Connecticut Preparedness Community Forums

Recently, I traded for a CVA flintlock (traditional). I can't find a model number or anything on it, but I do like it. I've shot it a bit, and so far no problems.

One thing that concerned me though, is the fact that a few CVA's blew up some time ago; namely their inlines. This being said, I'm not loading it for absolute maximum power; 80gr. or so of Pyrodex pushing a .495PRB seems like a good deer load so far, and I don't really intend on pushing it any further.

Breechplug is stuck though, and I did pull some rust out of the bore with a brush, swab, and paper towel. There's a little bit left, and I've soaked it in oil, & patched it dry. So far, so good.

Is a stuck breechplug anything to be concerned about? Anything as far as barrel strength issues to worry about (with CVA's "reputation")?

Thanks in advance!

If the breech plug is stuck, it could be a sign of corrosion.

The reason most inlines blow up is wrong powder/ wrong charge or improper maintenance.

Real black powder burns at a much lower temp then substitutes, and stresses things like the breech plug much less than substitute powder would do.

Biggest reason I only shoot black powder out of my muzzloaders.

The only way I can think of to really break up the corrosion is heat the barrel in front of the breech plug & drop oil onto the breechplug (heat should draw it right in). If there is any corrosion (likely), hopefully it would put a stop to things before they got way too bad.


What the hey, strap it to a log with 100gr. of FFFg in the tube. If it lets go, I have an excuse to buy a shiny new GM barrel.

I prefer to use a good penetrating oil, a heat gun and the correct size wrench.

I'll go along with that.

One thing I'm afraid of with hook breech plugs, is breaking off that damn nub.

You do know that taking the breech plug off a traditional barrel requires a big vise and an even bigger wrench, a big hammer helps too.

You shouldn't be wrenching on the hook

Not on the hook itself, but that little nub that's coming right off of the breechplug (which the hook protrudes from). Otherwise, there's no internal divots that could be used to grab onto (internal wrench, or something of that nature).

Got the vise, have suede leather to grip it, have big wrenches...

take a look at the bottom of this page
http://muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com/c ... /agora.cgi

That is what the plug and tang look like, The plug is the same diameter as the barrel and is threaded into the back of the barrel, it is usually designed to be installed once, and then is filed to fit the barrel, if you remove it, you might not get it lined exactly back up.

You bring up some pretty good points.

I can always chuck it up in the lathe & chase the threads (assuming there would be any corrosion), clean them up, seal them & re-seat the plug... but I'd almost rather not.

Eh. It's been fine so far. I might just hit it with penetrating oil, draw it in with heat, and call it a day.