Cva 1851 navy kit finished.

[troy fairweather]

Just got done with the 36cal 51 navy kit I got from armored farmer here. It was a unopened cva kit from the 80s(1982 on paper work). The unfortunate thing is one chamber they messed up, somehow drilled another half way down maybe a 1/16" off center. But that's ok since the cylinder does not have safety notches any way .

at first before the kit was opened I was going to finish it like new, polish the brass and nice dark rust blue. Butt with the bad chamber I figured I'll do a older worn look. Kinda like it was put away wet.

I find it funny how on the box it says just put it together and your done lol. I probably have 10 hours of file work and fitting, and a few days bluing.

all the steel parts except the trigger I rust blued using pliningtons American rust blue, I only did 3 coats to make a more worn look. The brass parts I put in a container overnight with salt and vinegar mix, it has some cool blue and greens but when I cleaned it up with steel wool it came off. There's some pinks browns and blacks I think it gives a different aged look, I like it. The wood I just used some boiled linseed oil, the one side has some nice brain but the mate Finnish I did doesn't show it much.

There were a few things I had to fix or fit maybe more then normal. I was happy the parts were pretty hard guess some of the older kits had soft parts. The wedge need a lot of fiting, which messes other stuff up I had to re fit. The paperwork said .030 for cylinder gap but I feel like that's a bit much.
After getting the parts in the frame I found it wasn't working after some messing around I found the spring for the trigger was to long and would not let the trigger reset all the way. The roller for the hammer was stuck so I freed that up.

The trigger guard did not fit evenly on to the frame so it needed a lot of file work to fix that. Most taped holes were very tight as Well.

There's a few more things I may work on but next I need to shoot it after I order some round balls. Hope it shoots, very surprised how nice the rifling looks. It's 7 grove left hand and polished nice like it was lapped.

Here's some pictures as usual they suck, the better ones are from armored farmer lol.

 

[troy fairweather]

The bad chamber

 

[troy fairweather]

Kit opened for the first time since 82.

 

[Jimster]

You did a good job. Armored Farmer is a good fellow.
That’s a hell of a flaw! Since you’re only supposed to load five rounds anyway I would say you’re good to go as long as that’s the only major manufacturing flaw.

 

[Jimster]

Maybe order a replacement cylinder. Is CVA out of business? An emailed photo of that would get you a new cylinder I bet.

 

[troy fairweather]

You did a good job. Armored Farmer is a good fellow.
Since you’re only supposed to load five rounds anyway I would say you’re good to go as long as that’s the only major manufacturing flaw.

Yes he is, yeah just that chamber and the slot for the bolt, which I lucked out because the bolt slot opposed the bad chamber is off to. Guess they used the chamber to position for the next cut or something. All worked out tho.

 

[troy fairweather]

Maybe order a replacement cylinder. Is CVA out of business? An emailed photo of that would get you a new cylinder I bet.

When I did see them they were like $90 not worth it, can only load 5 safely anyway. There still around, I'll contact them about there warranty tho. Think I'll send in the warranty card lol.

 

[troy fairweather]

The wood how it came, there was about a 1/8" of proud wood to fit.

 

[expat_alaska]

CVA is out of business. I would bet that a Pietta or Uberti plain/non-engraved cylinder would work for you (VTI). That would make it a Schneider & Glassick.

Jim

 

[troy fairweather]

CVA is out of business. I would bet that a Pietta or Uberti plain/non-engraved cylinder would work for you (VTI). That would make it a Schneider & Glassick.

Jim

Cva is still in business, they may not be the same as back then tho. I believe the pietta parks can be made to fit. For now little I'll shoot this I don't see a need for a new cylinder.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

With a flaw like that you might want to check cylinder and barrel alignment with a range rod. Barrel to cylinder gap should no greater than .006 in my opinion, others will no doubt say larger... or smaller. Preferred gap about .002. Looks like a fun project.

 

[troy fairweather]

With a flaw like that you might want to check cylinder and barrel alignment with a range rod. Barrel to cylinder gap should no greater than .006 in my opinion, others will no doubt say larger... or smaller. Preferred gap about .002. Looks like a fun project.

I check all that everything lines up fine. The instructions said 30-40 thou, to much for me.gap is about .008"

 

[troy fairweather]

A photo of the barrel and ramer straight from the box, some surface rust but cleaned up. The finish on the steel parts were pretty good the barrel I thought was very nice ground to about 320 grit I'd guess. I expected the brass parts to be right out of the same cast but they sanded some.

 

[woodnbow]

There’s an 1860 kit on gunbroker right now, looks like the builder followed those instructions to a tee... just degreased it and put a cold blue on it. Uglier than a mud fence.

 

[troy fairweather]

There’s an 1860 kit on gunbroker right now, looks like the builder followed those instructions to a tee... just degreased it and put a cold blue on it. Uglier than a mud fence.

Wouldn't have been possible to just throw this one together, but I've seen some that looked that way lol. Only if I could find a walker cheap.

I did a 58 Remington that I think was from Dixie gun works for a gun shop/smith I worked for. That kit was pretty nice someone could have just screwed it together and shot it. Tho the machine marks on the barrel were deeper the the lettering and that sucked.

 

[troy fairweather]

What loads do you all like for the 51 navy's, don't think I'll use over 15 grains in this. I have a tiny bit of black left and don't want to shoot the pyrodex I have it being a brass frame.

 

[Bfh_auto]

What loads do you all like for the 51 navy's, don't think I'll use over 15 grains in this. I have a tiny bit of black left and don't want to shoot the pyrodex I have it being a brass frame.

Mine was a steel frame. It liked 20-25 grains of ffg.
It was the most accurate pistol I've shot. Still kick myself for selling it.

 

[gtrgy888]

15-17 grains max of FFF Goex with cornmeal filler to fill up the chambers and get compression would be just right for a brass frame. 18 max if you feel frisky. Load the cylinder off the gun on a press to limit strain on the brass. No hotter powders or subs. More than that needs a steel frame or you’ll batter the recoil shield and shoot the gun loose in no time. Also go easy on the screw threads during reassembly to keep them tight.