I bought it ,32 cal muzzleloader, need info

[BenT]

Well I finally got to the gunshop to look at this rifle my buddy told me about. It's a CVA that is in mint shape, 24 in barrel . The owner said his dad had sold this rifle to the owner about 20 years ago. $225 with a can of Goex FFG. I bought this for a Chrismas present for my son.

Now where do I find load data?
What bore diameter are these?
Can you shoot 314 bullets out of them ? I have plenty of these.
If so do bullets need patches or is that just for round ball?
What's a good muzzle loader site with good info?

Thanks for any info.

[Nath]

Ok, good purchase but!

You will be best served with a can of 3f in that 32.

They usually only like a patched ball.

The most single bit of advice I would give you is to mix a good patch lube like olive oil and beef fat rendered down on the stove. Bees wax and olive oil. This will keep the fouling soft.
If the fouling gets crusty try sending a backing patch down first and then the patched ball, range test to check zero or consider it normal practice.

Please please don't use any mineral based oils.

Just use hot water to flush the barrel, repeat untill no black comes out and the barrel is so hot from boiling water it wants to dry itself out after a dry patch or two.

Before you shoot or hunt, dry the breech from any of you lube after cleaning that has run down there because you stored it muzzle up. Take nipple out and check it is dry. Now load with a charge and ram some newspaper down and fire it off. Now your good to go and can charge with that backing patch and leave it for days if you wish, handy for the day before you hunt with it!

Check out some buck shot like OO for sizes??? one of them is close to perfect for the 32 and lots of folk use nothing else for squirrel n' rabbit ranges.

The muzzleloading forum (www.muzzleloadingforum.com) is stuffed with info

Take pictures

Nath.

[cshold]

10-4 to Nath’s advice.
Or if you have a shop air compressor, a good blast of air through
the nipple hole with an air nozzle clears the flash path real good.

(Yes pictures please)

[pwl44m]

Good Find, I'm sure Your Son will be tickled when He opens it Christmas Day, Just make sure to give IT to Him last or he wont get to the rest of His presents. An older one should have a little better Quality. BTW WATP

[hfcable]

had one of those and only sold it because i got a custom 32 cap lock. i used .310 lead balls and used various pathces, though for convenience the pre lubed ones are nice. it was an amazingly accurate, fun gun.. 3F is the way to go and you can use hodgson 777 if you want really easy clean up. you can use as little as 15 gr or less and on up to well above 30 or 40, though your most accurate load will not be these higher loads, usually. just use round balls, not much point in the others esp in a .32 the power of a .32 with 30 gr or so of powder is at least like a 22 magnum, probably more. if you live where there are squirrels to hunt, they will learn to freeze and tremble at the sight of you and your 32!

[hfcable]

forgot to say : as to muzzleloader websites, these two or very fun and helpful:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php#1

esp this part :

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?board=1.0

and also

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/fusionbb.php

especially here:

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusio ... hp?fid/18/

and here:

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusio ... hp?fid/37/


good luck, things like that 32 put the fun back into shooting ....big time!!

[Hobie]

3f or Pyrodex P or 777. You don't need much, 15-20 gr. will probably do. You can lube your patches with Wonder Lube/Bore Butter if you aren't up to making your own mix. CCI or RWS #11 caps and you'll be good to go. Round balls ARE the way to go.

To clean I recommend that you get a muzzle protector, a dedicated "bucket" (an ice cream bucket will do) for the HOT water, and perhaps an extension for the ramrod so that you'll have something to hold on to as you swab that bore. With hot water you should be able to clean that gun in about 10 minutes. I like HOT water so that it dries but to be certain I used WD-40 (water displacement) to keep/move the water from the joints.

[hfcable]

here is my favorite 32 currently:







has a 42" barrel and is very slender and well balanced

[BenT]

Thanks for the good info . Don't know if I can get a photo without letting the cat out of bag.
I did notice when I pulled the barrel out of the stock at the gunshop,to check for rust. It looks like it has a threaded breech plug. Is this something that can be taken out for cleaning or should only be messed with if there is a problem.

Also since it is a small bore , a clean burning Black powder substitute would be prefered. Non of the gunshops around here carry Black powder just substitutes. Sounds like 777 burns clean , how does that American pioneer stuff hold up? The FFG I got with it I can use for blackpowder 45-70 loads. But what does Black powder cost a pound if one can find it on a shelf somewhere? It seems reasonable online except for the hazmat fees makes it expensive.

[Hobie]

This is a side-lock, right? (dang CRS) If so, no don't take out the breech plug. If an in-line then you'd better and get some of that breech plug grease.

[hfcable]

777 works great, consistent n doesn't lose power w storage
The American pioneer I have tried stored poorly n was weaker n inconsistent- I won't bother with it again

[Tumbleweeds II]

Especially since we don't know the bore, I'd get a box of .310 and a box of .315 RBs and see which one it likes. Heck, I'll send you a dozen of each if you'll PM youre address to me.

[kimwcook]

Cable, I love your taste in firearms.

[hfcable]

Cable, I love your taste in firearms.

thank you! some day i will post a few more nice muzzleloaders i have....really enjoy them!

[BenT]

Hfcable your rifle is a little fancier than mine.

Hobie it is a side lock . I was thinking about taking out the breech plug to slug the bore.

Tumbleweeds thanks for the offer, but I actually have some 310 round ball from a bunch of used reloading equipment I bought and also Prodex P fffg.

I learned alot from the links given . sounds like between 20 -30 grs of fffg is used depending on what range your sighting in for. I'm also going to talk to the guy at the sporting goods store who hunts squirrels with his and see what he is having luck with.

The problem is that I don't know if i can wait till Chrismas to shoot this rifle. Thanks again to all your help.

[765x53]

If you are new to muzzle loading or want to wring maximum accuracy from your round ball shooting, send this fine old Gentleman a money order for his wisdom.
http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/
Read, study, and put his methods into practice and you will agree with me, it is the best money you have ever spent on the sport.

[dr walker]

Here is a great book starting at $1.23 used $11.00 new.
Complete Black Powder Handbook by Sam Fadala
http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork ... ting*title

[Hankster]

I would avoid messing with the breech plug.

[Nath]

I would avoid messing with the breech plug.

Amen to that, you allways enter from the front like a gentleman with a traditional ML

Owwwee, 7 or so weeks to wait, it's gonna itch and itch at ya

Good luck.

N

[hfcable]

really no need to slug the bore....not like a cartridge gun. here you choose the round ball, in your case, .310 is easiest....then use the patch to adjust the fit to suit your gun and load. the ball and patch combo 'sizes' itself in a sense. dont worry about it.... just try it, you will like it!!!!

[2571]

I would avoid messing with the breech plug.

+1

Remove it only to remedy a SERIOUS problem. I bought a TC plug wrench 30 years ago and have used it only once, when a patch screw got so stuck & I could not retireve it in 193 tries.

Think about using buckshot for cheap ammo.

[JReed]

I use 10-20 grains of Pyrodex P in ours with a. 310 hornady ball and. 018 thick pillow ticking pathes lubed with 45% bees wax 45% Crisco and 10% olive oil. If you look hard online you can turn up some. 32Cal conicals that are real fun to shoot.