Category Archives: Cleaning

CLEANING YOUR CVA OPTIMA AND WOLF MUZZLELOADER

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Twitt

Due to the corrosive nature of muzzleloading powders you must make cleaning a top priority as soon after shooting as possible. Neglecting this responsibility will certainly result in a ruined barrel. An important thing to remember is that proper cleaning is just as important for stainless steel guns. Although stainless steel guns are more resistant to rust and corrosion for a short time, they will rust and corrode nearly as badly as blued steel in the long run.

CLEANING PROCEEDURE

1.Using a properly fitting screwdriver, remove the screw from the center of the forend. Gently pull the forend off of the barrel.

2.Pull the breeching lever to the rear and open the action. Without the forend in place the barrel will pivot forward and off of the action.

3.Turn the breechplug in a counter-clockwise direction and remove. Wet the breechplug thoroughly with cleaning solvent and set aside.

4.Using a jag on a cleaning rod, range rod, or extended ram rod, push a patch or two wet with water through the barrel to remove the bulk of the fouling from the bore.

5.Place a properly fitting bore brush on the rod and make several fulllength strokes through the barrel. The brush should be wet with solvent for this step.

6.Remove the brush from the rod and use the jag to push several patches damp with solvent through the bore. Allow the solvent to work for a minute or two and follow with dry, clean patches. Repeat until the barrel is clean. Use a good quality non-petroleum gun oil to protect the bore. CVA Barrel Blaster Rust Prevent Patches are excellent for this.

7.Take the solvent-soaked breechplug and wipe all surfaces, including the threads, with patches or a rag. Make sure the front is clean as well as the primer pocket and flash hole (the small hole through the center of the plug). Cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and a nipple pick are appropriate here. Generously apply breechplug grease or high temperature anti-seize to the breechplug threads and install into the barrel finger tight (over tightening the breechplug can lead to a breechplug that is difficult or impossible to remove).

8.Use a patch wet with solvent to scrub the breechface and other action areas that you can reach. Cotton swabs can be used here to do a good job. Wipe dry with a clean patch or rag and apply rust preventative.

9.Using a properly fitting screwdriver remove the firing pin bushing from the front of the breechface. The firing pin and spring will drop out. Clean these parts and the firing pin recess thoroughly, lube and reinstall. Cotton swabs are good to use here as well. A light coating of breechplug grease on the bushing threads is a good idea.

10.Reassemble the gun and check all mechanical functions. Wipe the entire gun with a rust preventative.

11.Failure to properly maintain your rifle can cause damage to the bore and outside surfaces of the rifle. It can also cause your breechplug to become stuck in place. If this happens pad a pair of pliers with a rag, leather or heavy cardboard to assist in removal. If this does not work, please send the barrel to CVA for proper removal.

Cleaning and Storing your CVA Muzzleloader Rifle Part 4

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Twitt

In the last blog we discussed how to clean the gun’s frame.  Now It’s time to clean the barrel.  Use a range rod with a nylon or copper brush and CVA Wonder Gel on the brush.  Slip your ramrod through the muzzle into the barrel, and run it in and out five to six times.  Then, let the Wonder Gel work inside the barrel for about 15 minutes.  This will dissolve the plastic that’s left behind from a sabot, loosen any powder or copper residue, and generally make the cleaning process quick and easy once you begin to run patches.  After the 15 minutes is up, run cleaning patches through your barrel until they come out clean.  By this process, three or four dry patches should be all you need to clean the barrel.  The last thing I do before I reassemble the rifle is clean the threads that hold the breech plug.  You can use nylon CVA Breech Brush for this process.  These brushes have twisted-wire handles for gripping.  Saturate the Breech Brush in solvent, and rotate is clockwise or counter-clockwise in the threads for four or five revolutions.  Then, take a dry cleaning patch, wrap the patch around the CVA Breech Brush, and slide it in as far as the threads go, turning it around in the threads two or three times.  Next, use two or three dry patches to clean the remaining solvent and grease out of the threads.  Then saturate a patch in CVA’s Rust Prevent Spray and coat the threads using the same method as above.   Lastly, put CVA Breech Plug grease on your breech plug’s threads and reinstall it.  And finally, lightly coat the entire barrel with a CVA’s Rust Prevent Spray, put it into a gun sock or breathable gun case, and store it away in your gun safe or other secure area.

