CVA 32 cal

[pwl44m]

This is the BP I picked up yesterday. I have always wanted an original Kentucky Squirrel Rifle (have U priced those things) but this will have to do. I took it apart this morning and gave it a god cleaning. It looks good enough for Me, I'm easy to please. I don't think it has been fired, the nipple doesn't have a stain on it leading Me to believe that.
What is a recommended load for this ? I have always heard 1gr per cal increment. ie 32 cal= 32 grains, 44cal= 44gr but of what 2f, 3f ? I want to shoot it and will do so in the back yard.
Were CVA kit guns or were they sold finished ? The fit & finish seems to be really nice on this one. I like it and will keep it. I have a pill bottle of 32 cal balls shown in Pic, I have no idee where they came from but I tend to do that. Get the cart then down the road somewhere I buy the Horse.
Couple pics for U to enjoy, sorry for the lousy quality but U should be use to that by now.
Perry

[Blaine]

Nice Rifle....I always wanted one of those.

[wolfdog]

I can see why it hasn't been fired. Someone put the lock on the wrong side of the rifle.


Nice rifle, much prettier than mine, but I have a 45 cal barrel for it also.

[JayF in AZ]

I have a DGW .32 flinter, and 20 gr of FFFg will push a ball out the muzzle at around 1900 fps.

[Chuck 100 yd]

JayF in AZ beat me to it. I was going to say20 to 25 gr. FFFg should get her more than crackin.
"crackin" the crack is the sonic boom heard when the bullet exceeds the speed of sound. Most old time BP shooters figured if it cracks it is good. That would be just over the speed of sound and not really all that fast,about the same as a .22 high velocity round.

I have never seen a CVA kit that was left handed. It probably is a factory finished rifle.
Have fun!

[Larkbill]

I use 32 gr. of FFFG. It doesn't like the substitutes, only real Black Powder. I also have a T/C Maxi Ball mold for it.



Mine's not as pretty as yours, and it's right handed. It was a kit I bought at Target when they were closing out their gun department.



It's been carried and shot a lot.

[pwl44m]

Wanna know when I realized it was left handed ? about 30 seconds ago. talk about feeling EL STUPIDO . I guess all I saw was 32 and that was enough for Me. As U can tell I am a real BP aficionado. Now I'm worried, can a right handed Person shoot this Gun ?
I have some 3f and will give it a try.
I gotta go bury My face now.
Perry

[EdinCT]

I hunt with a 36 and anything over 25 grains of 3f is very rough on squirrel to the point that the head is a skin flap. If you hit the front its gone, so slow it down.
Also a pair of shooting glasses should be worn but I would give it a try. It might shoot so well that you will go back to not noticing its a lefty.

[Rusty]

Wanna know when I realized it was left handed ? about 30 seconds ago. talk about feeling EL STUPIDO . I guess all I saw was 32 and that was enough for Me. As U can tell I am a real BP aficionado. Now I'm worried, can a right handed Person shoot this Gun ?
I have some 3f and will give it a try.
I gotta go bury My face now.
Perry

Would you shoot a double barreled muzzleloading shotgun? What's the difference?

I had a right handed kit that came with a .45 & a .32 barrel. The .32 barrel had a poorly installed drum that leaked gas around the drum where it screwed into the barrel and CVA refused to fix it.

I later got a Dixie .32 that I shot 25 grains of FFFg in with a patched round ball. IMHO the .32 packs more punch than a .22 mag.
Have fun

[JerryB]

Perry that should also make a real fine rabbit gun.

[SJPrice]

Perry,

Should you decide that you can not live with the fact it is a southpaw shooter, let me get on the top of the list of "southpaws" who will relieve you of the burden, with fair restitution of course.

Steve

[ethang]

Nice rifle. I have shot a right hand percussion for years as a south paw, both with and without glasses. Works just fine. CVA should have some load data on their website.

[BenT]

I got this for my son . It's a hoot to shoot.

[Ysabel Kid]

I took it apart this morning and gave it a god cleaning.

That must be one great cleaning!!!

[pwl44m]

I took it apart this morning and gave it a god cleaning.

That must be one great cleaning!!!

I thought "What a smart alec" then read it and read it again and finally spotted it. Yes that would be a great cleaning.
Didn't get a chance to shoot it today but hopefully tomorrow. Is there any shell cases that would give Me the 20-25 grains that I need ? I have a flask but not a measure.
Perry

[SJPrice]

I took it apart this morning and gave it a god cleaning.

That must be one great cleaning!!!

I thought "What a smart alec" then read it and read it again and finally spotted it. Yes that would be a great cleaning.
Didn't get a chance to shoot it today but hopefully tomorrow. Is there any shell cases that would give Me the 20-25 grains that I need ? I have a flask but not a measure.
Perry

Wasn't the 32-20 20 grains of black?

[Shasta]

Didn't get a chance to shoot it today but hopefully tomorrow. Is there any shell cases that would give Me the 20-25 grains that I need ? I have a flask but not a measure.
Perry[/quote]


Perry,

Using FFFg black powder, a .40 S&W casing evenly filled will give 20 grains, a .38 Special case evenly filled gives about 24.5 grains.

You can use an ordinary powder scale to weigh a charge of black powder. I've done it that way for many years, and that is how I arrived at the above mentioned charges. Here is a link to an interesting read that concerns black powder measurement:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/blackpowder_volumetric.htm

SHASTA

[Nath]

Are those balls .320"?

