Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders CVA -Bad experience

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.

So, just because you have seen pictures of "blown up" ML's along with no way to actually know what happened to those ML's and with no apparent problem with YOUR ML, other than pics you've seen, you automatically think your ML "needs" gauging!! A LITTLE PARANOID AYE!

Better paranoid than injured, right?

so they cleaned it, looked at it and found nothing wrong other than you seeing some pictures of blown up rifles?

If you had the gun for 10 yrs with no issues other then your paranoia and you sent it back and they shot gun and said it has no issues who are you to tell a qualified gunsmith that hes wrong if he says its ok.. why would you wait 10 yrs to get it checked out those issues of barrels blowing up have been around quiet a while.
Pretty much everyone knows CVA customer is now excellent in the past maybe not as good but you just don't hear bad things bout them.
If you had been shooting your gun over the last 10 yrs with zero problems and your gun had no recalls on it then I believe you are the one with the problem not CVA.

Interesting
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...-in-the-market-for-a-new-ml#Post13259710

I've seen BigBlocks post here before and I respect his knowledge. To his question I'll say yes I just wanted the barrel checked out for safety reasons. I got what I wanted and that was a letter from CVA stating it was safe.

My bad experience was that I was told the gun was cleaned (2x) and yet there was debri on the rifle. So I question, did he look at the rifle or just say it's safe? He said he put a new hinge pin in but when I removed it the was surface rust on the pin.

@dbowling - I am not a gunsmith but the smith said he cleaned it yet there debri on the receiver face? The smith said he can't remember a gun he looked at 2 weeks ago when his own manage said he looked at the gun 4 days ago. The smith said he put a new pin in the rifle but couldn't remember if it was blued or SS. The smith said he looks at 15 guns a day and he can't remember every single one. I get that but the smith is human and humans do make mistakes.

I loved that rifle it shot great for 10 years but it was 10 years. I send it to CVA. They said it was safe in a responses letter. I included that letter when I sold it yesterday. My concern was I was told it was cleaned and inspected when I can promise you that rifle was not cleaned when I got it back. So did he even look at the rifle?

@overkill45 -yes and then there is that. CVA asked me to send it in cause the barrel won't separate from the receiver.

You tap the hinge pin out on that one.

You had give it no thought for 10 yrs....... Paranoid!!!!!!!...

Funny as shyt the guys who think the gun was gone over by a qualified gunsmith. You can sure tell they've never worked for a gun company. I have and can tell you there are many incompetent fools who work in gun company service departments who are far from being "gunsmiths".

Your the same poster that posted this at Modern Muzzleloader and when everyone in a nice and civil way told you that you are an idiot.You said you would post it all over the internet.By the way I think they were right.

Geezo Pete criminy...my Manton 16 bore ML shotgun is from the 1850's. Using my fingers and toes and a calculator I'm pretty certain that's more than 10 years and I don't have the least worry shooting it.

See that's what I don't get. Why call anyone an idiot? If you have nothing constructive to say .. IGNORE THE POST.

FORUM RULES

1] Please be respectful of other posters at all times. The ability to refrain from personal attacks, obscenities, and flame wars is a minimum requirement for a log at the Campfire.

You post some stupid silly Schitt then when nobody agrees with you .You don't like it.What did you really want from CVA.Maybe you thought they would give you a new free gun.Thats what it seems like.You want to act like an idiot then be prepared to be called one.

I don't see how I was acting like an idiot? I did admit to sending in my rifle cause I was paranoid. That's fine I still say better paranoid then injured. And no I didn't want a free gun.



Here is my thought. I had a legit issue with a company and I posted my issue. Either a few brand loyalist or company employees got offended and went immediately too " oh that guy is an idiot". Understand no one is perfect that includes me and employees of CVA. I make a mistake, I'm the first to agree. This was not a idiot move on my part. Like I said I got what I wanted; a note from CVA saying this muzzle loader is safe. I do not agree with the smith when he said he cleaned it twice. There was a lot of residue on the breech face. When I removed the breech plug I could tell it was fired. There was surface rust on the hinge pin that was suppose to be brand new.

