Call CVA Customer Service at (770) 449-4687 if you have any questions. NOTE: If, after reading the instructions, cautions and dangers contained in this manual. Seek professional instruction to become familiar with muzzleloading firearms. Connecticut Valley Arms Name of Gun: Bobcat, Mountain Stalker Caliber:.50.

1. Cva Bobcat Muzzleloader Owners Manual

Why won't my Bobcat shoot PRB's? I have never gotten it to shoot even reasonable groups. The round balls are Hornady.490's. I just got back from trying out my new firesights and trying for better groups. Using Pyrodex RS and #11's, two different patch's, one prelubed about.0100' and one using CVA's slick lube at about.0125'. I tried using 70,80, and 90 grains of powder. Everything shot about a paper plate at 50 yards.

Then I shot my last three Great Plains 385's with 90 grains behind them into 1.5' at the same distance. Now I know what you are thinking, just shoot the great plains bullets. But I want to hunt with round balls for the same reason I have as much invested in the Bobcat as an entry level inline would cost me.

For the challenge. And on top of that I have a mold to cast the round balls and enough lead on hand to sink the Titanic. So what do I have to do to make this work. BTW I also have a can of Pyrodex 'P' that I was going to try with the PRB's but I ran out of daylight. Our muzzle season starts next friday, and I really want to shoot one with round balls.

Thanks Ryan CMG 300 BP. Pillow ticking is the striped fabric it comes in different colored stripes but the most common is dark blue. It can be found at wal-mart or any fabric store just ask them for pillow ticking. Now once you have the ticking you need to find out what shoots better, washed or un washed. In my rifle I use un washed. I would also recommend starting out with out a lube. Just tear the ticking in a strip about an 1 ½ inches wide.

Stick one in tour mouth and get it good and wet then pull the fabric between your lips to take most of the spit out. If you leave to much on the pat it can foul the charge. Also the material is going to taste somewhat nasty if its unwashed.

That’s the sizing in the fabric, within just a couple shots you wont taste it. Start you test at about 50-60 grains. Shoot a few a few rounds and then increase the charge by 10 grains and fire another group, my bet is your going to find a good group in about the 70-80 grain mark. Don’t worry if the pattern is still wide, just get it as tight as you can. Now the whole time your doing this you need to be picking up your patches and reading them. Are they burning? Do the have holes if so, this is where your losing your accuracy.

Often times new barrels will have sharp rifling that cuts the patch which effects accuracy on the RB but doesn’t a large effect it on a conical. Now if everything is looking good, try the washed ticking. Does it tighten your pattern, if not then bump up your charge by 5 grains.

Does it tighten the group. If not try a lube.on your patch.Common Crisco is a good lube as are many vegetable cooking oils and olive oils. Lubes have a lot of effect on the patched roundball so you must find if your rifle likes them and if so which one What im getting at here is that changing any component of the load column will have some effect. This includes many times changing caps so keep that in mind My bet right now is that you are either burning up you patches OR and the most probable thing is that your rifling has a ruff spot and is cutting them. If you patches show tears simply take a section of 000 steal wool and place it around your cleaning jag and run it up and down your bore a couple dozen times and then clean your rifle and re shoot your group.

Pick up those patches from that group and read them again. Even with 80-90 grain charges they should come out looking like you can re use them. Good advice, I was shooting out the camp window and we had fresh snow. I could definately have 'read' the patches and actually stopped to look them over. One thing I did notice was for the first 4 or 5 shots the patches seemed to end up to the left of my set of tracks. I know the location is not relevant but this allowes me to diagnose a little from memory. The fouling shot was right on as far as elevation goes and about 3' right of my 2' bull.

The second shot was in the 2' bull. The third shot was on left and right and 5' high. These first three rounds were with 80 grains and the prelubed patches.

The funny thing is that only two patches out of the dozen or so shot that were still intact somewhat were on the left and it seems to me that these were probably the first two. All other patches ranged from tears to shreaded. How often should I run a patch with solvent down the barrel?

I did it about every three shots. It sounds like there might be quite a story in the patches. So what I am reading is telling me that by destroying patches I am loosing my bore seal maybe? Please keep it coming Ryan Alpha.

Torn patches mean you aint going to get accuracy for chit! Prelubed patches i find, are not worth the extra $2-3. They do not have enough lube on them. I buy the precut, non lubed pillow ticking and use either crisco or bore butter that i melt in a little bowl in the microwave, place the patches into the melted liquid and then pull them out and squeeze them between 2 paper towels to mop up the excess lube. Place them into a plastic ziploc bag and put them in the freezer to harden for about 20-30 minutes. I have 2 bobcats and they are very good shooters.

