Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders CVA Accura

(first section written a few days ago)

Accura arrived via the FedEx truck late Saturday morning. I am awaiting scope mounts before trying it out - hopefully Wednesday.

Trigger is exceptionally good with no take up, grit or creep. It would rate excellent except for some overtravel which could be eliminated if one wished to add a screw. I can easily live with it and I'm very picky about triggers. The ofishul DFK scales indicate a pull of 1 lb 10 oz which is very near the claimed pull weight.

Those same scales show the rifle (sans sling) to weigh 6 lb 14 oz. Apparently the CVA weight figure included all accessories. In addition to the sling, the rifle comes with a substantial breech plug tool with a solid rod for torque, filler screws for the empty scope mount holes, a 209 capper-decapper tool, a bullet seater for the ramrod which should be suitable for most pointed bullets, and a small hex wrench for adjusting the iron sights. The hammer extension comes already mounted on the hammer's right side.

The sights look to be of reasonable quality with green rear and red front fiber optics. Positioning of the scope mount holes will allow easy placement of a scope to nearly anyone's liking, including my own. The rear sight sits far enough forward that it would probably allow most to mount typical scopes without having to remove that sight.

The bore looks perfectly done and feels the same after removing all shipping preservative. A .501 conical easily started with thumb pressure and felt consistent as it traveled down the bore. The conical was very lightly and evenly engraved by all 8 lands.

The breech plug is a hex-head type with a slightly concave face. I understand the plug to be identical to that used in the Optima Elite so replacements are readily available. The plug comes with a neat coating of a silver colored anti-seize (which I promptly removed).

Exterior metal finish is very nicely done in a fine matte stainless. The finish appears constant from barrel to receiver section in spite of the difference in metal used.

Removing the forearm allows for take down and reveals the barrel's serial number along with three proof? marks. These markings are unlike those from some earlier CVA inlines and there is no mention of 700 kp/cm�.

The barrel includes nicely done fluting. Usable barrel length measured 25.25", sacrificing 3/8" to the recessed crown and another 1.375" to the breech plug (total barrel length of 27"). The internal crown looks very nicely done. The barrel has a couple of unusual touches. The muzzle is slightly radius'd inward at the muzzle, perhaps to shave a bit of weight and achieve a unique appearance. The two ramrod thimbles appear to be made of thin spring steel in blue finish and attach to the barrel by tension as each side sits in a nicely done barrel groove. The thimbles themselves look flimsy by comparison to most but will certainly be adequate. The lack of screws used in their install may allow for a thinner barrel wall. The ramrod included is a thin black-anodized aluminum tube with a pressed in threaded accessory insert on one end, and a bottleneck taper of the other. The bottlenecked portion houses the internally threaded insert which allows the built in extension to be securely retracted or extended. The attached jag actually looks like it would work to hold a patch while providing an end suitable for seating many bullets. As mentioned earlier, there is also an additional seating jag included for bullets with more pointed ends. The rod measures 23.625" but extends to 25.75".

Fit and finish are much better than any other CVA inline I've seen. The welds on the barrel lugs are absolutely the best I have seen - the steady hold of a robot "hand" is evidenced. Barrel to frame clearance shows my eyes no gap. The interior of the alloyed frame is equally well done. The rifle's stock finish is black with spiderweb. Toning down the white of the spiderweb would have made for a more subtle appearance - but synthetic stocks are rarely viewed as things of beauty. I would have also preferred not to have a second cheek-piece but can understand the rationale and I'm sure some left-handed shooters appreciate that effort. The stocks have a molded pattern at the areas of grip. The recoil pad is slightly undersized compared to the butt of the stock, leaving a slight step at that junction. I find a slightly undersized pad to be less a problem than one over-sized, but it would be nice if the manufacturers could master the pre-fits.

If this thing handles and shoots conicals well...

Pretty much EXACTLY like






[img]http://i37.tinypic.com/35coftv.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/15p4vx3.jpg[/img] [img]http://i38.tinypic.com/1zwlyzd.jpg[/img]

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/15511eh.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/2qd0wab.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i33.tinypic.com/10dfek1.jpg[/img]
If the hammer is cocked, the barrel will not open.

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/wmbic9.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/b6u4iq.jpg[/img]
If the hammer is cocked, barrel will not release.

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/14negs3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i34.tinypic.com/2rgmlxt.jpg[/img] [img]http://i33.tinypic.com/2ijmd00.jpg[/img]

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/2vijplf.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i37.tinypic.com/2zretfa.jpg[/img]

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Took the Accura out Thursday afternoon - near perfect weather conditions with only the occasional light breeze and very comfortable temperatures. First fired the rifle at ~30yards to see how close my bore-sighting effort had been. Windage was very good but I was hitting about 7" low of my mark using 80 grains by volume of T7 FFg, a 445 grain UC short (my own casts), and Win 209 primers.

