Hunting Forum

I've been trying to get some info on this gun .

Here is the information on the gun .

CONNECTICUT VALLY ARMS ,INC.Made in Spain Black powder only BOBCAT 50 CAL. Serial no.9.71501

has a number 91 stamped in the side

three o's connected .700Kp/cm' N'2 .

All the bobcats I can find any info on are synthetic stock that looks like they are attached with screws .This one has the pin that holds the stock on and is made of wood .It looks like it has been modified and painted black .Not a good job on the but plate either .

Any help would be appreciated

The Bobcat was offered in a kit form when I worked at Jumo Sports about 15 yrs ago. They were wood at first and changed to cheap plastic later.

The very first Bobcats had a wooden stock. Actually some nice wood. And then they went with the synthetic stocks later. Most of the Bobcats had either a 1-32 or 1-48 twist. The 1-48 twist being most common in the synthetic stock models. The rifle weighed only 5.5 pounds, and at first I was TOLD they were even offered in flintlock. But I never saw them as a flintlock. There is also a model of rifle called the Mountain Stalker which was a Bobcat sold by Bass Pro Shop. Same rifle mind you, just a different name. I had a Mountain Stalker and on the box it came in, it was called a Bobcat. The manual was for a Bobcat. Mine was in .54 caliber and believe this or not.. it was a great shooter. The first year I owned it, I purchased it in October, worked up a simple roundball load, and shot three deer that year with it.

To reduce the kick of the rifle, as it can be stout, remove the butt plate and put a baggie with some lead shot in there. The added weight takes the bite out of the rifle and helps to balance it a little. They were nice rifles. I eventually traded mine off for a Knight LK-93. But sometimes I wish I had not done that.

I need a stock as this one is cacked all the way down the forarm .

Wood stocks can be repaired with pins and Acra-Glas. I am working on an Enfield stock right now that got hammered into the ground - or some enemy's head (LOL) and broke the toe completely off and cracked the stock behind the rear lock plate screw. Once the epoxy is dry I will rasp and sand it into shape and re-oil it. There will be a visible seam but it will be minimal and the repair will be a strong joint. On a hunting gun, you could repair it and apply a rough texture spray-grit paint to mask the repair and rough sanding while protecting the wood.

I will do some more research and see what I can find .It looks like they cut it down to fit a youth .

Yea I thought I could glass it and pin it but someone put some king of epoxy on it .

Ok found a stock for it .Now have to start working Up a load for the 45 cal i got at the same time .It's a tridition lighting 209 inline .Going to be fun .Whats the recomended distance for deer with the 45 .

"Recommended" is hard to say.  There are countless "knowing ones" posting on boards or writing in the rags about this that honestly have little real idea what they are talking about.  I have had it said too often to count that the muzzleloaders in general are "short range only" guns or only "marginall effective" guns for deer.  I have even had a woman come in to my store after sage-advice from her more knowledgeable brother to buy a .50" muzzleloader-kit (May have been a Bobcat for that matter) for her son so he could play with it in the off-season and he could shoot it at his friends playing without harming anyone.  Fact of the matter is of course that each load has different penetration characteristics in each gun and every shooter is different with every different load/gun.  You need to work up the most reliably accurate load for the gun.  Then, test that load at different ranges first to see what your maximum hunting-accurate range is and then test it on a good medium for reliable penetration.  Personally, I like tying phone books together to make a dry stack that is about 4"-6" thick then soaking them overnight in a bucket of water.  Stand it up and shoot it to see what sort of penetration you get.  If you get 100% penetration you have a very lethal deer load at that range.  You can stack multiple books behind each other and see just how deep it will penetrate and often times even catch the bullet to see what sort of deformation you get.  If the bullet will penetrate 4"+ of tied and wet phone book you have enough inertia/velocity to penetrate the 1"-2" of broadside hid, meat, rib to enter the near lung which is essentially hollow, then pass through to the off lung and probably pop out the off-side of the deer, or barely get stuck under the off hide.  Either way, you have poked a .45" hole through both lungs and even an elephant won't go too far with its lungs collapsed like that.  With a little ball pushed by "just" 60 grs of FFFg you ought to be able to get about 100 yds range and with a conical you can get about another 50 yds range to be reliable on deer with broadside hits.  My own .50" Hawken with a "poky little ball" as is oft described by the "knowing ones" in the gun rags will give reliable full penetration with 70 grs of FFFg through the phone books at 200 yds.  I have not shot a deer at that range to test it on meat but I have no doubt that at 200 yds that "poky little ball" will put meat on the ground regardless of what the writers touting the latest and greatest super-duper-ultra-magnum-disc-fired-electronic-ignition front-stuffer claim.

I was going to start with 90 grains and go up and see what happens .If no results in getting it to shoot good I will go down and see what will happen ..I have a 54 cl that will put a round ball through a 2x4 at 100 yards .With 80 grains of pyrodex RS ffg .And I can put yhree in a 2 inch circle .And my 50 cal I can do the same .The first is a Hawkins .The other a tridition .The 45 is a tridition lightening .And I picked up another John Daley hawkens 50 cal I need to play with .Will have some fun .

I was taught and always teach start low and work up...I normally start .50s at 70 grs and .45s at 60 grs....go up by 5 gr steps...I would not go higher than 90grs of BP or Pyrodex (85grs 777) loose in the Bobcat....once you get fairly good groups then you can tweek it in...I like the size and feel of the older bobcats...(I kinda have a stubby stature) they are also a dream to tote around the woods all day...

Two Tales the 90 grains is with the tridition that aia got at the same time .If it is like my other tridition it will only like around 80 grains with a round ball .The bobcat is another one I got at the same time .Also got a 50 cal Charles Daly Hawkens .The bob cat will probly never get used for nothing but playing with .

wanna sell the bobcat?....

No that will be a play toy for me and the grandkids .