CVA Optima Elite

[richhodg66]

Seems I now have one of these in 7mm-08 (one of teh few reasonably common calibers I don't have dies for, gotta rectify that soon).

I must admit I like the looks of it more than I would have guessed. It's certainly no lightweight and has a sock design that I think will be very comfortable shooting from a bench. Locks up nice and tight and the trigger pull is suprisingly good and crisp. Overall, seems to be at least as nice as the Handi Rifles.

Any reports on these?

[aspangler]

A friend has one with the .50 ML and the 223 barrel. Both shoot pretty good.

[35 shooter]

I have a friend who has one in 35 whelen. He only shoots factory ammo in it but has killed several deer with it. His is very accurate and he can usually cover his groups with a quarter at 100 yds. or even tighter.
I keep trying to get him to try cast in it, but so far no go.

[richhodg66]

Apparently, spare barrels are available from CVA, but caliber selection is limited. I have a Handi in .35 Whelen already. I'm actually interested in the 7mm-08, never had any experience with it.

[35 shooter]

You'll love the little 7/08. I had one in a mod. 7 rem. with a 20" bbl. and it was one of the most accurate rifles i ever owned. At least for 3 shots. lol that little light weight bbl. would heat up quick.
It loved h4895 with any jacketed bullet i ever put through it and even with 175 gr. sierra's there was no recoil to speak of. It would drop deer with high lung shots in their tracks with 139 gr hornady or 140 gr. sierras. Wish i still had that rifle to try some cast in.

[richhodg66]

My oldest son's first deer rifle was a Model 7 in .260. Very similar.

This CVA is half again as heavy as that model 7. Recoil should be nil. I'll probably start with some cast loads first. May go to jacketed loads later.

[richhodg66]

After putting on a Burris scope I had around and getting dies, I have shot this a bit on the range with a load of the Lee 135 grain RN bullet, necked down GI brass and 9 grains of Unique, I am pretty impressed with this rifle. Good trigger pull and very comfortable stock design for bench shooting.

I cast up some Lyman 287405s this past weekend. Un lubed and no checks, the dropped at 155 grains with my alloy and at 287-288 diameter. Hoping to develop a more powerful load with this bullet, the little Lee bullet with that light charge may have been running out of steam at 100 yards, though it still grouped pretty well.

All in all, I'd recommend one of these rifles to anybody. Once I got past the kind of unorthodox looks, it's a very well thought out design.