I made considerable adjustment upwards on the Leupold 3x9 Vari-X II and fired another load. That one went just below the bull so I prepared for the next shot while my friend Dave drove the target box out to the 100 yard position. Several shots were fired with that load (~10 more) and I found the Leupold's adjustment range was nearly max'd out to get near the bull. I don't know whether it was the limits of the scope's adjustments, not such good cast bullets, or if the rifling is too deep for good results with my conicals... but, regardless of the reason, I couldn't get consistent behavior from those conicals so gave up on them for the day.

I had brought along some 200 grain XTPs, blue MMP sabots, and a jug of BH209. After swabbing the bore with a couple of patches soaked with MAP and then several dry patches, I adjusted the scope's settings downward considerably anticipating the flatter trajectory.

My load then consisted of 90 grains by volume of the BH209, the little XTPs in blue sabot, and the same primers. Was surprised to find the first shot with that load was still quite high. After 4 or 5 more shots followed by scope adjustments, I was ready to try for a group. The last of those adjustment shots is shown along with the group below.

[img]http://i35.tinypic.com/2ic19as.jpg[/img]

note: I DO know how to spell volume.

Have to say I am quite pleased with that level of accuracy and it's good to know that I CAN still shoot a decent group on a good day. Dave had gone down and taped over my UC short shots and I guess I was firing at a target with tape over a hole (didn't realize it until looking at this picture). I just might have to re-think my opinion of the BH209.

There was almost no blowback as evidenced by the pictures below. These were taken after firing ~12 rounds with T7 FFg and I believe a total of 9 rounds with the BH209. Cleanup was easy as even the breech plug on this rifle cleaned up with relative ease.

[img]http://i33.tinypic.com/34fky76.jpg[/img]

My breech plug was wrapped with yellow Teflon tape and had a light coating of grease over the tape. I believe that omitting the grease would have prevented the little residue that did make it to the action. You can see a bit of the tape in the above picture.

Looking at the face of the action below, it appears next to nothing escaped around the primer.

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/2u5xhk1.jpg[/img]

Next time out, I'm going to try some of Batchief's cast boolits as well as some of Bull Shop's. I really don't understand why my own would not group... unless I had a batch of alloy in the pot that is too hard to fully obturate in the bore. I'm going to leave the setup sighted just where it is though.

She's lookin' better all the time.

[img]http://s4.tinypic.com/2n6vynp.jpg[/img]

UC i forgot to ask, How did you like the recoil pad? My optima has the crushzone pad and even the big 405gr sabot i had shot, didnt even bother me at all.

It's pretty effective, the stock design could be better though as the barrel really wants to jump up... especially if you do this:




The above is after only 5 shots using 70 grains of Swiss FFFg behind 2 BS 460 NEx and 3 BC Tcans. The Trashcans were trying to shoot - a little more powder might have produced a good group. For some reason, even though they had been through the same sizer as the shorts, the BS were quite a bit harder to start and the Tcans were also harder but ok.

I would have shot more this afternoon but I thought I might just be punishing the rifle a bit much.

Very nice,
I just got mine and bought a leupold ultimate slam scope for it but been having a heckuva hard time finding the right mounts for it. I got the durasight Z2's for it both the 100 and 102's two piece and one piece. They bolt up and can mount the scope on it but I can't get the scope back far enough. Can I ask what mount and rings youa re using? Any help, I'd greatly appreciate it very much. I ahve the CVA univerals coming maybe that will work. Leuipold and CVA customer service have not been any help.

I've been shooting my Optima Elite for the past few weekends and I love it!!! I was shooting 295br PB with 100gr (2 pellets) with Am Pioneer Powder at 25 yards to sight in the open sights. I kept hitting low so I moved to 1 pellet. Either off-hand or on one knee I'm getting great shots. I moved to 250gr TC Shockwaves (X-mas gift). When I stopped by Cabelas today, I notice they carried White Hots, so I purchased a box.

I kept switching back and forth between the APP and the WH just to see if I could tell the difference. Yeah I was only shooting 25yrds, but I would think there would still be a noticeable difference.

Question, you brought up blow back. During one of my shots (250 T/C SW with 1 pellet of White Hots), I notices the primer was hot and there was carbon on the breech plug. Did I do something wrong or does that happen?

HaYen

I know how you feel about pellets UC, I do want to purchase a flask, volumetric powder measure, and some BH209, eventually.

HaYen

Maych, I found some Weaver Grand Slam S418 bases at Numrich for a very good price. They sold out after I bought the second pair, dern it! Standard Weaver 418 bases should work and give you the same ring spacing.

And I am using Warne QDs in medium height on the rifle discussed above. I've since added another Accura, this one differs only in having the camo stock. I've got a Bushnell Elite 4200 in low Leupold QRW rings on the camo gun and clearances are close! Mediums would have been a better choice.



Still prefer the original rifle although differences are extremely slight.

Check out the new Apex just for drill (on CVA's website). I hope to be able to report on one of those soon.

