I spent the better part of the afternoon reading through all the posts on this site about the dangers of CVA. I also read posts that lashed out again Randy Wakeman. If you have read through those posts you might recognize my name. I am Erik Zenger and on November 4, 2001 I was hanging onto life by a thread after the CVA inline blackpowder rifle I was shooting exploded sending the bolt and spring mechanism back into the right side of my face. I have since had fourteen very painful surgeries to put the side of my face back together.
In the days following the accident I could not help but wondering what had gone wrong. I received the answer one evening a few days after the accident when I was contacted by a gentleman who stated that his son had been hurt just months prior by the same exact gun. He had heard about my accident on the news and said he immediately knew that it had to be the same gun. Over the next couple of weeks I spoke with him extensively about the guns and why the failures were occurring. It turns out that there had been a recall on the guns that were manufactured in the years of 1995 and 1996. I purchased my gun in 1999, two years after the recall occurred, from a sporting goods store in my town.
I decided to retain an attorney to try to get my mounting medical expenses covered. Over the next two years I learned a great deal about CVA guns and their poor safety record. I was made aware of others who had been injured by CVA guns, and was deposed in other cases against CVA that were preparing to go to trial. It was a long, arduous two year process of preparing for litigation. In the end I decided to settle the case with CVA and Dikar (the Spanish company that manufactures the barrels). This was after they tried to accuse me abusing the gun, using the wrong amount of black powder and even using smokeless powder. In the end it was proven that I had used the gun exactly how it was intended and I had done nothing wrong. I settled because I was tired, tired of dealing with blatant dishonesty and arrogance of Robert Hickey and his thug attorneys and tired of them trying to discredit me. I was ready to get on with my life.
Since the accident I have been made aware of, and contacted by, a growing number of victims of these poorly manufactured rifles. Up until just recently, none of the cases went to trial. CVA was quick to get out and settle the cases to prevent public knowledge through media attention that would have ensued if one went to trial. It also spared them from having to disclose information about the flawed manufacturing process of the guns.
Late last year I was subpoenaed to testify in the first CVA related injury case to go to trial. I sat there through testimony given by the Dikar representative from Spain. I was shocked and sickened by the disclosures he made while under oath about the manufacturing and testing procedures of all CVA/Dikar guns. The most shocking revelation of all was that ALL CVA rifles have a proof stamp on them indicating that they have been test fired under stress at a licensed proof house. Each proof house has a “proofmark” that is specific to them. Dikar, without permission from the local proof house, has duplicated their proofmark and apply it to every gun barrel they make, even though the gun has never been proof tested at all. I find it interesting that Europe will not allow the sales of CVA rifles as they are too dangerous, but we allow them to be sold in our country.
Where I don’t know the exact number of people injured by the faulty CVA rifles, I do know for certain of at least 53 cases and these are only the cases which were filed in Federal courts and does not include cases filed in district courts or the individuals that settled directly with CVA without ever filing a case. I have heard from very reliable sources that the number of injured actually reaches the hundreds, and not only includes guns from the 1997 recall, but also guns made and sold in the past couple of years.
The bottom line is that ALL CVA rifles are poorly manufactured and dangerous. I wish I would have come across information like Randy Wakeman is providing prior to my accident warning about the dangers of CVA guns. I hope that I would have believed him, and I hope I would have never shot my rifle again. It would have changed everything. As it is, I did shoot my gun, it did explode, and my face continues to be disfigured, and I still, eight years later, wake up at night having nightmares of being pronounced dead at the rifle range.
It is my opinion that a great deal of dangerous rhetoric abounds on this site. The argument that “I have a CVA gun, and I have never had a problem with it” is ridiculous. The numbers prove that they are not safe guns, and the fact that your particular gun has not failed yet, means nothing. Even worse are the comments made by CVA employees, assuring us that their product is “completely safe.” Very reminiscent of the Ford Company saying the Pinto was safe. But the great thing is that all of you have your freedom to choose what you will believe about CVA. In my mind shooting a CVA rifle is much like playing Russian roulette….you never know if it will be you who ends up spending years recovering from injuries sustained from one of their faulty guns. I would hope that those who do not believe Randy Wakeman, would change your minds. I would also hope that those who own a CVA rifle would never shoot it again. There are so many great options out there of guns which have truly been proof tested and which DO NOT have a long history of disfiguring people’s faces and ruining their lives. Why not choose one of those guns?
If you would like some unbiased, factual information about the law suits filed against CVA you can go to
www.cvaguncases.com. This is a website being put together by Dean Wise, a private investigator who has collected a great deal of information about CVA and their manufacturing practices as well as an initial list of people hurt by CVA guns.
The x-ray found on his home page is of me and was taken minutes after my CVA Prohunter inline black powder rifle exploded projecting the bolt and spring deep into my face.