CVA KIT - Percussion to flint?

[tjhuels]

I have an older (?70's) CVA percussion rifle kit I'm working on, .45 cal.

Is it possible to get a flint lock to fit and work with this kit?

Any suggestions out there? I know I'd have to pull the drum and install atouch hole, but is there a lock to fit the current inlay?

TH

[Otter]

I believe the drum, barrel & breechplug arrangement of the CVA might cause you some difficulties. The drum actually threads into at least the front portion of the breechplug. By just swapping out the drum for a touch hole liner, you would be exposing a portion of the front of the breech plug to excessive corrosion because of the remaining threads from the drum. Then there is the problem of how to thoroughly clean the same area to prevent that corrosion. I'm sure you could find a lock that would/will work, but be prepared to re-inlet the new lock (at least to some extent) to make sure it is in the correct position in relation to the touch hole. Then there's the trigger. Getting that to mesh with the lock could be a major pain. BTW - I'm not a gunsmith AND I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night . . .

Maybe Captchee will chime in here and help out.

Myself, I think I'd keep it a cap shooter and look for a flintlock kit, especially if what you have happens to be a Mountain Rifle with "Made In The USA" stamped on the barrel.

[captchee]

Yep doable .
But you need to know what type of bolster CVA used on you given rifle ..
that’s going to dictate what needs done .
If you pull the bolster and it sets in front of the breech “ very early CVA “ then yep just put in a liner and replace the lock .
If the bolster split’s the face of the plug “ un common “ , then you can reach inside with a small cherry and clean out the threads . Then replace the bolster with a flash hole liner .

Most common though is a design where the bolster neck goes into the breech plug itself . Later it goes all the way through or very near all the way through the breech plug .
The neck then has a hole or slit on the bore side for the flash to come out .
With this , what you do is enlarge that hole or slit as large as you can .
This is important because it will dictate the reliability
Clean the threads back up . Then thread the complete bolster back in with some lock tight .
Be sure and alighn the nipple to your caplock .
Then come back and cut the bolster off flush with the barrel flat .
This will leave the neck inside and the threads sealed .
Now you can drill and tap for a small flash hole liner ¼ 28 or smaller metric .

The best way involves removing the breech plug . But this can be difficult because CVA uses a hydraulic threading machine to set their plugs . Thus they are very tight .
Take a file and mark the plug and barrel with a line “ IE index the factory position of the plug . Take the bolster out first . Then remove the plug .
Take a small grinding cherry and remove all the bolster threads that are in the plug . Clean and polish the area nicely . If the plug is counter bored . Its also a good time to enlarge that bore , taper it to the flash channel and polish that all up .
Thus what you have done is removed all the threads that will collect fouling in the flash channel .
Now replace the breech plug and tighten it down so that you index lines match “ THEY MUST MATCH “
Now all you have is the threads that are in the barrel wall

Now you can either find a very large flash hole liner or you need to make a threaded sleeve that will go back in the bolster threads . CVA bolsters have a very large thick neck on them . As such I just use the old bolster neck as the sleeve. . Make sure you use lock tight . Then cut it off flush with the barrel . Then re tap for a small flash hole liner .
OR you can make your own liner if your not big on having the sleeve . Which also isn’t hard to do .

As to the locks . Well you can eather watch around for a CVA or traditions lock . IMO not really a good option .
OR you can purchase an L&R ,RPL lock . The make up graded locks to fit CVA , Traditions , TC , Lyman and such ,
This will for the most pat only require just a tad of inletting .
But the locks are 1000 times better then the original factory lock . Be it cap or flintlock.

As to orientation of a lock a cap lock bolster sets in the exact place as the pan on a flintlock. “ when you use the same lock “
So what you do is find a lock that has very close to the same style of lock plate as your CVA . Again the L&R RPL locks are designed that way.
If you decide you don’t like one of those , there are other options .
Basically what your looking for is 3 things
1) lock plate bigger then your existing lock mortise
2) distance from the sear to the pan location “ this insures that the sear matches the trigger location and that the pan aligns proper to the flash hole
3) a lock design that does not use a sturip to tie the main spring to the tumbler .
The reason for 3 is that where CVA puts the main lock bolt , most times interferes with the sturip .

Now you can do away with #1 if you good a patching up the lock mortise with slivers of wood

So yes you can do this . The drum bolster that CVA uses is actually the very same type of bolster used to convert a flintlock to caplock . Its only in basic form a reversal of that process to change it back .