Thinking of buying a BPI (CVA) Rifle, please give me your input.

J

jclayto

New member
Let me open by saying I know nothing about muzzleloading. I am a gun collector / weekend target shooter but usually focus more on the ww2 rifles. I have never messed with a muzzleloader but they always looked interesting. Today while browsing the local walmart I noticed they are carrying a BPI - CCVA branded .50cal rifle this year for $59.99. I am very tempted to pick this up for no other reason that just to have one. I do not hunt and am not really looking for the worlds most accurate black powder, just would not mind owning a blackpowder gun.

Here is the question, I have always heard of CVA rifles and heard they are decent but a quick search of web gave me several discussions of them being very dangerous. People rumoring that the company uses no quality controll, lots of accidents involving their guns related purely to not being made well enough to handle the specified amount of powder etc... has anyone here known this to be the case? Anyone know about BPI by CVA? I am assuming its just a cheaper version or something.

Should I pick this up just for the sake of having one in the safe with everything else?

any input will be appreciated


Jon
 
Those Walmart Bobcats are safe as far as I know and have specifically heard. Some people have obtained very good performance from theirs. Other people have said that they experience unreliable ignition. But that can be improved with a better nipple, magnum percussion caps or by using real black powder or other easier to ignite powder than ffg Pyrodex. There may be other solutions as well.
These Bobcats have been discontinued because CVA has gotten out of the reproduction sidelock design muzzle loader business. These plastic stocked guns have a little more recoil (especially with heavier hunting loads) because of their lighter weight, which causes some folks to add weight to the stock or to fit the barrel to a wooden stock after buying the gun. People wouldn't bother doing this if they didn't shoot acceptably. It should at least be able to hit a paper plate at 50 yards with a moderate load of powder and a patched round ball, and some report much better accuracy.
These rifles are the most inexpensive entry muzzle loaders on the market that I'm aware of, and even the cheapest Traditions guns cost twice as much. They were once sold by Basspro quite a few years ago for about $69-$79, then Walmart starting selling them almost exclusively it seems. Many people can't find them available at Walmarts locally anymore, so they are often resold on the Web in the $80-$90 range for beginners, youth and as a spare rifle to have available to lend to friends and newbies and as a teaching aid.
One of the other known drawbacks of this rifle is that the breechplug is considered to be "virtually" non-removable by design. The drum is threaded right into the breechplug and pinned through it causing some people to break off the breech plug tang when they try to remove it, even after the drum is removed. Then a new barrel or costly work is required to try to repair it. I recently saw one for sale that someone had converted to flintlock after cutting off the drum and installing a vent in the remnants of the drum channel! :D
In short, there is a minor cult like following for these rifles. It's unlikely that anyone else will build another economy gun such as this, and down the road there will probably be continued demand for guns in this price range. Whether you decide to invest in one or not probably depends on what else you want to do with your money or how much room you have in the safe. :rolleyes:
But the market value of the components alone are worth more than the price of the rifle. IMO the current Walmart price of the rifle has to do with when they were made and the Euro exchange rate at the time, and the clearance of the remaining stock of them by CVA. ;)
 
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thanks sir! I went to get one this morning and they were selling the last one they had when I walked up. Going to check the rest of the walmarts.

What accessories do I need to get to shoot this thing?

Thanks
Jon
 
You need:
1. .490 balls
2. .015 Patches (preferably prelubed with Wonderlub, or you need to lube)
3. Powder (777 may work okay, Pyrodex (fffg is smaller grained), BP, other.
4. Powder measure (to measure the powder by volume)
5. Powder flask (this is to pour the powder into the measure gradually, but
you may be able to substitute a plastic screw on funnel onto your powder
bottle to pour powder ONLY into your measure. Funnel is about $2.99,
plastic flask costs more.)
6. Ball Starter (this device is for starting the patch and ball 1/4 inch down
the muzzle, usually by hitting it with the palm of your hand. Then it also
has a 2nd stem to push the ball down another 4 inches, before you ram
it down the rest of the way with your rammer.
7. Nipple wrench (to remove the nipple)
8. Jag & Patch screw OR Black Powder Cleaning kit, or all combined.
Jag is to hold patches by friction when swabbing the bore.
Patch Screw will pull out a patch if it falls off inside your barrel, it has
a spiral wire to help lift the patches out, really needed if using a jag with
the friction fit, patches can fall off.
9. Black powder cleaning solvent, in a cleaning kit, can substitute other
solvents or soapy water depending on the powder and cleaning method
used.
10. PERCUSSION CAPS #11's (OH DID I ALMOST FORGET?) :D
11. TC Bore Butter or Traditions Wonderlub, or similiar Slicklube by CVA to
lube dry patches and to coat the bore after cleaning, and to help with
swabbing (along with solvent) during shooting if your bore starts getting
too fouled.

I have some brand new extras of much of this stuff, if you decide to go forward and are in need, let me know. I can help you out with a total
package.

You can see why they are willing to give the gun away, the extras cost so
much that there's more profit in the accessories.
 
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