By the way
it appears (near as I can tell) that indeed CVAs, BPIs, "Winchesters", Traditions, and Austin & Halleck are all made at the same place in Spain. But the A&H's get special steel or heat treatment or both. I'm playing it safe, and sticking with 70 or 80 gr of 777 until I can afford my T/C Katahdin!
Mr. Wakeman may or may not be on to something - I am still undecided. Some say that he has a financial stake in the competition. He says no, no financial stake, so......
In any event, I will say this. It appears that some people HAVE BEEN injured by CVAs & Traditions, unless those stories are complete fabrications. And, these companies, in negotiating a settlement of the case for the injuries, can always claim "you have no surefire proof that you DIDN'T use 175+ grains of BP equivalent, in excess of recommendations". The plaintiff (injured person) has the burden of proof, so that can lead to settlements that (a) you don't hear about - they are kept confidential, and (b) where the injured persons get far less than what they should, even though they were in fact staying within the manufacturer's recommendations. Unless they have a witness that can say "I saw him - he only dropped in 3 pellets", then the case is weak, and companies like that can weasal out of liability on that basis. And supposedly, the reason for CVAs (the brand name) prior corporate entity going out of business was lawsuit settlements over injury cases like these. I do NOT know whether this is true or not, but I intend to find out - it could be a very interesting tidbit. If they filed bankruptcy, I should be able to find it in the public records - anyone know the exact name of the prior corporate entity that CVA was doing business as?