CVA Hawken Twist Rate

[tscmmhk]

I have become the "new" owner of an old (1988) .50 cal CVA Hawken rifle that was my dad's. As expected, none of the original gun manual was available so I have a question for the group regarding the barrel twist rate. I measured the barrel at about 1:28 twist rate. Most of the data from CVA and others seem to say that the twist rate for a Hawken is 1:48.
My question is does anyone know if CVA ever made a Hawken rifle with a 1:28twist. As mentioned before, the rifle manufacturer date is 1988.

Thanks

 

[frontiergander]

never came with a 1:28 twist. They were either 1:48 or 1:66

 

[1911 guy]

I was given an unfired 1986 model last year. It is 1:66. The newer ones are 1:48. I agree with frontiergander, they were never made in 1:28

 

[tscmmhk]

The only bit of info I could find on the web was that CVA apparently did some experimented with faster twist rates during the 1980's. I seem to remember my Dad buying the Hawken rifle from Cabelas or Gander Mountain on a close out sale.
I double checked the twist rate with a patched jag. Then I had a couple of my buddies check it with the same result. Now I know why my Dad couldn't hit anything when shooting a round ball. When I finally get the rifle out to the range I think I'll stick with sabot / .45 bullet combo's. By the way, thanks for the info.

 

[frontiergander]

1:48 is fine for patched balls. My brother has a cva hawken made in 1986 with the shallow groove 1:48 twist and with 80gr pyrodex rs, .015" patch and .490 round ball, its an excellent shooter at 100 yards. We however shoot conicals from it mainly as we like the extra power at both ends.

 

[MCgunner]

Mine kicks like HELL with 80 grains weight equivalent pyrodex by volume and said .490 round ball. It's a 1:48 and shoots well with conical or patched (.015") ball. I got it for 80 bucks plus shipping off gunbroker just because I wanted to shoot patched ball and my other Hawken is 1:24 and of course, my CVA inline is 1:28. I load half charges in the thing and shoot at 50 yards for more fun. It's a bruiser with full charges.

My gun is a CVA Plainsman, all wood stock with no furniture/patch box or anything fancy and rather rudimentary sights. It's a fun rifle, though, and looks good over the fake hearth. Not sure it's the same gun, but here's a pic.

 

[mykeal]

What CVA called a 'Hawken':

 

[1KPerDay]

1:48 is fine for patched balls.

Yeah, but his is a 1:28.

 

[frontiergander]

you're measuring something wrong because cva have never made a 1:28 twist hawken.

I have a cva mountain stalker that has a 1:32 twist, but no hawken ever had that twist either.

 

[tscmmhk]

Here's how I measured the twist rate on my Hawken. I used a tight fitting patch with a jag screwed into the ramrod. I measured out 24" on the ramrod and put a piece of tap around the rod as a reference. I also made a small mark on the end of the ramrod to measure rotation. I expected to see about 180 degrees of rotation of my mark on the end of the ramrod ( 1/2 of a circle ) on the ramrod when pushed 24" into the barrel for a 1:48 twist. If the barrel was a 1:66 twist then I would expect about 120 degrees of rotation ( 1/3 of a circle). What I did see was almost 360 degrees of rotation when I pushed the ramrod 24" in the barrel. To me that meant about a 1:28 twist. To check myself :banghead: I did the same thing (above) with my Zouave rifle. I know the Zouave has a twist of about 1:66. I got about 120 degrees of rotation and that's what I expected. At this point at least I knew I wasn't seeing things.
Bottom line is I don't why the Hawken has a 1:28 barrel but it does. By the way, if I'm doing this wrong, let me know.

Thanks

 

[MCgunner]

I wonder is it was someone's rebarreling project?

 

[frontiergander]

i mark a line on my ramrod, mark the front sight and then pull it out a 1/4 turn and measure how many inches came out.

I can guarantee you its not a 1:28 unless like MC said, someone re-barreled it.

 

[mykeal]

Your method is correct in theory but inaccurate because you're estimating rotational distance using a small diameter item, the ramrod. Measuring, instead of estimating, rotation using a larger item like the muzzle crown will give more accurate results. Try it this way:

Place a piece of tape across the muzzle so that half of it is open and half covered by the tape; this establishes a diameter, and thus 180 degrees of rotation. Cut the tape away from the opening so that you can insert the ramrod, leaving the diameter marked on the crown.

Insert your ramrod with the jag and the tight patch (lightly oiled, of course) all the way to the breech. Place a piece of tape around the ramrod at the muzzle to establish a starting position. Seal the two ends of the tape together so that they form a flag sticking out radially from the ramrod at one of the diameter marks on the crown.

Slowly retrieve the ramrod, stopping when the flag reaches the opposite diameter mark on the crown. Place another piece of tape on the ramrod at the muzzle, finish removing the ramrod and measure the distance between the two pieces of tape. Multiply the result by two.

 

[tscmmhk]

Ok---- after further "review", using mykeal's procedure for more accuracy I come up with a 1:32 twist. For 180 degree rotation using tape on the crown as reference, I get a consistent 16" when pulling out the ramrod. Multiply by 2 and ..................1:32 twist.

Thanks for the info, I can see why you can get a better estimate using the tape method. Although I was close with my 1:28 estimate, I would bet that 1:32 is probably closer to what the barrel actually is. Now the question remains on why CVA put a 1:32 barrel on a Hawken.

 

[arcticap]

To shoot full bore conical bullets with, or possibly saboted bullets.
It could have been made about the time or soon after plastic sabots hit the market.
CVA came out with their 300 grain Deer Slayer bullets that came in packs of 20, but I'm not sure exactly when that was. Perhaps CVA wanted to keep up with what TC was offering in the way of conical bullets with their Maxi-hunter and Maxi-ball.
CVA made some smooth rifles too which folks don't hear much about, as well as a double express rifle. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a variety of items that were not regular production, or not imported on a wide spread basis, but were more commonly found in Europe.