joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
I have a pr. of old CVA smokepoles , a 45 cal Kentucky Rifle, and a shorter & lighter 32 cal. Squirrel gun ( shoots .310 roundball) both rifles are percussion cap, not flintlocks. I bought these rifles as kits, with metal in the white, ,unpolished brass trim, & stocks that required finishing. I bought the .45 1st, as it was on a closeout sale for only $50.00, found on an end cap display @ Target, of all places. I'd wanted to try a BP firearm, & it seemed like a good way to give it a try.
I enjoyed doing a little fitting & assembly, polishing brass pieces, and fitting the stock. Came out pretty nice, I think.
Bought a Shooter's Kit & some powder., so I could shoot it. I lined up the rudimentary sight blade & notch during its assembly.
Imagine my surprise when the first shot I fired from it hit the bottle I was shooting at, from about 70 yrs away!
I'd enjoyed assembling & finishing the Kentucky rifle, I went back to Target & purchased the more expensive Squirrel rifle kit gun, put it together, Nicer rifle, has double ( set) triggers, adjustable rear sight, better system of attaching barrel to stock. This kit came out nicer than the 1st rifle. Anyway, I'm getting a away from what happened that I thought was quite amazing today.
I don't shoot my BP rifles much, or often, but I do run a patch down the barrel periodically. Decided I'd do that yesterday, & polish the brass pieces, to make them shiny again. In the process of cleaning them, I remove the nipple and the bolster screw..( acts as a clean-out for the bolster). I noticed the bolster screw was a bit hard to remove..carbon on the threads made it more difficult to remove than it should. I get the (not-so) bright idea of using the wire wheel on my bench grinder to remove the crud off the threads of the bolster screw. The screw is pretty small, & short in length. I figured I could clamp down on it firmly using a pair of pliers, & I'd be able to keep hold of it.
Not a good idea, as most would believe. With the screw held tightly in my pliers, I moved it into the spinning wire wheel. It proceeded to shoot out of the pliers and fly off in directions unknown. I think I heard it strike something while in flight, I heard it go"ping" as it went flying. Realizing the hopelessness of trying to find this small screw in a 2.5 car garage, filled with 2 cars, 2 m/c's a workbench, covered with assorted stuff, shelves & boxes packed around the vehicles, etc.. a lot of stuff in there. I gave a cursory look at the floor & in the direction I thought the screw would have to have gone. No such luck. Gave up on this, too hot in the garage to spend more time there.
This morning I search online for CVA, find a phone # for their customer service dept, & call. I'm told they don't have any parts or info on their older firearms.
I'm given the name & phone # of the business that now handles those parts. Give them a call, explain what I need, asking for a bolster screw. Guy doesn't understand what the part is, that I'm asking about. I describe it's location, & he replies, " You mean a clean out screw ? we don't have any of those. " I ask about the dimensions of the screw.. diameter, & thread pitch, he replies, "we don't have that either" I thank him for his help.
Decide to remove the remaining bolster screw from the other rifle, take it to the real hardware store ( not an Ace or Aco ) and see if they might have something that'll work. Pretty sure it has metric threads, as the rifle kits were made in Italy. If no luck there I'll head to my gunsmith & seek his wisdom & assistance.
Decide to ask my ( very patient) wife to help me look for the lost screw 1st. I open the garage door, to get some sunlight, then walk over to the area where the grinder is on it's stand. Look down at the floor..the screw is right there..in plain sight ! Why didn't I see it last night ? Who cares ? I found it !
Sometimes, you just get lucky.
I enjoyed doing a little fitting & assembly, polishing brass pieces, and fitting the stock. Came out pretty nice, I think.
Bought a Shooter's Kit & some powder., so I could shoot it. I lined up the rudimentary sight blade & notch during its assembly.
Imagine my surprise when the first shot I fired from it hit the bottle I was shooting at, from about 70 yrs away!
I'd enjoyed assembling & finishing the Kentucky rifle, I went back to Target & purchased the more expensive Squirrel rifle kit gun, put it together, Nicer rifle, has double ( set) triggers, adjustable rear sight, better system of attaching barrel to stock. This kit came out nicer than the 1st rifle. Anyway, I'm getting a away from what happened that I thought was quite amazing today.
I don't shoot my BP rifles much, or often, but I do run a patch down the barrel periodically. Decided I'd do that yesterday, & polish the brass pieces, to make them shiny again. In the process of cleaning them, I remove the nipple and the bolster screw..( acts as a clean-out for the bolster). I noticed the bolster screw was a bit hard to remove..carbon on the threads made it more difficult to remove than it should. I get the (not-so) bright idea of using the wire wheel on my bench grinder to remove the crud off the threads of the bolster screw. The screw is pretty small, & short in length. I figured I could clamp down on it firmly using a pair of pliers, & I'd be able to keep hold of it.
Not a good idea, as most would believe. With the screw held tightly in my pliers, I moved it into the spinning wire wheel. It proceeded to shoot out of the pliers and fly off in directions unknown. I think I heard it strike something while in flight, I heard it go"ping" as it went flying. Realizing the hopelessness of trying to find this small screw in a 2.5 car garage, filled with 2 cars, 2 m/c's a workbench, covered with assorted stuff, shelves & boxes packed around the vehicles, etc.. a lot of stuff in there. I gave a cursory look at the floor & in the direction I thought the screw would have to have gone. No such luck. Gave up on this, too hot in the garage to spend more time there.
This morning I search online for CVA, find a phone # for their customer service dept, & call. I'm told they don't have any parts or info on their older firearms.
I'm given the name & phone # of the business that now handles those parts. Give them a call, explain what I need, asking for a bolster screw. Guy doesn't understand what the part is, that I'm asking about. I describe it's location, & he replies, " You mean a clean out screw ? we don't have any of those. " I ask about the dimensions of the screw.. diameter, & thread pitch, he replies, "we don't have that either" I thank him for his help.
Decide to remove the remaining bolster screw from the other rifle, take it to the real hardware store ( not an Ace or Aco ) and see if they might have something that'll work. Pretty sure it has metric threads, as the rifle kits were made in Italy. If no luck there I'll head to my gunsmith & seek his wisdom & assistance.
Decide to ask my ( very patient) wife to help me look for the lost screw 1st. I open the garage door, to get some sunlight, then walk over to the area where the grinder is on it's stand. Look down at the floor..the screw is right there..in plain sight ! Why didn't I see it last night ? Who cares ? I found it !
Sometimes, you just get lucky.
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