I havent shot the pillow ticking out of them yet but the pillow ticking has improved my accuracy greatly in my other rifles i have shot them in. You can order them here. This is an excellent company to buy items from. You'll want the dry pillow ticking and either buy a tube of bore butter to melt and lube them or use crisco. Big block is right. A patch that is burnt is to thin for your charge.

One that tears but isn’t burnt is not serving any purpose either. Its letting gas around the ball, not imparting the spin of the rifling and is actually throwing the ball off. When looking at the patch, the ring in the center is where the ball seats. The lines coming off that ring or circle is the rifling. When looking at your patch if along those lines you see a tear or burn, that goes all the way through, you have a sharp spot or burr in your rifling. This is actually quite normal and will go away with shooting but it sometimes takes time. A little steel wool work and it will be gone.

Most times it doesn’t take much Howe often should you clean? Well that’s a question for you. If all the shooting with this rifle is going to be with a clean bore, say as with hunting, then you want to clean or swab every couple shots so you know where its shooting with a clean bore. Now myself because I shoot a lot “ I mean a lot 20-30 lbs a year lot “ I don’t swab until I notice difficulty in loading. Because I know that as my rifle fouls it pattern tighter and tighter only getting better from the clean bore. With a clean bore she will put 3 in 3 at 100 and will cut cards and straws at 15.

But the key is that you must learn your rifle. I would also agree with big block that the little bobcats are not given the credit they often deserve, most are very good shooting rifles. Im taking my.50 percussion bobcat out tomorrow hopefully if it isnt snowing. I have it loaded up with 60 grains pyrodex p,.018 pillow ticking patch lubed with melted crisco/murphys oil soap ' new patch lube experiment' and a home cast.490 roundball. The lead im using is the very very soft lead that i recover from powerbelts i shoot in my other rifles. The soft lead makes excellent mushrooming roundballs.

I'll let you know how it goes and you can give it a try in your bobcat. I'll also do some bore butter pillow ticking patches and see how those do. I am taking mine out on Friday after work. I picked up some more Great Plains bullets and some new caps and took it out and shot it again yesterday and I am happy.

Not happy about not getting to use roundballs though. I just don't have time to diagnose the problem since I only get about an hour after work to sight in and season starts on friday.

I may get a chance to try and work it out more on saturday and sunday. I'll post pics of any kills and keep you guys updated.

12/12/07 Re: CVA Bobcat and PRB's Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961 Campfire Guide Campfire Guide Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961. I had two Bobcat.50's in the past and spent many a day at the range, and at home tinkering, to work up a good PRB load for both rifles. Here's what worked best for me.

In Bobcat #1 I found it shot best using 95gr Pyrodex RS, Hornady.490 rb, felt bore button between ball and charge, Remington #11 cap and.018 pillow ticking lubed with TC Natural Lube 1000. This was the OUCH load in the light weight rifle for sure. In Bobcat #2 I found it shot best using 70gr Pyrodex RS or Goex 2F, Hornady.490 rb, Remington #11 cap and.018 pillow ticking lubed with a home brew lube of Oilve Oil and Bees Wax. Nice moderate recoil load but super accurate. I buy pillow ticking from Wal Mart's fabric dept for all my muzzleloader shooting.

So far in the.45 and.50's its worked out great. The main thing about shooting PRB's is expierment till you find the right combo that works well in a particular rifle. Rimfirehunter - 12/13/07 Re: CVA Bobcat and PRB's Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961 Campfire Guide Campfire Guide Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961. Hey bigblock, where did you get your wood stock. I was going to purchase one for $48 about 5 years ago from CVA and the next time I called the told me they sold all of their caplock stuff to a small company.

I was just thinking today about knocking down large gnarly beech tree behind my house to cut up a new stock. Most people would say why waste time on a lowly old Bobcat. Well my 'cat holds a special place with me for a couple reasons. Of which I will highlight when I have more time. Anyway, I think it would balance a little better with a wood stock. 12/13/07 Re: CVA Bobcat and PRB's Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961 Campfire Guide Campfire Guide Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,961.

Ha there you go, she is starting to come in. Keep playing, she'll tighten up even more i believe a couple other things you can do. 1) take the pad off and fill the stock with lead shot and epoxy mix. This will wieght the stock and reduce recoil somewhat.

