I bought one last year and had some ignition problems using pyrodex and powerbuilt bullets. Simply, gun missfired several times. I went back to loading it with blackpowder and had somewhat better results. I think my problem was in barrel cleaning, perhaps the patches were too wet with #13? I' ve also had some accuracy issues and would like to know what the rest of you who own this gun use for cleaning and loads. Appreciate your replys.

Are you using #11 caps? What model CVA gun, specifically?

It is the Hunter Bolt model and I use 209 primers.

I have a Hunterbolt .50 that I fired with Pyrodex and #11 cap . It worked fine at first . Then the piece of junk broke it' s trigger spring on the 12th round and CVA wouldn' t replace it under warranty . It' s sitting in the closet as we type . Never again .

I' m not up to speed on all the older CVA guns, but that won' t stop me from babbling along.

I can' t imagine how a 209 could fail to fire loose powder. As far as between shots, just a spit patch should be all you need. Down once, flip it over, down and up again. That' s it. #13 and similar products are primarily water, and all you really want is a consistent bore condition between shots.

The heavier Powerbelts (348 grain in particular) have been far better performers for me than the 245 or 295 gr. versions. CVA did have a problem with their 209 breechplug spring breaking-- they may send you a new one. A fresh breech plug is not a super-expensive thing to try.

If you can' t blow through your current plug, maybe a carb cleaner application will take out whatever carbon might be in the plug. An easy way to see what flame is hitting the powder is to hold a clean patch against the breechplug with your ramrod. If you burn a clean hole through that cotton patch, then it may well be just that you are smothering your charge with a wet barrel.

Last year, two weeks after I' d purchased this model CVA, that spring broke and I had to send it back to factory. Took them almost a month to fix it Excuse me, I' ve heard the phrase " spit patch" , but what does that mean? I had a feeling I was wetting the barrel too much between shots and that this was causing my ignition problem. Thanks for you other advice, I' ll look into the Knight model after this season. The new Cabelas store is about 45 minutes from me.[:-]

It' s not particulary fascinating, but just lick a clean patch, jag it down the muzzle wet-side down, remove, flip it over-- then go up and down with the reverse side. That' s it.