As cayugad stated I don't know if what RW wrote is actually fact or fiction. I have owned numerous CVA MLers in the past and have a .45 Optima now. But I personaly know of one Optima that had a barrel failure beneath the scope a year or so back that resulted in damage to the guys hearing.(He was lucky it could've been a lot worse as it tore the scope into three pieces.) I can't say if it was a bad barrel or a error on his part as I wasn't there when it happened. But i still shoot one so I'm not that concerned about the safety issue of CVA guns, Although I do pay more attention now loading it to make sure I'm not at error.