2) if a wood stock is your want, then the stock from a Traditions deer stalker or CVA youth hunter will interchange. 3) make a new stock. I have done this to a number of bobcats and am currently working on another one now. They come out rather good and are only confined by whats in your mind. OH and want a flintlock?

Simple conversion. The lock however will cost as much as the rifle but its a quality lock this one has a Fusil De Chase stock cut down to half stock. I cut the trigger guard off.

Used the trigger but applied a new brass TG. I also re used the RR thimble mountings and replace the RR barrel with a brass one rifle before i started rifle after replacing the stock.

The one im currently working on will have an english walnut stock but im using a lancaster but plate, TG and side plate. The other thing to remember about the bobcats is that they went through a couple production runs.

Cva Bobcat Muzzleloader Owners Manual

Some have the heavier locks often seen on the CVA hawken rifles and others have the smaller lighter locks found on the youth models and traidions rifles. So if your thinking of using one of those stocks you will need to know which lock you have here is a little creation story that i wrote as an artical int the TMA Journal some years back about the rifle i showed above. There once was a bobcat, no, no, no There once was a poor little rifle made by CVA??? Ok we'll go with that UHMMM, no mater where she went folks shunned her plastic stock and ugly shape. At the traditional gun shows, even though she was born as a side lock, some would invariably say; Put! That away, or You cant sell that here. Then one day a little lady came by, picked her up and against her husbands comments of, 'you don’t want that ' and ' what do you want that for', she was bought for a song.

But still there was no peace for the little rifle. In the gun cabinet there was talk. The SXS would point and whisper. The cartridge rifles turned their scopes, no where did she fit. Then one night the ladies husband came to get all the rifles for a big doins that was coming up.

When the nice lady reached for the little bobcat her husband exclaimed. YOU CANT BRING THAT!!! And the door slammed shut. The poor little rifle sat all alone to one side of the cold cabinet, hearing only the whispers of the foul mouthed modern guns who were also left behind.

Suddenly the door open, the big hands of husband reached in. He grabbed the little rifle and threw her in a blanket, wrapped it up tight. Surly this must be it, though the bobcat as she felt the THUNK of being tossed There was no air, the little rifle couldnt see. Things were falling and bouncing all around for hours, days it seemed. Finally all was still for some time. Then movement, light, trees, a river,AIR!!!!

Finaly thought the little rifle I will prove my worth. She would let No one out shine her at the range. On this day, the little lady who was her owner,would stand front of all. Then suddenly she realized that the one whos hands she was in wasn’t the lady.but those of the big man of a husband and to the river he was heading.

The mans grip was tight on the little rifles barrel. Down the trail he went. With each 'SMAK' of her stock hitting a tree the little rifle lost hope. They suddenly stopped in front of an Indian lodge.the little rifle had heard the other rifles talk of these before but she never thought she would see one for real. Out front of the lodge sat two women and a mountain man. Is Two feathers around asked the man holding the little rifle. One of the women got up came over.No she said,he is out shooting,can I help you?

Please have him See if he can do something with this,will ya,exclaimed the big man handing the little rifle to the strange woman. Then turning and walking away. In side the lodge the rifle went and once again the lights went out. As we all know the strange times of youth are gradually replace with the knowledge of experience.

Our braces are removed to show strait teeth. The awkwardness of the teen years are replaced by the lines of a fine woman or the streaght of a young man. Our names change from Mikey, Bobbie, Charlie. To Mike, Bob and Chuck. So is the way of it and so is the story of this lonely little rifle. Now all that’s left is for her to take her place back amoung the rifles of the gun cabinet she new long ago.

Returning to the lady who saved her. Proud, Strong, a force to be reckoned with on the range. The shape of a lady strong of will and with lines of knowlage. Never again to hang her head.

So ends our little story and the time this rifle has spent with me. My hope is that long after i am gone the story of this little common rifle who is not so common any more will live on We now need a name fitting of her French lines A name fitting of her mother the Countess Tulle De Chasse. Some say “Loup Cervier” others say “Chat de Pomb” what say you? Signed Charlie two feathers. We had a tractor supply store going out of business here in town some years back.

At the time I was still into building Jeeps so my friend Todd and I stopped in there one satureday night. It was about an hour before closing and we were checking for any good deals.

Immediatly upon walking through the door there stood a plastic case holding this black stocked kitty of a Bobcat. Now, I did not own a muzzleloader but had been toying with the idea of getting one. I look at the price, $129.99. That is too much, I am going to see what they will do.

