Most folks I speak with have great experiences with CVA but recently I had to send them my muzzleloader twice before I finally sold it.

I sent in my Optima Elite to CVA because it is over 10 years old and I shoot it regularly. My concern was that the metal suffered from fatigue. I've seen photos of muzzels that have blown up. Now those folks may have been doing something stupid but still it shouldn't hurt to ask the manufacture to look at the rifle right?

I sent my rifle in with a note stating I wanted the rifle inspected. To make sure it was still safe to shoot. I followed up with phone calls (2x) so there was no confusion. I got my rifle back with a note from the smith saying he cleaned the rifle. I spoke to the manager and he requested the rifle back and apologized for the miscommunication.

I got the rifle back with a note from the smith that read cleaned and fired the rifle ... it's safe. Well the rifle wasn't clean. He may have cleaned it before he fired it but it wasn't clean. He said he replaced the hinge pin but couldn't remember if the rifle was SS or blued? He said he can't remember every rifle he worked on 2 weeks ago. His manager corrected him and said he worked on it 4 days ago. That new huge pin had surface rust on it. I had to take a picture before I polished it with 000 wool.

I was hoping they would have scoped the barrel but the smith said he shot it and it was safe. In the end I took the rifle with the note from CVA stating it was safe to a local pawnshop and got a fair price.

Remember, not everyone has a happy ending, so be happy when you can