mjqood0

Hello all! I'm new here to the ML forum -- I mostly hang out in the Bow area.

Anyway, when my father passed away, he left me a CVA Frontier Hunter Carbine. He got the gun and hunted with it a few times, never getting a deer. He was then unable to hunt and eventually passed away. This year, I decided that I wanted to use this gun to take at least one deer in his memory.

So... my questions:

This gun is a .50 caliber, with a 1 in 32" twist rifled barrel that is 24" long. Having only fired the gun a few times with round balls, I decided to take it in to the local gun shop and find some loads for hunting this year.

What they recommended was to put a scope on it (the rear sight was bent from my dad hunting with it. How, I do not know...) So I got a decent 3X9-40 mounted today and picked up the Hornady 50 CAL 240 GR PA Conical bullets that the guy recommended to me. They are a .512 diameter and the box says 1/66 twist.

Since I don't have a 1/66 twist, will these work in my gun? I'm sure it will shoot them, but what sort of accuracy should I expect. As I recall, with open sights I was able to put 3 shots in about a 6" circle with the round balls. With the scope, I should expect that this would tighten up some.

Also, what power load do I use? I got some Pyrodex RS and have usually used a 72 gr load -- but this does seem a little light. It's just what my dad had written on his "cheat sheet"...

I know this post is rambling, but i really don't know as much as I would like about these guns.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Mark whiz

As far as a Maximum load for that rifle..............it might be best to contact CVA by phone or e-mail to find out what the rifle's charge limit is..........................I'm "GUESSING" 120gr - but PLEASE verify that.

Those conicals should work pretty well in that rifle................in fact, I'd expect accuracy to approach being twice as good as your ball load. I've shot the heavier 385gr Great Plains out of my 1:28" in-line Knight and got groups 2" or less out to 75yds - perfect for hunting.

If you use the RS powder, your most accurate load will probably be found somewhere between 85 and 100gr.

mjqood0

Mark:

Thanks for the quick response. The manual I have for the gun says that the Max load for the .50 CAL is 100 gr. My dad mis-understood the weight conversion in the front of the manual which is why he was shooting 72 gr of powder. Looking at his notes, he didn't realize that using a powder measure by volume, 100 gr of Pyrodex RS is the same as 100 gr black powder. Not the same weight, but the same volume.

Looks like I'll start at 85 gr or so and get the new scope sighted in at 100 yards. Then I'll start going up in increments of 5 gr to see what gives me the best groups.

Should be fun! Now I just have to find a good range in my area.... I actually don't know of any![:@]

1dahunter

I think what you are doing is very commendable in the honor of your father.

mjqood0

Thanks!

My father was the best man I've ever known. He was never an overly successful hunter, but always provided meat when it really mattered. The Lord blessed me greatly!

I guess I'd really like to do this for my wife as he did for his while I was growing up.

cayugad

I was going to say.. the max load on them old CVA's was 100 grains. This was very common before all the 150 grain magnum hype came out. Seems funny we survived just fine shooting around 100 grains and then all of a sudden we needed more, bigger, faster.....

Hey, I think you wanting to do this in memory of your father is very nice. My hats off to you and I wish you a lot of luck. As for the 1:32 twist, forget the roundball. That twist was normally a concial barrel. They shot such things as maxi ball, maxi hunters, CVA concials, Great plains. Most of the time they shot with about 80 grains and were very accurate shooters out to 100 yards. My friend shoots one and he shoots 80 grains and a REAL conical. It must work because he knocks a deer down every year with the thing.

I would get some conicals. The 300++ range would be what I would go after. Try some REAL conicals if you can find them in your area. Try some powerbelts even. CVA Powerbelts should shoot real good with about 80 grains of powder. I would try the 295 grain range. You might try some sabots, but I would shoot long heavy bullets out of them. The old rule of thumb is the faster the twist the longer the bullet.

Those 240 grain PA Conicals were made for a slow twist rifle. They are an alternative to some of us roundball shooters. They will shoot out of the rifle the question is whether they will hold good accuracy at longer ranges...

Look in the store and see if they have some 370 grain T/C maxi ball or maxi hunters. Put 70 grains behind them and try them for starters. Do not get all concerned if they are accurate with only 80 grains of powder. It is all you will need to knock a white tail down if you place that bullet. Accuracy is most important here.

mjqood0

cayugad:

Thanks. I was a little worried these may be too light...

I'll give them a try and see how they do. If I can find the heavier Maxi's if I can't get these right.

Perhaps I should start out around 70 gr power and go up from there.

Thanks again!