CVA Coach Gun

[Oldetexian]

About a year ago my son found a CVA  flintlock Blunderbuss/coach gun at a local flea market. He got a good deal on it and gifted it to me. It's a .69 cal with a brass barrel and fittings. Flint sparks great, but the stock is pretty beat up...looks like a bear got hold of it...lol.

I put it away in my gun case thinking I would redo the stock at some point.

Now, I have again been bitten by the Muzzleloading bug and pulled out the little beast. It's just "too cute" not to fix it up and play with it.

Has anyone had any experience with the Connecticut Valley Arms Coach Gun?

[rollingb]

About a year ago my son found a CVA  flintlock Blunderbuss/coach gun at a local flea market. He got a good deal on it and gifted it to me. It's a .69 cal with a brass barrel and fittings. Flint sparks great, but the stock is pretty beat up...looks like a bear got hold of it...lol.

I put it away in my gun case thinking I would redo the stock at some point.

Now, I have again been bitten by the Muzzleloading bug and pulled out the little beast. It's just "too cute" not to fix it up and play with it.

Has anyone had any experience with the Connecticut Valley Arms Coach Gun?

I have no experience with that particular CVA,.... but as far as re-finishing the stock, it should be about the same as the other CVA Beechwood stocks.
I'd start with stripping what "finish" still remains on the stock, then work at steaming out "dents and bruises" in the wood with a hot iron, and a wet cloth. 

Then move on to staining, and final finishing. 

[Lonewolfe20]

Try and post some pics of the beauty
We would love to see it before your rework of it.
Let us know if we can help posting them

[Oldetexian]

Thanks. Definitely want to do some before & after. And if I need help with the posting I will holler...

[Lonewolfe20]

Here’s some eye candy

[ridjrunr]

Wow! I had no idea cva made one of those. Is the frizzen bolt gone or is it flush? Thats gonna be a fun one👍 to shoot!

[Ohio Joe]

I had forgotten about the Coach Gun by CVA as well.  Also, I'm wondering the same thing Ridjrunr is, "is the frizzen bolt gone or is it flush?"

[Oldetexian]

Thanks for the questions about the frizzen bolt. The quick answer is, "I do not know." The tail end of a bolt visible, but there are also about a 1/4 inch of threads visible as well. The frizzen is solid with no play,and seems to operate normally. Any suggestions?

[Ohio Joe]

Thanks for the questions about the frizzen bolt. The quick answer is, "I do not know." The tail end of a bolt visible, but there are also about a 1/4 inch of threads visible as well. The frizzen is solid with no play,and seems to operate normally. Any suggestions?

Probably comes in from the back side which is common on many locks.  Looks like an interesting project to tackle, and to be honest, I'd kind'a like to shoot it at least once. 

[Oldetexian]

Hey Ohio Joe. Thanks for the answer about the frizzen bolt. I am getting ready to disassemble the Lil' Beast next week to start working on the stock, and I will let you know for sure.

And I would be pleased for you to have the chance to shoot the Lil' Beast. We will have to figure a way to make that happen.

Actually, I am kinda excited about it myself. I think it would be a great self defense gun against turkeys...lol, and equally nice just to tote around at events...sure a lot lighter than my Jaeger.

[Oldetexian]

Anyone out there with suggestions on a recommended powder load and amount of shot for the lil' beast? With it being .69 cal, I was thinking of starting around 75 grains of ffg. But I do not know if the brass barrel makes a difference.

[prairie dog]

I think I would tie it to a log and load 70 grains of 2-f, a wad of news paper, an ounce and 3/4 of shot, another wad of paper, and tie a long string to the trigger.  If it survives that then do your refinishing work. 

And i'm only half joking. 

[Oldetexian]

Thanks, Steve. Funny that you should mention that, 'cause I had had a similar thought. It would pretty much mess up my entire day if the lil' Beast took a big bite outta my face...lol At my age, that would ruin my chances for a date...even if I could get my wife to agree...lol

[Uncle Russ]

Thanks, Steve. Funny that you should mention that, 'cause I had had a similar thought. It would pretty much mess up my entire day if the lil' Beast took a big bite outta my face...lol At my age, that would ruin my chances for a date...even if I could get my wife to agree...lol

  I can easily see you do have a bit of humor, pretty clever in fact!

FWIW; I also shoot a .69 smoothbore, and I use 70gr FFg, one OP card, one .5" Vegie Wad split in one-half, and 1.25 oz of shot, with two OS Cards,....experimenting over the years tells me this combination is about as good as I'm going to get, pattern wise.
Insofar as shooting a Patched Round Ball, I would much prefer to throw stones as I think I might do better.....5 / 6" groups at 25 yds is just not my cup of tea.
Still yet, as a scattergun, it's my go-to gun for upland hunting....anything that requires a little heaver load.
It has Rifle sights, adjustable sights in fact, which is okay as a scatter gun, but they are are all but useless when it comes to shooting PRB.

Now my .56 cal smoothie is a hoss of a different color. It shoots roundball beter'n I can hold it.... every time, no matter what load. I love my .56. Only thing is my shot load is typically 1 oz, I have shot 1 1/8 oz and 1 1/4oz, but....not as good of a pattern as my standard load of 1 oz #7, sometimes #6.....

Now your question regarding that barrel....Brass is not going to have the strength of steel, I think we can all accept. But a "Safe Load" in a Brass Barrel, just might require a looong string in testing. I have no clue and my research didn't turn up anything useful.

Couple pictures of me, at least 10 years back,, with my .69 cal Flintlock smoothie.
It's a good looking gun, in fact, it's a killer for looks with a stock of really nice wood.











 

[Oldetexian]

You're right, Uncle Russ. That's a fine looking smokepole you have. And I appreciate your thoughts 'bout the lil' Beast, as well. A long string is definitely in order for the testing. I'll let you know how it turns out. And jest fer the record...all my flinters shoot far straighter without me than with me. I think it's called operator error.