They need to be .311" or less.....for the patch!

N.

[Blaine]

Wanna know when I realized it was left handed ? about 30 seconds ago. talk about feeling EL STUPIDO . I guess all I saw was 32 and that was enough for Me. As U can tell I am a real BP aficionado. Now I'm worried, can a right handed Person shoot this Gun ?
I have some 3f and will give it a try.
I gotta go bury My face now.
Perry

I thought all locks were traditionally on the left side Hopefully, the hammer completely covers the cap when it fires....

[pwl44m]

Thx for the article Shasta, it dispels the myth of volumetric measuring which is what I assumed I needed to go by. As it turns out I don't have any 32cal balls. The ones in the pic r way too big, they measured 350 and I need what 310 ? Not many places local that carry that kind of stuff, will have to look around.
I started digging through some stuff and found 2 powder measures, 2 Horn Flasks, 1 Brass Flask, 2 funnels, 3 nipple wrenches (2 with flash hole cleaner), 2 1/2 cans of 3f 2 cans 2f & 1 can 4f, 2 possibles bags and an asundry of paraphernalia and I still caint fire it.
@ sjprice, true that but how full the case. The 40s&w case came out real close to the powder measure for 20 grains. Again We wait.
@ Nath, saw Ur post before I submitted, I will look for 310s or thereabouts.
@ Blaine, it does. I couldn't resist popping a couple caps.
Perry

[Shasta]

Perry,

Maybe you can find some #1 buckshot, which is .300" diameter. With a heavy patch (denim from old pants) it will work, but a proper .310" ball and .010"-.015" patch would be best.

SHASTA

[pwl44m]

I ordered a 311 round ball mold last nite from Cabelas. Free shipping so I went ahead and ordered the Lee 4-20 production pot also but didn't notice that the pot is backordered till 12-25. Gots to pay attention. I will look for some lead in the meantime but until something breaks We r on hold.
Perry

[bubba15301]

you can use .315 rb if you can find them . #1.5 buckshot will work also you can get them at Ballistic products online

[pwl44m]

you can use .315 rb if you can find them . #1.5 buckshot will work also you can get them at Ballistic products online

I will keep that in mind when searching for lead. Picked up another 100 pounds of lead today, probably should just wait for My mold and make all the ammo I want.
Perry

[bubba15301]

Perry are you still legal to use lead in cali

[handirifle]

Perry are you still legal to use lead in cali

For a little while, as far as hunting goes. Target is still good. So far

Perry,

Should you decide that you can not live with the fact it is a southpaw shooter, let me get on the top of the list of "southpaws" who will relieve you of the burden, with fair restitution of course.

Steve

Beat me to the punch!

[pwl44m]

We can still use lead in My area but for how long Who knows. I don't hunt so Mine will be just plinking and target. How long that will last is anybody's guess.
As for selling the little Jewel, not till I get to shoot it. Then I would probably only entertain a trade for a righty.
Funny story - My Daughter went to West Virginia with Her Boyfriends Family in a Motorhome in 1990. She checked in one day with a phone call and during the course of the conversation She asked Me if there was anything I would like for Her to bring back for Me. Well given Her location I said find Me an original Kentucky Squirrel Rifle. She called again a couple days later and said "Dad !, do You know how much those things cost ?" I didn't get one.
Perry

[2571]

Cup your hand. Put the ball in the 'cup'; cover the ball with powder.

That amount of powder will be a medium load for that caliber. You can refine the load & then find a suitable powder measure or make one.

I measure in the palm of my hand and am rarely off but more than a smidgen compared to a volumetric measure. Smaller loads are usually more accurate than 'max' loads with bp.

Prior remarks correct. You can adapt to a lefty. Robert Redford is left handed but he did ok with a right hand Hawken in J. Johson movie. lol

[pwl44m]

@ 2571, that's a novel way of measuring powder but I can see it working as I sit here cupping My hand (yes, Ya'll did it too). In the days of Old They made do with what They had and that would be a very handy powder measure (always with You).
May I relate another story that My Dad used to tell. He was born in 1890 so U know He used BP. He died at the ripe old age of 76 in 1966 when I was only 18. Anyhow seems He once sold a BP Rifle to a couple Fellows. He was known about town for loading His rifle very stiff. Well the new Owners weren't taking any chances with My Dads stiff loads so to alleviate the pain of firing that Gun They decided to rest the Butt against a tree to get rid of that heavy Charge. Well I think U know the rest of the story.
Perry

[JayF in AZ]

If you're getting into front stuffers allow me to recommend the Dixie Gun Works catalog. Worth every penny as it's not just a catalog but a reference tome as well. When I was dumb teenager in my mountain man phase I learned just about all I needed to know about muzzleloading from it.

[pwl44m]

If you're getting into front stuffers allow me to recommend the Dixie Gun Works catalog. Worth every penny as it's not just a catalog but a reference tome as well. When I was dumb teenager in my mountain man phase I learned just about all I needed to know about muzzleloading from it.

Thx, just ordered it. Also done a little shopping while there, didn't buy anything though.
Perry

[Nath]

On a slight tangent....I often measure the powder but poor shot in my hand and make an educated guess! Works fine for scattergunnin'.

N.

[bubba15301]

I got this for my son . It's a hoot to shoot.

i have the same rifle