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Armament

Armament

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A fellow I know dropped off an old B.P muzzle loader replica. I don't know the history or value.

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It's marked "CONNETICUT VALLEY ARMS INC. BLACK POWDER ONLY .45"

He acquired it some 20 years or so ago apparently and it's been sitting in his closet since. The bluing's worn and it's a bit rusty. It has both balls and slugs, a few pounds of black powder and some patches. I have no percution caps. Being from the "new era" of gun ownership I've always been spoiled with our preloaded cartridges.

In a nut shell I haven't any idea how to use one of these. Would anyone care to enlighten me?:)
 
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It LOOKS like a CVA Hawken rifle reproduction, made for CVA in Spain; if you want to shoot it, probably the best thing to do is get one of those "black powder guides" by the same people that print Gun Digest. That'll give you the proper loads and procedures. One thing I WOULD check is to make sure that it wasn't put away with a charge in it; use the ramrod, and see how far it is from the nipple to the muzzle, and if the ramrod won't go all the way into the barrel the same distance, you'll have to clean it out (which can be a PITA).
 
wow what a haul!
look's like a hawken replica...

that box has a cast, a ball starter, FFF Goex, FF? pyrodex and what appears to be a assortment of cleaning supply's and other odd's and end's....

the pic with the conical's look's alot like the great plain's flat nose's i use from time to time.

very good score!

i'd start by taking it down and giving it a good cleaning... maybe someone here can give you a head's up on a favorite load for that gun.
 
SDC said:
It LOOKS like a CVA Hawken rifle reproduction, made for CVA in Spain; if you want to shoot it, probably the best thing to do is get one of those "black powder guides" by the same people that print Gun Digest. That'll give you the proper loads and procedures. One thing I WOULD check is to make sure that it wasn't put away with a charge in it; use the ramrod, and see how far it is from the nipple to the muzzle, and if the ramrod won't go all the way into the barrel the same distance, you'll have to clean it out (which can be a PITA).
Click to expand...

It was dirty (rust) but the rod goes in flush with the barrel. One thing I can't get over is how light the trigger pull is. Borderline scary. Yes there are a couple of molds included as well. Neat concept. The small film canister like tubes are all half filled with black powder. I'm assuming they were properly done up but like I said I need not pretend I know what I'm doing. I enjoy having ten fingers and two eyes :p
 
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I would probably not use those preloaded canisters. Just be safe. i have a TC Hawken like that and once you engage the set trigger it is a hair trigger its unreal how light it is.
They are extremely accurate and a hell of a lot of fun to shoot.
 
Old it isn't. As in not being an antique. It's a CVA replica. Since it's percussion, it's registerable. They came as kits and whole rifles. Go to CVA's web site. Seems to me Lyman puts out a pretty good BP book.
 
Very nice gift.

Where the hell am I when people are handing out these bloody things??

Armament said:
In a nut shell I haven't any idea how to use one of these. Would anyone care to enlighten me?
Click to expand...

Proper loading procedure would be to put it all in a big box and ship to Ritchie...... :)


sigh.....
 
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Lots of .45cal loading data out there. First things first though. Get a jag and put it on a rod that rotates freely. Run a lubed patch down the bore and count the revolutions the rod goes through. Measure the length of the barrel.

Now do this calculation: (length of barrel)÷(number of turns). Take that number and put a "1:" in front of it. Should be either 1:48 or 1:66.

This will tell you if the gun is built for round ball or conicals.

Go from there.
 
Nice rifle, some people consider the ones with the pewter nose caps to be the best :D My son had the St Louis Hawken, and did very well with it.
Your rifle should like .440" roundball and about a >015" patch. I would recommend using Hoppes #9 patch lube, you'll never have to swab between shots :eek:
Do you have a local supplier for what you'll need ?
Here is a link to The Goex website, great loading chart.
http://www.goexpowder.com/load-chart.html
Whereabouts are you located ? maybe there's BP shooter near you ?
Cheers nessy.
 
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