CVA Hunter ~ 35 Remington

[Ranch Dog]

A couple of months ago, I bought a real slick looking single shot from CVA. The fact that it was chambered in 35 Remington really caught my eye as I have always really liked the cartridge. They had two versions of the rifle a "Compact" and a "Standard", I went with the #5800 compact rifle. Here are the basic specs on the rifle and the other offerings.



This rifle is tiny! A real lightweight package. It took a little work to settle in with the rifle as it is actually a bit small for me, I'm 6' 3", 235# with long arms and big hands. I really have to crunch up to shoot it. I've also never handled a rifle that "twists" so hard against the bullet going down the barrel. The recoil of the light rifle is manageable with the decelerator type pad that CVA uses but the rifle will rotate right out of your grip! Shooting it off bags with little contact and it will flip on it's side!



Of course I'm going to use a Ranch Dog bullet and my TLC359-190-RF has worked real well. I made little effort at load work moving quickly to max loads of H335, H322, & Benchmark. H335 has been my favorite in my Marlin 336D with this bullet so I favored it with the CVA rifle. 41.5-grains pushes the 190 grain bullet out the muzzle at 2320 FPS. I have not made any effort, yet, to adjust the load for accuracy beyond what it is shooting.

I did have several false starts with it as I've had two Bushnell Banners fail in the load shooting. These are the #71-1545, the 1.5-4.5x32 scopes that I favor. It was quite misleading having two fail but I put a third on and it very well.



The Banner I put on it today is an older Lite-Sight model a 1.5-6 power scope with a small illuminated center. The taped holes on the target are the sight in effort at 100-yards and I called the last three good enough as the wind today is terrible, blowing about 25 mph with the temperature near 90°!

I've decided the rifle is too small for me, I originally thought it would be a good rifle for my grandson but he has so many others to work with and the recoil would always be way too much for him to master while his age is in the single digits. My friend Joe who helps me with my place has taken a shine to the rifle so I think I'm going to give it to him, he is quite a bit smaller in frame than me so it fits him quite well. I do think I am going to order CR5804, the 35 Remington in the standard rifle along with the CR5430 chambered in 44 Mag.

I've owned or own H&R and Rossi single shots and this by far slicker than any I have shot. The fit, finish, and trigger is hands down the winner with the CVA. Joe bought a H&R chambered in 22 Hornet two weeks ago but it was so rough compared to the CVA, he returned it.

[357cyrus]

Looks like another good one to buy for my son...who still won't be here for a few weeks. Seriously though, I like it, and likely wouldn't have seen one if not for your review.

[Ranch Dog]

Looks like another good one to buy for my son...who still won't be here for a few weeks. Seriously though, I like it, and likely wouldn't have seen one if not for your review.

I had never heard of it. I was research rifles, other than semi-autos, chambered in 300 BO and came across the Hunter. I'm waiting on a price quote for the "Standard" 35 Rem and the 44 Mag.

[Ranch Dog]

I had never heard of it. I was research rifles, other than semi-autos, chambered in 300 BO and came across the Hunter. I'm waiting on a price quote for the "Standard" 35 Rem and the 44 Mag.

My FFL returned my email, he is in Germany and will return next week and get the rifles sent. I gave Joe the 5800 and he was quite pleased. This also means the he has to move in from the sidelines and start reloading as there is not many alternatives when it comes to this cartridge any more. Here spent yesterday at my Classic Turret turning out ammo to get it sighted in and hunt with last night. I think I will find him a Loader to get him started away from my bench.

[Maximumbob54]

Oh, I like that compact .44 magnum version. I could see owning that. I too was not pleased with the H&R rifle I picked up in the store. It was handed right back to them after only a few seconds. I don't know if the brand's quality has slipped in the last few years or what. The .223 compact H&R my cousin bought for her daughter's first center fire rifle is a joy to shoot and is twice the quality of the one I haldled in the store. My current lust is for a .357 compact single shot though so I'm holding out until I see the right one. Neat to hear CVA is making centerfire stuff though as I thought they were a front stuffer only brand.