cayugad

It was really cold last night (-28º below zero) and I was hoping it would warm up a little so I could shoot. It finally hit about 12 degrees and I figured that was the best I was going to get. Now I had to decided what rifle to shoot.

I looked over my wall of rifles and discovered I had a rifle sitting there that I had never shot. I remember buying it, cleaning it, and then putting it on the rack with the intention of shooting it, then hunting season hit.. you know how it is. I forgot about it.



Its a CVA Tracker Carbine. .50 caliber with a 1-32 twist barrel. It has a 21 inch barrel and single trigger. Which I might add, breaks very clean and crisp. Also some pretty nice sights on it. I had placed it further back on the rack and I am sure that's why it was forgotten. [&o]

So I pulled that off the rack, ran a alcohol patch down it. Clean as a whistle. Pushed a clean dry patch down it and popped a cap. The fire channel was nice and clean. So I had to decide what to shoot.

I looked at my cabinet and shelves of bullets and found some 370 gr maxi ball. I found a tube of Bore Butter (I had taken it out for an experiment). And I found some 320 gr REAL conicals. I then grabbed a box of 240 grain T/C Cheap Shots also, and a pound of Pyrodex RS and head to the range.

At the range I set up a target at 30 yards. I figured the sights would be close. Very nice open sights too. But the other thing was the wind. It was much stronger then I thought and it was freezing cold out there. But that was not going to stop me I decided.

I loaded up 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and a 370 gr maxiball. They loaded very nice. I held a six o'clock hold on the red inside center square (most rifles shoot high at this distance I figured) and fired four shots. It was too cold to swab. So I just loaded and shot.



Then to be fair, I took the gloves off and swabbed. I then loaded a 240 grain T/C Cheap Shot. WOW!!! get the hammer out. I was worried I was not going to get it down the bore of the rifle. These Cheap Shots did not have crushed rib sabots. They looked like a black MMP HPH-12 but I am not that good at spotting sabots as some. All I knew was if I got it down the bore I was not going to load another one. Same hold as before and it shot pretty good. Maybe with some load development and better sabots, I could make that work.

I then loaded the REAL conicals, and shot three of them. By now I was too cold to stay there. I could have, but it would have not been enjoyable. And after all, I shoot because I enjoy it. Not because I want to see what I can endure. So I called it quits for the day.

Over all it is a nice little rifle. I WILL NOT forget this gun and I will be shooting it more in the future. Next time try some wads, and different powders.

kb1

look behind ya,luck and skill are travelin your path cayuga. karl

gregrn43

Nice looking gun there Dave. Looks like it will shoot pretty good to.

cayugad

This would make a great short range tree rifle or one for sneaking around in the woods. It's tiny.. but with 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and a maxiball it would be a good deer rifle. When it gets warmer I want to get it out to some distances and see if them maxiball will hold true.

lemoyne

An interesting gun. Do you think the 1-32 Twist shows much difference from the 1-28? Lee

cayugad

that's too early to say Lee. I have just shot it today, and not even a lot. I found another rifle that needs to be shot too. Its another carbine. So I think when it warms a little, I will take them both to the range.

MountainDevil54

I like the 1:32 twist. My cva mountain stalker has that and with a 295gr powerbelt and 80gr RS, you're looking at a 1" group @ 100 yards. With a 1:48 twist i notice the bigger 348gr + holds tighter group.

Old/New

She does look like a good thicket gun. I'm sure you'll discover a great load forher!

oldsmellhound

Ahhh..... to be Cayugad..... to dig around in your huge pile of rifles, and surprise- Wow, I didn't remember I had this rifle sitting there all nice and unfired. Maybe when you clean out your garage you'll discover a couple of Hawkens you didn't know about.

Seriously, nice rifle and report- especially in 12 degrees and strong wind- I would have stayed next to the heater.

lemoyne

The twist interests me, I have a system One which has a 1-38 twist it shoots 230gr 45 bullets real well also will do a good job with the 250gr but when it shot PRB all the way up to 90 gr of P and keep as good a group as the sabot bullets it got me interested, I wish they made a Triumph in a 54 with a 1-80 twist, if they did that would be my hunting gun. Lee