are the old cva flintlock rifles made about 25 years ago are they made very well??

That's back when CVA was really Connecticut Valley Arms, before they were dissolved and their assets were purchased by BPI Outdoors.
I think they made some OK flintlocks back then, nothing too fancy, but stuff that worked.

Yep, I bought a CVA Mountain Pistol kit from Deer Creek about 3 years ago and built it. It sparks good and is accurate ... for a pistol.

Howdy

I built a CVA (Connecticut Valley Arms) flintlock rifle from a kit a long, long time ago. Probably sometime in the 1970s. I was not impressed. The stock was in two pieces, joined together by a piece of brass sheet metal. The lock was OK. Nothing to write home about. I guess the barrel was pretty good. Been a long, long time since I have fired it.

I would not buy another one.

I found the old CVA barrels to be pretty darn good and the percussion locks were reliable. Never tried their flintlocks. The rest of the gun was mediocre but functioned. I still have a couple in the safe but haven't used them in decades.

Jeff

If the lock sparks well and the price is right.
The percussion CVA Mountain Rifle was a very good rifle. Most of the the other CVA percussion rifles would get the job done.
But it isn’t hard to make a reliable percussion rifle or pistol. Flintlocks are a whole other animal. A poorly made lock on a flintlock will be and endless source of frustration and disappointment. Shooting a rifle with a good lock and you probably won’t notice any difference between it and shooting a cap gun. Shooting a rifle with a junk lock you will get hang fires or no ignition period.
Make SURE the lock throws a good shower of sparks into the pan.

midland man said:

so guys I am considering on buying a cva 50c flintlock rifle that was made 25 years ago thereabouts so are these good rifles? thanks!

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CVA was the "bargain basement" of the black powder rifles of the time...., or "the frugal man's choice" depending on what you bought. The barrels could be Spanish, with a rifle only 25 years old. The CVA's always had a good rep for hunting accuracy.

My first black powder hunting rifle was the CVA caplock "longrifle"....longrifle is in quotations as a 33.5" barrel isn't very long. It was (and still is) in .45 and is a round ball rifle with a 1:60 twist. It shoots well. It was purchased in 1982, and has a Spanish made barrel. Clearly marked "Jukar Spain". The first word is the company name, the second is the nation of origin on the barrel.

The difference being, however, when you go from caplock to flintlock, a lot of other things come into play. Cheapo locks in flint tend to not work well. Caplocks are much simpler.
So as others have mentioned, the key will be the sparking, and of course the condition of the bore. IF it sparks well, it should do fine. A finicky lock in flint is a frustrating pain in the arse.
So, If it doesn't spark well, you may have to get somebody to apply some Cherry Red from Brownells to up the carbon content on the face of the frizzen. It's not a complicated process, but it does need to be done according to the directions at the proper temperatures. The old procedure was to use Kasenit, but that product has been discontinued.

LD

20 years ago, hit and miss on the quality. New guns that dont work well, quickly become traded used gun.

My wife "Itchy" had a 50 cal. "Hawken" 40 years ago and out shot everybody in the country with it.

that rifle will serve you very well!

midland man said:

so guys did I go wrong not sure but the tracking says it'll be here next wensday so praying I get a good one!

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The one I got from them had quite a bit of rust on the barrel which took a lot of filing to get rid of it. If I had to do it again, I would write or call them and have them send one without rust.

I worked for bass pro in 1978 and bought a kit. Shoots really well. I shoot one or two rounds every couple of years. Very accurate, but kicks like a mule. I don’t care much for cleaning the barrel.

For that price for a NEW gun, I don't think i'd complain much about any rust spots on the outside of the barrel. Easy enough to fix. Especially since they look good with a browned barrel anyway

I had a cousin that had a cap lock in about 89 or 90 he loved it my dad wanted to get one he ended up with a tompson center 50 Cal Hawkins my cousins rifle got stolen several years ago on a side note my dad's tc Hawkins has always shot plain wierd if you shoot it and than back up 10 feet and shoot again and repeat it's clear the ball is cork screwing he took it to a gun Smith when he first got it to haven sights put on and they bore sighted it and it shot 2 ft low I think ime just gonna get the barrel bored smooth and have a shot gun something is definitely wrong with it

This is a rifle now offered by Traditions with that same brass dowel and plate joiner.
I have not handled the CVA original, but the locks on the Traditions are pretty much junk and I don't think that the CVA locks were much different. It's their weakest feature.
The lock works have no bridle and the lock plate is often supported by a wood screw inside in lieu of proper inletting.
The lock itself is pistol-sized and seems too small.
The stock is stained beech. The CVA stock was probably stained birch.
The barrel seems quite good and reputedly shoots quite well.
They have an okay appearance, and if they shoot okay for you I suppose you can't ask much more from an el-cheapo muzzleloader.

Replacement locks are available for the CVA, Traditions, and other brands of the same rifle, from Track of the Wolf under the RPL name. These come in the white with V springs and may just drop in as replacements, or might need a bit of inletting.
Very good quality. $185.00 flintlock. $140.00 percussion.

The older Maslin type CVA locks were fairly well made, circa late 70s, early 80s. They had an axle on the tumbler that was supported by the bridle on the backside of the lockplate as well as a tiny set screw for sear adjustments. I have seen several of the early Traditions locks plus worked on a couple and came to the conclusion that they were junk.

That's great!
Did you notice that Deer Creek sells replacement CVA frizzens?

Good to hear

I had one of their Hawkin's Mountain Rifle flintlock back in the 70s and they were notorious for the flintlock breaking. Now mine never broke but I still sold it because I am lefthanded and my CVA was righthanded only.
As I recall I could out shoot the people with the Thompsons using round balls that were manditory to hunt with. In PA it was round balls only, and flintlocks only, in muzzleloading season.

I later bought a left handed Lyman Deerstalker and I've had it ever since.