My New CVA Mountain Rifle

[pietro]

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I ran across this NIB/un-fired .50cal CVA Mountain Rifle that was online for very reasonable (if not cheap) price.

Despite the low BIN (buy it now) price, there were a couple of even lower bidders trying for the steal - so I eliminated them via using the EASY button (BIN).

It was delivered today, and I must say that in over 40 years of receiveing firearms shipped to me, this was the best-wrapped/secure parcel I ever received.

Curiously, it was made w/o a patchbox like most CVA Mountain Rifles I've seen have - So when I bought it, I also ordered a German silver patchbox from Track that is close to the same finish/color of the factory furniture.

Now, I gotta get some .50cal RB's or conicals (I just have to measure the rifling twist rate before ordering)

I haven't weighed it, but with the 32" (typo edit) x 15/16" bbl, it feels about 8-9lbs - heavy, but not too heavy (unlike my .50cal A&H 32" x 1" flinter).

The brass front sight is easy to see, but I'm going the have to do something about the rear sight's visibility (it's color blends in with the blued barrel), like a white paint outline on the notch.

The lock is surprisingly petite.

I'm also thinking of stripping & browning the barrel...……….

[BigAlofPa.]

Nice fund. I have a CVA wolf and a CVA 44 mag rifle. Both are very accurate.

[pietro]

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T y

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[frogleg]

Pietro I have had three of these 2 45s and one 50 and they all were good shooters with Roundball they have 1/66 twist. And they are a Nice length for off hand shooting.

[pietro]

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T y !

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello pietro,

Now that's an oddball, it looks to have a Frontier Rifle Trigger Guard.
I can't tell from pictures, are the Wedge Plates Brass?
I thought the Mountain Rifle's had a 32" Barrel.
I know the Big Bore's didn't have the Patch Box, but they had 1" Barrels.
And I also thought all Mountain Rifles had the brown barrels with German Silver Hardware.
Still, it looks very nice. Hopefully it's a 1:66 twist.

AntiqueSledMan.

[pietro]

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There's no brass furniture on the gun, ASM - except for the front sight and the RR tips

I didn't actually measure the bbl length, but the seller indicated 32".

IDK what material the furniture's made from, German Silver or pewter - but it looks like unfinished steel (I didn't do a magnet test)

The pics the seller put on the auction site are much better than the ones I posted:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/89075...odal-view-item

[Good Cheer]

pietro,
Got a favor to ask of you. Could you tell what the bore on that CVA measures?
The reason for asking is that I've got one of Walt Melander's maxi molds that was stamped by him as a .51.
Looking back through my catalog info I see that he had a separate listing for CVA maxis that includes both .50 and .51. And for .51 it was a .508" diameter base and .520" diameter front.

My eye has apparently been passing right over that bit of data for decades. Had no idea that some CVA's were .51's! And I'd like to find out what the .51's were.

[pietro]

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My rifle's bore diameter is .495"; the groove diameter is .500"; rifling twist is 1:66".

AFAIK, there is no such thing as a .51cal CVA - the .51 mold is most likely a slightly oversize conical boolit, normal for shooting in the .50cal

Cast a few boolits and shoot them as a test.

Conicals may not do very well in a slow twist barrel; so measure the twist rate in your rifl's bbl - it may have a compromise 1:48" twist.

[megasupermagnum]

.

My rifle's bore diameter is .495"; the groove diameter is .500"; rifling twist is 1:66".

AFAIK, there is no such thing as a .51cal CVA - the .51 mold is most likely a slightly oversize conical boolit, normal for shooting in the .50cal

Cast a few boolits and shoot them as a test.

Conicals may not do very well in a slow twist barrel; so measure the twist rate in your rifl's bbl - it's may have a compromise 1:48" twist.

