Picked up a BP Rifle - Couldn't Help Myself

[Kramer Krazy]

I've have been eyeing a rifle at a local pawn shop over the last three months or so, and I went to go try to strike up a deal with the place on it, yesterday. It is a CVA Plainsman model in .50 cal. It isn't a Hawkin or Kentucky copy, as I'd love to have, but it was a neat little rifle and I figured I could get it fairly cheap. Well....I took it home yesterday afternoon for $70.

I got the gun home and was finally able to take the thing apart. Looks like the previous owner had no idea what he was doing. It appears that the gun is still loaded (the ram rod stops about 4 inches from the bolster), and I guess he had no idea how to get it back out. When I removed the barrel from the gun, the breech plug is mangled pretty bad......no, lets make that REAL bad.

I don't have a bullet puller for a rifle (I've just used a large wood screw with my revolver), so I've left the bullet in it, for now. I called CVA first thing this morning, and they said they will install a new breech plug for $35 (including return shipping). So, I'm going to send the barrel back to CVA to have it re-breech plugged and I'm ordering a new hammer and wedge (the hammer has a slight split in it at the cup).

So, looks like my $70 "steal" is going to become about a $115 "bargin". I figure that should still be a decent price for an occasional shooting rifle and wall decoration.

 

[Chawbaccer]

I don't wanna discourage you but man, I think I would just pack it in. A gun abused like that, you have no idea what kind of shape the barrel is in. Wal-mart sells a CVA side lock for about 60 bucks in season. Check Bass Pro, Cabelas and other sites to find a good deal. For 135 bucks you should be able to find a gun that will shoot and that you keep in good condition. Maybe even a kit that you have fun building.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

Yeah, I had some reservations about the rifle after taking it apart. Until that point, it really looked like a nice gun and in really good shape. Other than the butchering of the breech plug and a slight crack in the hammer pocket, everything else looks fine.

This gun is about $185-$190 new, including shipping, from all the sources I found on the internet. I probably won't shoot it much at all, but mainly use it as a wall decoration. I'd be a betting man that I can fire it, without problems, as it is, but being a bit safety conscious, I'd rather spend the $35 to have the barrel gone over and have the breech plug changed out by the factory. So....yeah, $115 or so in a used gun, then, becomes not the best deal in the world, but, so be it. I got the gun for it's cosmetics, and the newer, synthetic BP rifles that I've seen at Walmart do absolutely nothing for me...even if I could get one for $15, I wouldn't own it. I like the old-timey looking guns. I'd prefer a Hawken or Kentucky Rifle replica, but I'm just not going to spend that kind of money......at least not yet.......

The more I think about it, I'm guessing the previous owner didn't have a ball puller and figured he could get to the powder and ball by removing the breech plug. His biggest fault was by trying to use pliers or channel-locks. Sometimes I wonder what the hell people are thinking.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

Appears that my guess on the previous owner was probably correct. I picked up a ball puller after work, yesterday, and shoved it down the barrel. It wouldn't grab anything, but I knew there was something in there. The puller has a brass disk on it to keep the puller centered. I took this disk off and tried, again. I pulled out the plastic part of a sabot. The ram rod was able to fit between the tongs of this plastic piece, so I could screw through the plastic's base. After I pulled that out, I got about 50 gr of powder out of the barrel, but there is still more in it (some of it is discolored, like it had gotten wet). So.......

Looks like the previous owner shoved a sabot into the barrel, it didn't fire, he got the bullet out, couldn't get the plastic part out, tried going through the breech plug to empty the barrel, mangled up the breech plug with pliers or other incorrect tool, still couldn't get the plastic out, and took it to a pawn shop to get rid of the gun. If the story is any different than this, I don't think I'd like to hear it, but it would probably be an interesting tale.

...probably going to send the barrel to CVA on Monday.

 

[20cows]

Cva

I know they are cheap guns, but I have put together several of their kits and made decent shooters out of all of them. Though I have seen some of the factory finished guns, I prefer the kits, because I think my quality control is a little better. If there was a flaw in the finish work, I know who to blame and I know what effect it will have on the gun's performance.

I just finished a frontier rifle a friend bought at a pawn shop. It was a kit gun that had just been completed enough to shoot it. I sanded the stock, inletted the wedge plates, browned the barrel and polished the brass. It's a good looking gun now and I suspect my friend paid ~$30 to $40 for it. It took three afternoons.

 

[Tinker]

"Looks like the previous owner shoved a sabot into the barrel, it didn't fire, he got the bullet out, couldn't get the plastic part out..."

In my own experiences with CVA side locks I've found Sabots almost impossible to load even on a sqeaky clean bore. Forget a second loading. I also gave up Pryodex for real BP because of slow and misfires. The sabot also suggests the abuse is fairly recent, so that might be Pyrodex or Triple 7 behind the sabot. If it is recent you might still have a decent bore. CVA will tell you if it's a goner.

 

[arcticap]

CO2 Discharge Device

There is a device available for a very reasonable price at many discount hunting outlets and relabeled by several domestic M.L. co.'s like TC. It's a CO2 ball discharger that uses a standard CO2 cartridge to expell the unfired
projectile or barrel obstruction by inserting it's nozzle through the threaded
nipple hole. I don't own one, but others have reported successful results. If the previous owner soaked the old powder in the breech, and/or it hardened back up in there, it may have needed to be resoaked in order to soften it up before attempting to dispell it. By removing the nipple, one may better determine just how much residual powder was in there, and soaking with a solution (w/vinegar?) or lubricant may have possibly further aided its removal.
I recall buying one gun through the mail that had the snail flame channel clogged with old powder residue. When buying a used gun, it's usually a good idea to remove the nipple to see if the barrel is obstructed. Too bad the dealer didn't do that in this case.

 

[eab]

If you are going to do any searous black power shooting I recomend you get one of those CO2 devices Arcticap mentioned. They are awsome. they use 12 gram co2 charges. You hook them up to the nipple. Give it a charge of C02 and the ball comes just rooling out. No need to get a barrel puller out and wet the powder so it doesn't go off in your face etc.