'Here we go' says Todd as he rolls his eyes. I have been known to dicker a time or two and Todd knew he was in for a long haul. Well I don't remember the specifics of the deal but I do remember that they were locking the door as I was finishing up and the register rang, tax and all $64.28. Not to bad of a way to find out how much you will like muzzleloading. Two years and one wounded doe later I am sitting on stand late in season with a doe tag im my pocket and an empty freezer. It was bitter cold and a little snow on the ground that day. I was watching the bottom of a ridge were a trail crossed through an opening.

The little kitty sat securely in my hands and I knew she was shooting good now. The doe had been wounded during my trials with PRB's and it was the year after that I discovered Great Plains bullets. Since that point I was able to shoot with confidence. It was approaching dusk and my hopes of filling my tag were waning as fast as the daylight. From my right three grouse appeared and mingled their way past me at about ten yards. I was debating trying to take the head off of one just to go home with some dinner. I chuckled to myself at the idea as they passed unaware of me.

As I raised my eyes to the opening it dawned on me that something was out of place. It was then that I realized that while I was watching the grouse a deer had made its way all across the opening and was one step away from being out of sight. The deer had a huge body and was quartered to me at about 35 yards.

This was my meat doe. I raised the kitty and put the sights right on her shoulder and gave the trigger a squeeze.

When the smoke cleared I could not tell a thing. I reloaded and waited a little bit and by that time it was dark.

I walked down to where she was standing and the flashlight beam passed across a brown shape. Finally some meat. And down right there.

Then as I got closer I realized that it had horns, and I said to myself 'wow, that is the nicest buck you ever shot'. And it still is. Now before anyone gets tied up about identification, had I not had a tag for either sex and been looking to fill the freezer I would have never pulled the trigger. And this was definately no yearling.

The thought of it being an eight pointer had never crossed my mind since I had never shot anything but does in this particular spot. Point is, when my friends all try and talk me into the latest and greatest inline scoped wonder I remind them that I have no other firearm in the safe that has scored a bigger buck than this 'cheap' traditional thing. 12/14/07 Re: CVA Bobcat and PRB's Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,624 Campfire Ranger Campfire Ranger Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,624.

Going to look at one a guy is selling this weekend. Its blued with synthetic stock in a 50cal. I know NOTHING about sidelock rifles. Could someone fill me in on what i should be looking for. Also, How does one go about cleaning a gun like this? Theres no tip up barrel and breech plug to remove. I think i may be in over my head but i would like to try a gun like this.

I kow you pretty much have to stick with powder which is fine with me but what what would i use to ignite the powder and what kinda bullet/ball would work best. Super easy to clean andy.

They either have a 24 or 26' barrel, i forget which LOL. 1:48 twist, iron sights (adjustable) They can have a heavy trigger but its an easy $12 fix by installing an adjustable tumbler.

Very light weight rifles, 6lbs. Deer Creek may also have extra barrels in stock, these being the 36cal and 54cal barrels along with the.50cals. They also have holes in the stock so you can put some sling studs in there. Cleaning, Heres what they look like With a 295gr aerotip powerbelt, mine held a 2' group @ 100 yards all day long. Powder, i always used Pyrodex RS. No issues at all with the gun not going off.

I have a.54 caliber Mountain Stalker. The Mountain Stalker was Bass Pro's deal with CVA to sell Bobcats. Its a Bobcat with a different name.

As already said, they are light weight which makes them nice to carry all day if your walking. If you want to take the kick out of the rifle. Ford fiesta automotive repair manual. I took the butt plate off mine, then took and pushed some rags into the hollow stock. I then took my kitchen vacuum sealer and with one of the bags, poured some bird shot into one of the bags.

A little over a pound of it. I then vacuum sealed that bag. Put that bag in another bag and sealed that one as well. Then I form fitted the bird shot into the hollow stock of the rifle. After that, another rag and replaced the butt plate. The extra weight took all the bite out of that rifle and made it a pleasure to shoot.

The first year I got it, my friends teased me something terrible about that rifle. It was on sale for $39 or $59 dollars at Bass Pro. And since it was.54 caliber it was welcome in the stable. It took me one day to sight that rifle in. I went to my friends for a shooting match and after I was done shooting that day with my cheap rifle. They were all headed to the internet to get one for them self.

But they were sold out. That fall I took three deer with it, shooting roundball. Not one deer went over twenty yards after being shot. The following year I did put a set of fiber optic sights on it.

It is my little walking rifle. A nice shooting rifle. And it shoots 85 grains of loose Triple Seven 2f and a.530 patched ball. As most shooters will tell you, that is a good hunting load. It plants them.