggestion.
JM I'm going to call CVA and I'll probably go for a box of factory ammo if NSB's load shoots the same.
Once again, my goal in posting is to see if anyone else was having this kind of problem with the CVA Scout.
I'll update you all when I get it worked out.

[Wilson]

Just got off the phone with CVA. They say they have not had complaints about accuracy with the Scout. They suggested I try the Hornady Lever Evolution factory rounds. I'll give them a try.

[NSB]

I just checked the newest Hornady reloading manual. They list the max load for 296 with a 240g bullet as 24.8g. Start at 24.5 and see where that gets you. You sound like your an experienced shooter so I've got to assume it's either the gun or something you just haven't experienced yet. I've seen some weird things like on a Savage ML2 I had. The rear base sat on the interface of the barrel and receiver and the two surfaces weren't the exactly same height. I had to bevel the rear of the base to get it sitting down flush on the barrel. Sometimes some little oddity like that can mess things up. Keep us posted, I'm pretty curious about this one.

[x101airborne]

My 44 mag marlin was that way. Well, not quite that bad, but 5 inches at 100 was about all it would do. I got an oversized ranch dog mold and all that went away. No matter what, THAT mold was what helped me the most. If you would like, I have several molds that drop .434+ for oversized throats. PM me and I will happily send you a test run.

[725]

For some reason, it is common for .44 mag rifles to have over sized bores. I have no idea what the thinking could have been to make that an "industry" standard, but it seems to be so. Slug your bore and get a good reading on the sizes involved with your rifle. If you are rattling an undersized bullet / boolit down the tube you'll never get any accuracy. Good luck.

[Wilson]

I thought about slugging the barrel, but I've never slugged a rifle barrel and am not sure what I'd use to drive the slug with. Maybe a dowel rod? X101airborne is sending me some .434s to try. I'll update this thread as I get more info.

[Goatwhiskers]

Absolutely do not use a wood dowel to drive a slug thru. The wood rod can split and wedge itself around the slug, then you really got problems. Use a brass rod (hardware store) or even a steel one, you can wrap tape around it in several places to prevent bore contact. I start my slug with a plastic mallet, then a short piece of brass rod to get it started down the bore, then a longer one. Really an easier job than it sounds like. GW

[parson48]

I bought a Scout in .44 mag in October of 2011. It grouped almost as bad as yours at 50 yards. Called CVA, sent it in for repairs, and about a month later I received a new rifle from them. The new one shoots groups that almost touch at 50 yards. It shoots well with 240 grain jfp, and will also group 265 grain Ranch Dog cast pretty close.

I load with H110 powder at about the max listed load.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I'm sure you have already checked, but does the bore and crown look okay? When you push that slug through take note if it gets noticably easier or harder in a certain part of the barrell, you could have a constriction or other defect. When you were shooting cast did the barrel lead up badly?

[Hang Fire]

I bought a CVA Scout to use as a loaner for new hunters this season. I have been unable to get it to group any better than 6" at 50 yards. I've used cast boolits, JHP and JSP. I have not tried factory ammo you due to the cost. Has anyone else had problems with the Scout in .44 mag? If you are having success, what load are you using?
The gun seems tight. I've checked the mount and the rings and even changed scopes.

Slug the bore and see what you have going there, may just need a larger cast boolit.

[Shawn2571]

Wilson, don't take this the wrong way but I'm having trouble believing what you're saying. I can't conceive of any gun shooting 6" at 50 yards if the scope or scope mount is not defective. I think any load, and I've found lots of bad ones, will shoot 6" at 50 yds. I think you could do that with a smooth bore if the scope/mounts were good. I've seen some really bad shooting guns but 6" is terrible. Is this off of a rest or off hand shooting? If you reload try using 296 powder 25g with a Hornady XTP 240g HP bullet. I've never seen that load shoot bad out of any gun. If there's a "standard" 44mag load this has to be it. One question, where and how is the scope mounted to the gun? Can you attach a picture? My inclination is to think the mounting of the scope is somehow at fault if you've tried two different scopes.


He is not wrong I got mine today and if your lucky you can get 4" groups at 25 yards. It's a real shame too because it's a nice little rifle with an awesome creep free light trigger on it. I used some 240 grain semi wad cutters and some Accurate #9 that were originally loaded for my super Redhawk but even so I could probably throw knives more accurately at 25 yards. Lol. I will be checking into it because I really want to love the gun. I think they may have a very deep throat in them and I may need some 300 grainers seated out a little further?

[glockky]

Mine only seems to wanna shoot the Lee 430-310 used as cast at about .4305. I was able to get it to shoot pretty good with 2400 powder. Never got good groups using 296win/H110

[Hardcast416taylor]

Absolutely do not use a wood dowel to drive a slug thru. The wood rod can split and wedge itself around the slug, then you really got problems. Use a brass rod (hardware store) or even a steel one, you can wrap tape around it in several places to prevent bore contact. I start my slug with a plastic mallet, then a short piece of brass rod to get it started down the bore, then a longer one. Really an easier job than it sounds like. GW


Are you sure you weren`t looking thru my shop window as I drove lead slugs down gun barrels to find their diameter? I do exactly the same way you described using various lengths of brass rods, been doing it this way for years.Robert

[scattershot]

Since this thread is 5 years old now, I wonder if the OP ever found the problem? He hasn't posted anything for two years, so maybe he just gave up.

[kungfustyle]

Wilson, you are not alone. I had a scout in 45-70 that I couldn't get it to shoot better than 3 to 4" at 100 yards. CVA is a good gun, but it likes what it likes. I wanted a cast bullet gun that would shoot a plane based mold at 2" at 100 yards. I tried about 50 different loads with three different molds ranging from 405 to 500grains. Never did meet my goals. I bet the gun would have done great with a 350g gc but I didn't want to buy another mold. So I sold the gun. Check that the bbl/mold fit is right, slug the gun. Use a gas check design and ramp it up to mid to start loads and go up to max unless you see pressure signs. I bet you will find your load at near max with a cast gc bullet.