Are you sure? .0025" deep rifling is barely scratched.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello pietro,

Well it's definitely a late model, but still a good find.
I see Traditions is now importing a Mountain Rifle (I believe from same manufacturer),
but it's rifled at 1:48 and shows a patch box.

https://www.muzzle-loaders.com/brand...on-50-cal.html

I'm sure it's going to shoot a round ball just fine.
The nose cap should be the only pewter on it,
the old ones had aluminum rod tips and a German Silver Front Sight.

AntiqueSledMan.

[pietro]

Are you sure? .0025" deep rifling is barely scratched.

That's what the thin pins of my inside caliper says, with the measurement taken at the muzzle.

[DaveM]

Very nice. If you want to brown the barrel (it looks blued in the pics) you can just apply the browning solution on top of the blueing.

[725]

pietro & Good Cheer,
I think I remember a "White" ML that had a notoriously large .50 cal bore. Been too many years to be clear.

[pietro]

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Yep - The White was an inline muzzleloader very similar to the Gonic.

They both had extremely tight .50 cal bores, requiring sized-down boolits from the likes of No Excuses Made Bullets

[indian joe]

Hello pietro,

Now that's an oddball, it looks to have a Frontier Rifle Trigger Guard.
I can't tell from pictures, are the Wedge Plates Brass?
I thought the Mountain Rifle's had a 32" Barrel.
I know the Big Bore's didn't have the Patch Box, but they had 1" Barrels.
And I also thought all Mountain Rifles had the brown barrels with German Silver Hardware.
Still, it looks very nice. Hopefully it's a 1:66 twist.

AntiqueSledMan.

Sled Man
I think you is on the ball! - earlier Mountain rifles had a finger rest on the bottom rear of the (polished steel) trigger guard loop. This looks like the grey pot metal guard off a frontier - some CVA's (missouri rifle I think - I have one out there in the rack) had that same thing covered in black paint (powder coat?)

32" barrel is correct - thisn has the (correct) german silver wedge plates. Pewter ? nose cap - nicer wood on some of the earlier ones too.

It was a long review article in an aussie gun mag that got me into muzzleloaders late 1980's - "The big bore 54 CVA Mountain Rifle" - I got hooked, couldnt find one for love nor money - ended up with a little 45cal Kentucky rifle kit - Cheap guns but I never had a CVA (had quite a few) that wouldnt shoot rings around most other guns on the range - they nailed the barrel and rifling geometry at the start.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Joe,

I once built a CVA .45 cal. Kentucky, that thing would really shoot.
I was a little embarrassed to take it to a shoot, they were the bottom line of rifles.
I ended up trading it for a Big Bore Mountain Rifle in .58 cal.
It never was very reliable, I changed out hammer spring but it didn't always snap cap.
Messed with it for a couple years, but now it mostly just sits in the safe.
Most of those old CVA's did shoot quite well.

AntiqueSledMan.

[pietro]

Very nice. If you want to brown the barrel (it looks blued in the pics) you can just apply the browning solution on top of the blueing.

Thank you for the tip, as I was going to strip/brown the barrel.

[indian joe]

Hello Joe,

I once built a CVA .45 cal. Kentucky, that thing would really shoot.
I was a little embarrassed to take it to a shoot, they were the bottom line of rifles.
I ended up trading it for a Big Bore Mountain Rifle in .58 cal.
It never was very reliable, I changed out hammer spring but it didn't always snap cap.
Messed with it for a couple years, but now it mostly just sits in the safe.
Most of those old CVA's did shoot quite well.

AntiqueSledMan.

Yup they would shoot alright ! First time I shot in competition in my life I shot a countback second to one of the top shots on the east coast - was never embarrassed shooting a CVA ! I graduated up to a 42" barreled CVA Pensyllvania rifle in 50 cal - flintlock - that was about the best gun i ever owned but I traded it away (dumb!!!)

[BFJ]

I bought my CVA mountain rifle in 1976. The first year CVA made them. These rifles were advertised with 1 in 66 twist, I have shot nothing but patched round balls. It was my main muzzle loading hunting rifle for many years. I have owned T/C and custom rifles, but never felt undergun with the CVA. Pietro, you have a great looking rifle there.