Another odd one..

[Roger Fisher]

Odd occurence Sunday at Bl Ridge Rifles shoot in Shartlesville, Pa. A young shooter fired his CVA nipple gun and the nipple shaft sheared off where the nipple shaft leads off from the boss part of said nipple (the flat sided section where you stick on the nipple wrench).. The rest of the nipple okay.  Doesn't say much for CVA.

First time I've seen that occur. 

So, while on the subject, what would be the better way to correct the angle of the hammer's attack on the nipple?   Heat and bend the hammer or go in to the hammer nose with your favorite dremel and align the hammer's striking surface to meet the nipple end square?  I'm only guessing here that the nipple and hammer were misaligned.

This would all be after a proper metric nipple is found and reset in to the rifle..    (Nothing but the best)

[docone]

If you cannot align with merely torquing the drum, then the hammer can be bent.
I have on occasion, ground the inside of the hammer cup to be level with the nipple. That usually does not take much effort either.
CVA especially does not need hammer heating to bend slightly.

[Daryl]

I feel that unless the angle of the throw is correct, there will be outside stress on the nipple's shank. The striking surface inside the cup should indeed be correct, hitting the nipple's nose squarely, however the angle of the blow should also be correct to the angle of the nipple in the drum.

[trentOH]

Did the nipple shaft break during a shot, or while snapping a cap? I'm curious how far the piece flew, and if it broke off under pressure of a shot, or just from the smack of the hammer.

As an aside, i saw a defective nipple at Friendship about 2 years ago: it didn't have a hole in it!

[snowdragon]

Pertaining to the hammer alignment question, I agree with Daryl. If the nose of the hammer is already centered on the nipple, then it's a matter of grinding the recess to hit the nipple squarely.  If the nose is off center, then the hammer needs to be bent so that the nipple is in the center of the recess. Even after you bend the hammer for correct alignment, you still may need to grind the inside of the recess to strike the nipple squarely.

I always heat bend hammers. Bill

[tuffy]

Two things. First, check the inside of the hammer cup. CVA's are notorious for retaining spent caps. Sometimes to the extent of drilling them out. I've owned and shot CVA Mountain rifles and Hawkens since 1976. Second, DO NOT torque the drum on a CVA. The drum is set into the breech plug. Not partially, completely into the breech plug. If you torque just a small amount, the drum breaks off and you're stuck with a gunsmith repair job. Dixie Gun Works sells new drums specifically for CVA's. CVA will not sell drums to anyone. They require the barrel be sent to them for repair.

        CW

[Roger Fisher]

Did the nipple shaft break during a shot, or while snapping a cap? I'm curious how far the piece flew, and if it broke off under pressure of a shot, or just from the smack of the hammer.

As an aside, i saw a defective nipple at Friendship about 2 years ago: it didn't have a hole in it!

Happened when firing a shot and the young shooter's advisor had the  broken piece in his hand when I saw it.  I seem to recall the shot did sound 'funny'; but can't say so for 100% certain.

[zimmerstutzen]

There is an awful lot we don't know.
1.  At any time during the years of the guns life, Did somebody attempt to turn the drum and crack the nipple. 
2.  Was it an original or after market replacement nipple
3.  I have seen people drop a barrel during cleaning and damage a nipple.
4.  I have seen old double barrels with nipples so hard that they cracked.  Don't know what it takes to work harden metal like that.

It is easy to blame the company that sold it some twenty, thirty or even forty years ago, but we don't know what happened to that gun during it's existence.  May or may not be a defect from manufacturing.  May or may not be a problem from hobby smithing.

[vtbuck223]

I am a bit surprised that others haven't seen this more often...based upon my own experiences. A few years back I started participating in primitive biathlons and was a witness to two similar events on brand new CVA's...both had been fired only a handful of times before it occured. The first time it happened to my son...he had shot it about 10 times before going to a shoot and in the middle of the course...the nipple exploded on him in the act of shooting. I saw it again a year later....at another shoot when I happed to be near a guy who was shooting the same exact gun and the nipple exploded again...this guy was actually hit by a fragment of the nipple just below the eye. Ironically, the guy had won the gun in a raffle at one of the shoots. They are good guns...I helped my nephew by one as well...but the first thing we did was change the nipple out.

[Hungry Horse]

 Having owned about a dozen CVA rifles over the years, I can say most of the nipple damage occurs when the barrel is dismounted from the stock. Being a modified drum and nipple arrangement, the nipple is particularly vulnerable when the barrel is out of the stock. As mentioned before, the drum in CVA guns extends into the center of the bore, and is indexed at the factory. Torquing the drum will most likely cause poor, or no, ignition. I have had very little problems with CVA stainless nipples. I did have one gas cutting issue with a CVA mountain rifle. That gun had to have the drum replaced by CVA.

                          Hungry Horse
 

[Burgess_rudy]

Is it marked "Made in China?"