CrookedSights,
I do and have done allot of shooting and hunting with cap locks and flint locks. Here are a few questions that I have:
1) What is the caliber of your CVA Frontier? I assume it is .50 cal but there were a few .54 calibers out there.
2) What is the rate of twist? I assume it is a 1:48 twist but its better not to assume. There were some CVA's out there sporting a
1:60 twist.
I am going to assume that you have a 1:48 twist barrel and it is .50 caliber. With that said, you have two options. Option one is you can use round ball & patch or option two you can use a conical bullet.
One of my black powder rifles is very similar to your assumed rifle and here is what my rifle like:
Round ball and patch:80 grains of 3F Goex black powder, a .022 saliva lubed patch with a .480 round ball. I use a #11 cap to ignite it.
http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-.480-Lead-Balls/Conical Bullet: I like 100 grains of 3F Goex black powder using Ball-ets by Hornady as they seem to work better with the 1:48 twist barrel.
http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-240-gr-PA-Conical/ I will tell you that this kicks like a mule
I hunt deer with a round ball and patch which is more then enough to bring down a deer with one shot.
CVA's are notorious with heavy weighted triggers. If your trigger falls into this category you contact Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop in Kempton, PA. They have new drop in triggers or they will rework yours.
Now, IMO, each rifle barrel likes acts differently. I suggest that you start with 50 grains of 3F BP shooting at 25 yards. Shoot three rounds, cleaning your barrel between each round fired. Just wet a cleaning patch with plain water and run it up and down your barrel a few times followed by a dry patch to soak up any H20 left. Don't worry about bulls eye hitting you are only looking for groups at this point. Adjusting sights will come later.
Increase charges by 5 grains each round of three shots until you get to the point where the groups start to spread out. Once that happens you have determined the charge your rifle likes.
Now you will need to adjust your sights for the 10X ring. There is plenty of articles on the internet on how to do this.
To clean your barrel after a day at the range: Unscrew your lock from the stock, drive out the forend pin to remove the rifle from the stock and put a pipe cleaner in the nipple. Fill up the barrel with warm water (NO SOAP!) and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then pull the pipe cleaner out and pour the water out of the barrel. Then take out the nipple and stick the breached hook end in a cup or so of water, run a patch down the barrel and draw up the water in the cup like a piston and repeat a couple of times.
Once you do that, run patches down the barrel till they come out dry. Put some anti-seize grease on the nipple threads and screw the nipple back in. Run Bore Butter, or Wonder 1000 down the barrel (DO NOT USE PETROLEUM BASED PRODUCTS!) to prevent rusting. I have heard that allot of folks now are using Frog Lube now.
I always follow up a day or two later with another lubing of the barrel.
There is my 2?. If you would like any other info I am as far away as a PM or the phone. :-)
