My custom Muzzle Loader for hunting - Lots of Pics

[Voodoochile]

As some of you have read in my past thread I have re-acquired an old friend, my CVA Bobcat .50cal rifle.
A good shooter & just the right amount of barrel for brush hunting, not too short for a slight loss of power but not too long to make it hard to swing at a nice buck come season opener but this Plastic stock just makes it way too light weight for recoil handling & to me is just BUTT UGLY AS ALL GET OUT.

My thoughts were to find a nice wood stock & finish it to where I would have something that not only shoots good but also looks good too, well of corse CVA has not made this particular rifle in some time & finding some parts is a hit or miss & I wasn't in the mood to have to work on a blank piece of wood, but as I was looking I come across Traditions Deer Hunter rifle that for the most part it was a near identical weapon except that it has a 24 inch barrel to my 26 but it comes in Kit form!
A cupple of emails & a phone call had me a $40.00 wood stock coming my way.

Once I got the stock I started the rough fitting & I found a few minor issues, the Tang inlay as well as the Trigger Guard inlay was slightly longer than what I had with my parts & ofcorse it comes with that rubber butt plate.
I had planned to get a nice brass trigger guard & possibly a better looking trigger, gotten them from Track of the Wolf” & I'm toying with a few ideas on what to do about the slight difference in the Tang inlay area "either do a Dutch or see if a Hawken style hooked breach Tang will work with the Barrel that I have" & eventually I'm going to get a nice Brass butt plate to accommodate the rest of the look that I'm going after.
So far after 15+ hours of work & about $70.00 of Wood, Steel, & Brass I have a nearly finished piece that shoots quite well, I’ve temporarily screwed the rear area of the Guard to the stock till either I braze a plug & pin it there or I get a Hawken style Tang & run a screw to the guard Hawken style.

What do y-all think?
Anything I should do?

 

[Chawbaccer]

Looking good. The light finish looks real nice. Have you considered having the tang welded up and then file it to fit?

 

[scrat]

Omg natural wood finish. That looks so good. I imagine it would not look good on a revolver where you only have a small piece of wood. However that really looks good. Very impressing

 

[Voodoochile]

I'm still in the air on what exactly to do about the tang area.

I've thought about acquiring a Hooked breach tang for a Hawken rifle to see if it'll fit the barrels button hook design & extend the inletting to accommodate that extra metal, Welding the existing tang & finishing the metal to accommodate the existing inletted wood or performing a dutch inlet where you inlet a piece of wood "or metal" to make a design & to cover a mistake like this up.

Thank you both, I toyed with the idea of staining the wood but Moma asked me to not stain this one because we both like the natural look of wood & that it'd look similar to the Dinette set that I had finished for her, to be honest I wasn't sure how I would like it but I'm rather fond of the natural look in this rifle.

 

[arcticap]

Beautiful touches!
I agree to not stain it either.
Will you be installing wedgeplates?

 

[Voodoochile]

Oh yes, Brass wedge plates are on their way, kinda was on back order when I made the order for the trigger & Guard, I was informed that they were on their way Thursday so I should see them in my box either tomorow or Wednesday "kinda funny, I recieved the screws for the wedge plates last week but will not see the wedge plates themselves till some time this week."

 

[alemonkey]

Looks good. It's interesting how many of these rifles are built with the same parts. I have an old CVA Sharpshooter in .50 that is almost identical to your rifle except it has a wood pistol grip stock. The trigger guard, lock, barrel, tang, etc are all exactly the same. Just like yours, it's a nice shooting rifle.

 

[arcticap]

Depending on the metal composition of your tang, there are 3 "aloy" products which can help you fabricate and shape a new tang with basically using only a propane torch.
Have you ever heard of Alumaloy, Castaloy or Steelaloy "welding" rods?
Each is used to weld an addition to the specified metal which can then be shaped to fit by grinding.
I've seen it on info-mercials and it seems to work as advertised.
Here's a website that sells it cheaper than the home company, and they also have an instruction webpage, and an eBay store. If you needed Alumaloy, you could find it cheaper on eBay auctions, but if it's a steel tang then you need Steelaloy rod.
It's just one idea, but I'd hate to see the tang get overheated from welding.

Disitributor:

http://www.cisoldit4u.com/steelaloy.htm

Instructions:

http://www.cisoldit4u.com/steelrepair.htm

Distributor's Question Forum:

http://www.cisoldit4u.com/steelaloy/index.php?

Another similar method would be to add a structural epoxy to the tang and then paint over it to match the color. One such product is Marine-tex epoxy putty, which comes in white or the harder grey color. It's often used for bedding the action of precision target rifles:

http://www.marinetex.com/

http://www.marinetex.com/PRODUCT PAGE_files/All MarineTex Putty/marinetex prod info.htm

See the bottom of the FAQ's page for info. about where to buy it.

 

[Voodoochile]

That Steelaloy looks interesting & I may have seen the comercials once before.

The Marine Tex may be an alternative option too, thanx for the info.

 

[StrawHat]

Voodoochile,

Nice work so far. The rifle is looking much better than when in that plastic stock.

I am not aware of a tang that mates up with the hook of the CVA barrel but I know that hooked breeches are made that will fit the barrel. For that matter, a long tanged solid plug is also available.

Just an option for you.

I like the way it has turned out and wish you well. It should bring years of enjoyment.

StrawHat

 

[arcticap]

I wouldn't recommend ever touching the original breechplug to install a long solid tang, others have twisted their hooks and ruined their barrel from trying to remove the original breechplug.
I'd be surprised if CVA even replaces them, it's easier for them to just replace the whole barrel.

 

[Voodoochile]

Yeah I knew about how the breach plug is assembled into the barrel & the drum & I had no intentions of touching it either.
I had thought to see if the Hooked breach tang for like a Hawken or even a TC Renegade would be compatible with what I had & if not then my options would change to either welding what I have & work the metal or Dutching the area with either a piece of Red Oak or Poplar inlaid into that area to give it a design feature that no other rifle would have.

She shoots too good for me to mess with that Plug!
I surely don't want to be :banghead: & feeling because of something I shouldn't be messing with.

 

[frontiergander]

Looks great! Where the heck did you pick the stock up at for $40? I have a bobcat and a mountain rifle and when im shooting powerbelts, those 6lb SOB's kick like a mule with only a 270 platinum and 295 aerotip.

 

[Voodoochile]

Looks great! Where the heck did you pick the stock up at for $40? I have a bobcat and a mountain rifle and when im shooting powerbelts, those 6lb SOB's kick like a mule with only a 270 platinum and 295 aerotip.

I contacted Traditions through email first [email protected] then gave them a call 860-388-4656 & ordered it through them, The Deer Hunter model is near identicle to the Bobcat & as you can see in the pictures it is close enough to make it work & get some items from Track of the Wolf to customize it to your taste.

 

[StrawHat]

Voodoochile and arcticap,

Sorry about that. I was under the impression the breeching was similar to the normal hook breeching with the bolster part of the plug.

It seems CVA has their own way of doing it. A rather tedious way from the looks of it.

Mahogany might make a nice contrast to your stock!