Cleaning and Storing your CVA Muzzleloader Rifle Part 3

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Twitt

In the last blog, we discussed how to clean the firing-pin mechanism and the breech plug in your CVA muzzleloader rifle.  So, what do we need to clean next to get our muzzleloaders rifles ready to be stored for next deer season?  Well, now you should start cleaning the rifle’s frame.  Once the barrel is removed, you can look down inside where the barrel lug attaches the frame to the barrel.  Use solvent and Q-tips to clean all of the dirt, rust and debris out of the nooks and crannies on the frame’s interior surfaces.  If you see a little spot of rust, take some steel wool or a bronze cleaning brush, dip it in CVA Wonder Gel cleaning solvent, and then rub off any rust that may be present.  Rust is usually an indicator of places that you’ve overlooked when you’ve cleaned your rifle previously.  So, make note of where you see the rust, and remember those spots the next time you clean your rifle.  I usually use a light mounted on the side of my table to enable me to see down in that frame.  Do not disassemble your trigger on the CVA muzzleloaders.  They use special jigs to take them apart and put back together, and internal cleaning of these interior parts is not necessary.  If you do take it apart the only way to get it back together is to send to us in Duluth GA, and pay about $30 to reassemble the parts and re-instate your warranty.  After fully cleaning the frame, lubricate these areas with CVA Rust Prevent Spray or CVA Rust Prevent Patches.  However, be careful not to spray liquid lubricants inside of the trigger housing area, as this may cause excessive build up of gunk inside the trigger mechanisim that you then cannot get to in order to clean it out.

Cleaning and storing CVA Muzzleloader Rifles – Part 2

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Twitt

So, now it is time to sit down with your breech plug and really give it a thorough cleaning.  For CVA muzzleloaders, the fire channel hole is about 32nd of an inch, give or take a thousandth of an inch or so.  The easiest way to clean the fire channel is with 1/32nd size drill bit.  Just take your breech plug out of your rifle, put it in a small container, and then pour solvent in so that the liquid completely covers the breech plug.  It is best to use a container with a lid on it, like the CVA parts soaker.  I let the breech plug sit in that solvent for 15 min or longer, and I even will shake it a little bit to loosen up the residue.  You can use CVA’s WonderGel Solvent, or even something like Hoppe’s No. 9, if that’s all you have.  After the soaking, remove the breech plug from the solvent, then take your drill bit and turn it through the fire channel hole.  USE ONLY YOUR FINGERS, NOT A DRILL.  The drill bit will turn out all the fouling in the hole.  After that, just spray some lubricant, like CVA Rust Prevent Spray, through the hole, and wipe down the external surfaces of the plug – until the plug is shinny clean.  Be sure to check the next blog, and we’ll tell you how to complete the cleaning process to store your CVA muzzleloader rifle.

Cleaning Your CVA Muzzleloader Rifles

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Twitt

Once the season is over and you’ve shot your muzzleloader to your heart’s content, it’s now time to get your CVA muzzleloader clean and ready for storage. Let’s face it – complete cleaning of a rifle is always somewhat of a pain. However, the condition in which you store your rifle will directly impact how well it will perform when you take it out next time.

Of course, throughout the season you should occasionally put some oil on the barrel and metal parts to protect them from weather, and you should always clean the barrel after any shooting. But, now that the season is over, you need to give the gun a thorough deep cleaning before you store it.

First, take the gun apart to the full extent as recommended in the owner’s manual. One of the places you need to pay particular attention to is the barrel itself, the breech-plug area, and, one of the most-important yet overlooked parts, the firing pin housing and firing pin. Usually, the manufacturer will provide instructions for firing pin cleaning. Usually, these mechanisms are very simple to disassemble. Once you have taken the firing-pin out, you will want to clean it, the firing-pin bushing, and the firing-pin spring. All these parts are usually sealed pretty well within their housing, but, over the course of a season or particularly wet weather, moisture and powder residue can cause corrosion in these regions of your CVA muzzleloader, or any muzzleloader. So, especially before long-term storage, and even if you have only shot a few shots, be safe and fully clean the firing pin and its associated parts. Any product that you use to clean your bore or your breech plug is sufficient to clean the firing-pin bushing, the spring and the firing pin.

For CVA muzzleloaders of the break-action design, you’ll find a firing pin bushing on the breech face. Removing the firing-pin mechanism is as simple as screwing out this bushing and letting the firing pin and spring drop out into your hand. If for any reason you’re not comfortable with taking the firing-pin bushing out on your own, or if you don’t know exactly where it’s located on your gun, you can contact CVA customer service. CVA’s customer service can coach your through the entire process. After you’ve cleaned these parts, lubricate them and put the firing assembly back together. I use either nylon or a brass toothbrush with solvents to clean these parts. Then I lightly lubricate them, reassemble these parts and put them back in the rifle. Any common lubricant that you’d use on your bore, breech plug or any other part of your CVA muzzleloader will be fine. The one I use the most is Ballistol. Here is the link on where to find it.