CVA sidelock pistol

[hamradioshooter]

As I mentioned in my first question, I was given an old CVA sidelock .45 cal pistol with a broken nipple drum. I contacted CVA customer service and was instructed to send it in to them for repair. I just received it back with a note saying they no longer repair any sidelock firearm. I found this nipple drum and nipple on Dixie Gun Works web site.

NP0905 CVA Drum & Nipple

For all CVA percussion rifles and pistols. Each has a clean out screw. End is milled with 2 flats for easy removal with wrench. Body is 1/2", thread size is 10 X 1.25mm. Drilled and tapped for 6 X 1mm nipple.

My question now is:

Does anyone know if CVA used the same nipple drum in all of its firearms and would this probably fit my pistol?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[arcticap]

That should fit your pistol.

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advance...words=cva+drum

It may not be a CVA drum that's made in Spain, but it could actually be better than the original.
The old barrel threading does need to be checked out after the old drum is removed but that's not usually a problem.

[hamradioshooter]

Thanks for the info.

If I have the barrel heated up with a torch to remove the threads of the drum, it will not compromise the safety and strength of the barrel will it? My brother-in-law is concerned the barrel will loose the temper strength of the barrel if he heats it up with an ox-acetylene torch.

[bejay]

any time you heat metal expecially with a torch that gets that hot, you could change the temper of the barrel not sure if that alone would make it unsafe or not. wouldnt be to concerned about using a low heat torch such as a propane torch on it as it wouldnt get near as hot. but heat doesnt always help, so maybe the best option is drill it out and retap to clean up the threads

[Hawg]

Barrels aren't tempered to start with. Most of them are pretty soft steel, even modern barrels. If you get it too hot it may deform tho. I know a guy that spot welded the lever latch on a 60 Colt and it made it shoot a lot higher than it originally did.

[mykeal]

Hawg's right, barrel (and breech plug) steels are not tempered, so using an oxyacetelene torch to heat up the breech plug should not damage the barrel. Unless, of course you get it so hot it deforms...and you don't need it anywhere near that hot. If heat is going to help it won't take much; if it takes a lot and still won't budge, well, back off; heat wasn't the answer.

[hamradioshooter]

After reading the replies, I just decided to drill out the old drum and re-tap it for a new drum.

Thanks a lot to all who responded.

[rwhichel]

Before you try to drill out the old busted off nipple drum, and risk messing up the original threads you might want to try removing it with an "Easy Out". The clean out hole in the busted off drum should serve as a good pilot hole for the appropriate drill bit for the "easy out". It will depend on how badly the old peice is rusted or coroded in. If the rest of the gun (bore etc.) is not rusted then the gun may have been cleaned properly after each firing and the piece may come out without much of a problem. Be careful however not to force the "easy out" to hard or you could possibly brake the "easy out" off in the busted off drum. Then you have a real problem. I have had a lot of luck with "easy outs", and never broken one off. You might want to give it a try. This is just a suggestion, good luck!

[jaguarxk120]

Soak it in PB Blaster a very good penatraing oil. If you go the heat method after it's hot apply bee's wax (the real stuff) where the drum is screwed into the barrel. Good Luck