CVA Trigger help

[Meadhall]

My uncle gave me a CVA 54 cal a while back and up till now I have done nothing much with it. He said he couldn't get it to group well, and after shooting it I see why. The trigger HAS to be at least 20lbs if not more. I looked at the lock work, and can see how things work togerther, and considered trying to polish things up a bit, but really don't want to screw it up. So does anyone have any thoughts on a easy way to get it down to a least more managable level?

Thanks

 

[4v50 Gary]

Is the lock coil spring or a "V" spring?

The trigger on a muzzle loader is nothing more than a simple pivoting lever. The position of that lever in relation to the sear arm determines how "heavy" or "light" a trigger is.

Another thing to look at is the lock. Let's start with the simple stuff. Is it well inletted? That is, is the lock flush such that it doesn't bind when the lock screws are tightened down? Binding will cause drag on sear arm or sear if it isn't well inletted. It'll also slow down the release or rotation of the tumbler.

When the lock is removed (but not disassembled), the sear arm should move up and down freely and the only downward pressure you should feel should be from the sear spring.

On the lock itself, it is critical that the tumbler is flush with the lockplate. Any cant will impede the rotation of the tumbler and with it, the fall of the hammer.

Also check the "V" mainspring to see if it moves freely against the lockplate. Again, there could be binding.

 

[Meadhall]

It's a 'V' spring. Thanks for the pointers, I'll take a look.

 

[tuna]

FWIW, I bought one of the cheaper CVA's at a gunshow a couple years back. It too had a terrible trigger. Got the wood stock and while changing from the synthetic stock to the wood gave it a good and thorough cleaning. After putting it back together (without anything left over - YES, first try!) the trigger pull seemed to be reduced by 1/2 to 3/4. I remember thinking that maybe the trigger came "lawyer proof" and anyone taking it apart to clean it deserved a rifle better than how it came from the factory. Reading the other posts, maybe the wood just gave it a better fit, but it seemed like there was an excess of grease and gunk on the trigger when I first looked at it.

 

[BigG]

I think Gary hit on it. Look in the inletting for the lock. If you see some rub marks, relieve the area and I'm sure the trigger pull will be better. HTH