Double rifles

[Snaggletooth]

I have two CVA double rifles that are 50 cal and there is a great difference in the quality. Both are Express rifles made in Spain. the weight is about a pound difference and the sights are very different. One has a recoil pad tjat looks factory, it is probably after market. The quality of these guns is very noticeable. Has anyone else seen the difference in theCVA rifles. I bought one that was advertised as a 50 cal double barrel shotgun. In the picture I noticed lands in the barrel and a rifle sight on the front so I hit the buy now button Deer season is only a month away.

 

[wap41]

double rifle

To get a very good quality double rifle I've made them out of a 16ga pin fire sxs shotguns.The pinfires don't seem to be regulated as close as later ones.It's not that hard to do and you wind up with a great rifle.

 

[Crawdad1]

Yes, the double rifles and their shotguns. CVA used a number of Spanish makers and Spain had a lot of small manufacturers. In Terry Wieland's book, "Spanish Best" he researched the bigger gunmaking 'Houses' but only lightly touched upon the smaller 'houses' which is a shame. I had, (now sold along with pretty much everything else) a CVA from <AMR> a small Spanish maker that was completely different from the CVA shotguns that you see today.

 

[Patocazador]

I would like to have a cape gun with a .50 cal left barrel and a 12 ga. right one .. not from CVA.

I have two 12 ga. SxS BP shotguns, a Navy Arms Pietta and a CVA. The CVA isn't up to the quality of the Pietta.

 

[Pancho]

Perhaps 40 years ago an older and very wealthy friend of mine took the time to show me his complete collection of turn of the century African big game double rifles. He probably had 50 guns in BP and smokeless with names like Holland and Holland. Each gun came with it's own fitted case and I soon realized that I as an apprentice electrician would never be able to afford the shipping boxes let alone the rifles but that didn't stop me from catching the wants.
Maybe 10 years later CVA did produce their own express style rifle in 50 cal. That same year I was able to pick up a new in box scratch and dent from the CVA booth at Friendship for $85. I remember it was the fall shoot because I had to fix the gun and shoot it in before deer season and that didn't give me much time. The fix was easy but the shooting in was a nightmare. The owners book stated that the barrels were regulated to converge at 90 yards. Try as I might I couldn't get the barrels to impact any closer than 18". I took the gun to deercamp mainly for the wow factor but carefully selected my tried and true TC 50 for the hunting tasks. Most of the guys noticed that I elected not to go on drives with the express and letting them handle that heavy sucker kept them from giving me too much crap.
The short story is they sure are neat and you can train yourself to kill deer with it but you're going to need to burn a lot of powder to do it.

 

[Pancho]

BTW, that gun is still in my safe waiting for that special day when I will burn up a couple of pounds of powder and ball and try to make the gun a killer.

 

[Patocazador]

With a double shotgun you can remove a bit of metal from the edge of the barrel's muzzle on the side you want it to shoot to .... or is it on the side opposite? I always get mixed up and have to look it up.

 

[dogrunner]

Patocazador:

James Beard (Hawken rifles and 15 years in the Hawken lode) mentions and supplied photos of shotgun muzzles moded precisely as you suggest. It was apparently an accepted method of regulating such guns to the point of aim during the BP era, but his book is the only place I recall making mention of it, and supplying photos.

Anyway, insofar as doubles go, a friend of mine had a CVA over under that was regulated via a screw arrangement between the tubes. As I recall the gun was a .50 and shot pretty much to the POA at any reasonable ML distance.

I happen to own one of Pedersoli's doubles in .50 and it is easily a sure thing at a hundred plus if you do your part. My left bbl tends to group about an inch or so high and right at 50, the right is dead on. I use only black and cast my own maxi's.......gun's very well made, only mod I've done is to add musket nipples and with as hard to get as they've become I'm apparently going to have to reverse that fairly soon.