Hunting Forum

I now have a "new to me" CVA .50 hawken.  Very heavy and dark stock, double set triggers.  Among all the good quality I am unable to find the twist rate on the rifle though.  I know that some makers stamp it on the barrel or around the action, but this one is not. While I'm certain there could be a couple of different rates, I was curious if anyone had some thoughts on what it most likely was.  We shot PRB this weekend and hit point of aim at 75 yards with 90 grains of bp.  Have not loaded it with any kind of conical just yet.  wanted to try to gain some knowledge first.

I`M THINKING 1 in 48 twist and 28" barrel.

CVA used 1:66 twist in a lot of their muzzleloaders. Easy enough to figure out. Put a heavy wet patch on the cleaning jag, mark ramrod, run ramrod down barrel and see the rate of twist by distance to do one complete revolution (or double 1/2 revolution or times 4 for 1/4 revolution, etc)

I don't remeber any cva hawkens with anything other than 1:48...the long guns had 1:66...and again if memory serves they expermented with 1:28 for some of the short barreled carbine style rifles

My hawkens has a 1IN 48 TWIST

CVA Hawkens 1 in 48

Traditions Hawken (Woodsman) in .50 caliber. 1 in 48 here too..

I think about everyone out there (all the REAL players) has a Hawkenesque rifle design on the market, but I have yet to hear of a .50 Hawken in anything BUT 1 in 48. Not that I am saying there AREN'T any, but I have personally never seen one in anything but that twist rate. Anyone else touched one in any other rate?

I thought I had heard of one...Talked with my XBIL yesterday...he had a short barrled rifle back in the late 70's early 80's that was 1:28...he bought it used from a guy that said he built it from a kit..can't ask the dude though..he been gone for about 10years...don't think he ever got a load developed for it...saud it shot all over the place...but knowing that boy, that might have been as small as an inch MOA....

Much thanks, all my reading and research found about the same info. 1 in 48 for most hawkens, and a VERY brief mention of the 1 in 28. Looks like a few weekends to come expiramenting with load and lead weights now that I have some knowledge to start working with.

SmithC if you can get enough light into the barrel you should be able to determine which rate of twist you have. First measure the barrel length. If it is a 24 inch barrel and the rifling makes 1/2 a turn you have a 1/48 rate of twist on the other hand if it makes nearly a full turn the rate of twist is 1/28. This also gives you a look at the condition of the bore. If it were me I would thoroughly clean the bore with a solvent designed to remove lead from the bore and if it is a 1/28 twist I would use a plastic removing solvent. Just make sure it is very clean. I also would remove the lock mechanism and give that a thorough cleaning, inspection and lubing.

As part of my normal new to me practice, I clean everything that is on the gun. Definetly not one to miss much. I pulled the lock and there was a little damage due to the previous owner letting some rust build up, but nothing substantial. Thought about what you were saying about the twist and sure enough with a good bore light it made about a half twist. Don't know why I hadn't thought to just look for myself before, but at any rate it's Cleaned up nice now. Shooting PRB over the 3 day weekend, and had pretty desirable results. Average distance was 75 yards and less then 1/2 inch low.

Since you most likely have a 1/48 rate of twist it will shoot the prb pretty well as well as a conical bore size lead bullet. Lube the conical before loading if they are not already lubed. My son has a Lyman 1/48 twist that he uses a felt bore button between the powder and bullet and improved his groups. Good luck with your new plaything.

My CVA "Mountain Rifle" has a 1 in 66 twist rate. It also has a "Made in USA" stamp on the side of the barrel. I shoot conicals out of it. Dead straight shooter.

Both of my CVA St. Louis Hawken .50" barrels are 1:48". A 3rd barrel for one that it came with before I damaged it also was 1:48".