Looking to get a new rifle   I was thinking about the CPA  with a  modle 52 stock  a #4 barrel 30 long  in 45/70   I have never seen a CPA  but have heard they are good  What is the general feelings about these rifles  and their suitability as a hunting rifle   I usually hunt horseback  and weight is not really a factor within reason.  The idea of getting a second barrel in a varmit caliber is very apealing  but I thought I would ask the folks who know  what you think about these rifles

Quisto56

if you haven't done so yet check out their web site @
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links);  - I have one in 32-40 and 
with an extra bbl in 22lr with rimfire breachblock.   
I like the rifle and they are good people to work with. 
They stand behind their product - rimfire

Quisto,

I can 2nd the comments on CPA Paul and Gail. Real nice people to deal with.  I am only guessing but I would think they have built more special and target 44 1/2  rifles than Stevens did.

On the stocks,  I have 2 CPA's One is pure Schuetzen with 32/40 and .22 LR barrels. 

The other is stocked for BPC Silouette and is 38/55 # 4 with an extra walking sporter weight barrel in 219 Zipper.  The BPC stock is very suitable for a hunting rifle and would be the stock I would want if using the 45/70  Cheekpiece and shotgun but would be best for the recoil.  The # 4 barrel would also be the most suitable for a 45/70 hunting rifle.

I think I would avoid the Stevens 52 stock for a cartridge that recoils like a 45/70   The prong butt plates like on the origanal rifles are pretty hard on you in a recoiling cartridge except when fired offhand.  I shoot Trapdoors a lot and even the mild cresent butt on a Trapdoor is tiring after a while.  Prone it's amost impossable to shoot well.

For your Varmit barrel Paul sets up in a number of calibers and you could get about any reasonable cartridge as well as the barrel weight and configuaration for the type of hunting you plan to do. The BPC buttstock is also very good for a Varmit rifle.

You also have a number of sighting options. I use Old Style scopes and target tang sights but CPA does set rifles up for modern scope mounts.  And a number of the tang sight builders sell both hunting and target models on the same base.

You would not go wrong with a CPA 

Boats

I have thought about this often but fall back on my Bolt actions when looking for high performance. My opinon is not based on experence but knowing the CPA's pretty well and thinking about it a lot here is some food for thought.

Like most Single Shots The CPA's do best in a rimmed cartridge.  If I wanted a .25 cal  for modern hunting I would look at one of the wildcats on a 30/30 case There was a factory 25/35 on the 30/30 case that should produce good velocity in a modern strong rifle. Particulary since you can load pointed bullets in the CPA.

Look at the data for 7/30 Walters too. With pointed bullets and a long barrel it's a real good performer.

Any of the 30/30 based cartridges are considered safe in a T/C Contender pistol action and the CPA is certainly stronger than they are.

To my mind the best of the small .25's is the .250 Savage and perhaps CPA can fit an extractor for the rimless case. I don't know if they recomend the action for cartridges of this preassure. Again using the T/C example they do not recomend it for the Contender action and use the stronger Encore action for higher pressure cartridges like the Savage.

I would not think the CPA action suitable for cartridges based on the 06 or 308. If you want a single shot that powerfull the Ruger is probably the way to go.

It would make a nice rifle set up in  45/70 .25 high velocy and a .22 Varmit barrel. Add a .22 long rifle and you would never need another gun for hunting

Boats