Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots CVA Scout 44 Mag

Sorted through my reloading supplies and found a couple hundred old 44 mag JHP reloads, 300 empty brass and a couple thousand 200 and 300 hard cast bullets. Only problem is nothing to shoot them in.
My neighbor bought a CVA Hunter in 44 mag a couple years ago for his boys and it has proven to be a very accurate little rig. His boys have taken deer out to 100+ yards. At just over $200, I decided to get one myself.
Unfortunately, I couldn't locate one. I did find one Scout about an hour and a half away so I made a road trip this morning.
Got it home, cleaned the bore, added loctite to the mount screws and mounted a new Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40. Tried some of the JHP reloads and it was terrible. 6" groups at 65 yards! 44 Special reloads with 200g cast was no better.
Hoping it's just the scope. Under magnification the crown is not very clean but I wouldn't think it's bad enough to cause such inaccuracy.
I'll start sorting through it tomorrow but it doesn't look promising.

Obviously check the scope and mounts. My CVA Hunter will do a lot better than that. 240g JSP and 300g JSP both shoot about 2-2.5" at 100 yards for 5 shots off the bench.

Good luck figuring it out.

Oh, and off the bench, make sure to rest the rifle on the bags up under the action, not out on the fore end too far. Rested up on the action or offhand with mine is fine, but pressure out on the stock gave me flyers.

Yeah, they are picky about front rest placement.
I had one. I got it to do alright with 240 Deep Curls pushed at max. Maybe 1.5" at 100 average.
On a state hunting forum a few guys have mentioned those are throated really long. So they do best seated with the OAL out more, but then you can't crimp heavy, cause no groove.

You don't need a very heavy crimp on ammo you use in a single shot.

I have that rifle in 44 magnum. It would always group two rounds nearly touching and a third one off quite a bit. I ended up switching out scopes and haven't shot it since.

Hard cast lead...phfft

Tightened up the forearm. Didn't know it was something that could be done until I noticed the screws under th forearm and read the manual.

Loaded some test rounds with several different cast and jacketed bullets with charges of 2400 low to high. OAL out to 1.73".
Various rest positions including under the receiver.

No improvement.

Next up is the scope. I have several to choose from but doubt if I'll have time today.

You don't like shooting cast? Why?

Could be a lot of things. I'd try a few jacketed bullets right up against the lands, with the bell taken out of the mouth, and see how they shoot. Check your bore first to see if you've got leading. Cast bullets, if of a hard alloy and too small, will make a right mess, particularly in a rough new bore.

I didn't say that I don't like cast, just shot some earlier today.





What I have no use for is hard cast bullets.

I have two of the CVA single shots. One in 243, and another in 223 Both shoot MOA, and outshot most Ruger #1 rifles.

I shot it again two weeks ago. It's still bad. It's either the gun or my loads for it. I am going to buy a Henry.

Man, you have me leery of recommending the CVA in 44mag to friends. My Hunter shoots under 2" at 100 with 240 and 300 XTPs and 240 JSPs but I wonder if mine is the exception to the rule.

Is it the third shot that leaves the group? If so, it is quite common on rifles with two piece stocks. I had an H&R that did that as the barrel heated.

I think Paul is the exception to the rule. He is a "cooler", but for guns.

thats what my H&R did. i got it dialed in for a first shot hit on a cold bore. if i let the bore COMPLETELY cool off between shots, it would stack them at 100 yds. if not, it would immediately start to walk.

I know this thread is kind of old but it’s new and very relevant to me. I’ve been trying to get a CVA Scout 44 mag to shoot well for about 6 months now. I finally stopped loading pistol rounds and loaded them for a rifle (I seated to bullet out closer to the lands) and got my best groups ever with it. Newly encouraged, I loaded up 15 more and those groups were crap again. I’ve tried lots of different powders, six or more different bullets sized from .429 to .432 and nothing seems to work. Mounts are tight, 2nd different scope but I might try one more before I decide to sell it. If that doesn’t work, maybe I should call CVA…

I slugged the muzzle end and it came out .427. Is it possible for a bore to be too tight?

I was interested in the Scout in .444, a real bargain on the surface. Maybe not so much….

I had one and just like you said- erratic. One range time would produce good groups. Next time- same loads and it shot like crap. Got it primarily as a youth gun, but no way I'd put a youth hunter behind that with those results.

You can try fiddling with the forend adjustments. I thought that helped some for a while, but not really.
Also, that gun seemed picky as hell about front rest placement when shooting.

Finally had enough and sent it down the road. Had one in 450 BM before that. That one was similar, but also had the problem of a rimless case which does not mesh well with their extractor setup.

What 30 caliber round gets 1042 fps with only 7.6 grains of 4759?

Separate question

Fore end rest

Where is the best place to rest the fore end for greatest precision downrange?