HaYen, I have zero experience with the White Hots but I understand them to basically be TripleSeven minus whatever component is added to generate smoke and whatever is added to make TripleSeven the darker color (this is really hearsay info). I also understand they are somewhat hotter than the T7 pellets. No, I don't think you did anything wrong. A bit of blown back residue is more common than not - and most any primer is going to be hot soon after firing.

The Accura has so far shown "almost" zero blowback with TripleSeven or BH209 while using bullets up to 300 grains. You can see the result pictured in my previous post of shooting Swiss black powder behind heavy lead conicals. LOTS of blowback. Part of that excess I attribute to using the wrong tape on the plug... I mistakenly thought the yellow tape I purchased would seal better than the pink I had used before.

Very nice field test.

Doc

Thanks Doc!

Maych, take a look at this base http://www.eabco.com/cgi-bin/shopper.exe?preadd=action&key=127-814

Have no experience with that particular base, but it looks as if it would work for you.

Nice report, UC



I thought this was a great idea, size doesn't matter.

Is this a roll pin, or a set screw used to expand the dove tail?

Thanks!

It's a roll pin. Seems to be solid as a rock.

All,
Thanks so so much for the help. The Interlock CVA Scope Mount Base provided by Underclocked seems to be exactly what I'm looking for with room to spare. I don't know for sure but I would guess the Optima and the Accura measure the same for mount bases. Thank you, thank you !

I can't say with certainty about fit but I would think the folks at EABCO would be able to tell you (maybe ).

I do believe it will. To my knowledge, all CVA round top barrels use the same contour and hole spacing.

Maych, if you find out anything on that EABCO Interlock base fit, please post.

This is really turning into an ordeal although I'm extremely optimistic that I will be satisfied when all said and done. I got the Thumbhole HD version, Beautiful look and feel, but haven't shot it yet. I bought the Leupold Ultimate slam to accent it. So far I've bought the Durasight Z2 DS100S 2 piece (mounted but two short for the scope) then I bought the Z2 DS102S as recommended by CVA. One piece rail but even shorter. I then bought the CVA universal rings and mount (before reading your response). They sent Durasight z2 rings which only have 1 screw for the top mount and as expected the screw snapped with very little pressure, ( I don't recommend these)and as for the base, it mounted but same problem, so I'm returning those. I spoke with EABCO today and he was unsure if it was the same as the optima but I did enough research to find they are the same. Still no response from CVA on this. So I went ahead and bought the (127-814) Interlock CVA Scope Mount Base Black today. EABCO said they actually manufacture this base but they didn't have it in silver so he recommended Brownells.com to purchase S/S GRAY AEROSOL BAKING LACQUER, so that will be very intresting when my wife asks what I'm cooking in the oven and I tell her a mount for my gun, but I've never done that before so I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Now that I've return the rings I'm still in the market for a pair so I may go with the leupold rings. It will be another couple weeks before I have it all together. Heres the real deal, I measured from the back of the scope to the back of the stock which is 12 inches. All of my other rifles model 700, model 1500, MKII, and my knight wolverine measure roughly 9-10 inches, so this appears to me the CVA Accura stock is longer than most by at least 2 inches.

-Maych

I have the reverse problem in that I usually have trouble finding mounts that allow moving the scope far enough forward.

Do believe that EABCO base would end the mount ordeal for both of us (however my two-piece bases are working well for me). I've only seen one set of those Durasight base/ring combos and thought the base might be alright but didn't like the rings at all.

The Warne QDs (or TC Maxima version of same) or the Leupold QRW are both good choices. If you don't need the QD/QR feature, you might consider some Burris Signature Zee rings. They take a little less tube space and give you a fractional gain so far as scope placement.

If you measure from the trigger to the end of the buttplate or pad (at the vertical center of that plate or pad), what measurement do you get on those rifles? I think the difference is mainly that CVA sets the base screw holes out a little farther on the barrel than do most. Good for me, maybe not so good for you.

Don't go crazy with that paint.

14.5" Length of pull i think it is. Thats what i love about CVA, they dont put the short midget stocks on them.

Maych, http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,161035.0.html

Yup 14.5. Your right on the money, I measured my Knight and it was a little over 14". I then put them side by side and the base screws are 2+ inches farther down the barrel on the Accura. The Interlock mount is hopefully in route and should resolve the problem. If not, I'll have my local smith drill and tap 2 new holes. Thanks also for the tip on the paint. I'll try a real light coat, and if I run into the scope getting off Zero I'll lightly sand it where I mount the rings.

-Maych

We're in business. The Interlock CVA Scope Mount Base from EABCO fit perfectly and gave me room to spare. I mounted everything, and got it where I wanted it. Now I'm going to pull the base back off and try the Brownells baking lacquer on it. Brownells also have instruction video's on youtube, but after reading the article you sent, I marked the base where the rings mount and taped them up, that way the paint won't interfere with the ring mounts. I'll send a pic after its all said and done.

-Maych