@willycc if all you are going to do is call me an idiot because you don't like what I said that's fine. You are easy enough to ignore. But it also means I have no respect for your thoughts. If BB said HaYen ur an idiot then it would probably hurt a little more because I respect the guy. So why do you get so upset? Do you work for CVA?

If not one , you sure missed the best chance to ever reach that milestone !

this place doesnt have rules. Your ass is ours

Ouch 😆

It's postings akin to this that make my ass want to take a dip of snuff!!

BOY THAT GUN COULD HAVE BEEN A BUY NOW DID U TELL THE BUYER WHAT U PUT HERE GUN SHOULD HAVE SOLD CHEAP

I got more than I expected and probably more than what I could have gotten here on the Fire cause people here know muzzle loaders and there realistic value.

so the rifle wasnt safe yet you turned it loose rather than do the right thing and destroy it? Come on dude, you are chewing on sour grapes for no reason and making a fuss over nothing. If the gun was in such unsafe condition and there was a safety problem, good luck sleeping at night knowing that someone is going to buy it and could possibly be hurt. Not cool either way.

He's posted his crap on other forums as well. TROLL....

Idiot is too strong a word. Ignorant is much more applicable.

Yeah.
He wanted a new gun pure and simple.

I've had most of my bad experiences with Winchester rifles. The worst was when I dropped my .30-06 and it landed on the scope, that was a bummer.

Ignorant is several very . . .VERY LARGE steps back from where this is.

Well, I've got an issue with CVA too! I was putting together a CVA .45 cal rifle kit about 40 years ago, and I had to inlet the stock for the forend cap a little bit because CVA hadn't finished it enough. I was using a 1/2" exacto knife chisel blade, and the cheap wood splintered off and I stuck the blade complete through my index finger. I got it infected and had to go to the Dr., and he made me take off 4 days work. The only sick leave days that I used in 28 years of service. I still shoot that gun occasionally and look at the scar on my finger.

oh lord.

Guess I'll jump in here. Seems we've all had bad experiences with CVAs.

Last year, my Accura failed to drop my buck on the spot. It ran about 75 yards before it piled up. It's just scrap iron to me now so I use it to prop open the trash can lid out behind the garage. It does an "OK" job at "lid holding upen" but it's nothing to brag about.

While it was in the shop you should've had them fix the Ugly.

I was thinking about one of those new Accura .45’s but now I’m having second thoughts.

Fear not intrepid hunter! The Accura is a fantastic in-line. My shot was in one side and out the other. How it ran 75 yards with holes in both lungs is a mystery. But certainly not the Accura's fault. I was just poking.

If you want to shoot some of the new longer 40cal bullets in sabots or heavy lead conicals the Accura 45 fast twist might be cool for you. Fury bullets has a 40 250gr that might be really cool in that rifle and they only cost about the same as a 200gr SST

I had a similar bad experience with a T/C. The buck was standing broadside at 30 yards, double-lunged right through the ribs with a 348 grain powerbelt, pieces of lung and blood splattered 20 yards beyond where he was standing and he still ran like a scalded dog about a hundred yards. Ran straight into a big pine tree, splattered blood all over that too and bounced off, dead. Them T/C's are just junk.

Please don't take my comments as a rating of the rifle itself. I loved my Elite. It gave me years of accurate performance. I just got a new one for Christmas (Optima V2) and didn't need 2 so I sold my Elite but before I did I just wanted to have a company smith check it out. They did and sent me a letter saying it was safe but I doubt they really looked at the rifle because the condition it was in when I got it back.

Now that new .45 that they just came out with? I would buy one if the funds were there. For me in the future though if I have a question about any of my firearms I will take it to a smith I know locally so I can see what they are doing..