lining up nipple to hammer face

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I just bought a CVA Pennsylvania rifle in .50 cal in unfired condition and at a great price. Here's the bad news. The previous owner dry fired the gun and bunged up the nipple. I thought, no problem I have a replacement. But when I went to replace it I struggled to get it in straight  and when I did the hammer face did not center on the nipple but on the front edge of the hammer cup. I fussed with it for quite awhile and settled on filing down the old nipple which moved the nipple closer to the hammer face but it is still contacting the front edge of the hammer cup. I thought about trying to bend the hammer out but that makes me nervous. I also thought about just shooting the gun as it is. I am sure the nipple is secure and it is snuggly screwed into the bolster but is it still wise to shoot it as is? It does pop caps this way but will I be dealing with hammer blow back even with plinking loads? Should I try to bend the hammer or just buy a flash cup and shoot it the way it is?

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[bmtshooter]

It would help a lot if you can post a picture showing the problem.

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I am a tech dummy so a pic probably won't be forthcoming. The front edge of the hammer is what is contacting the nipple instead of the center of the hammer face. It still pops caps but is it still safe to shoot it this way?
The nipple is secure and straight in the bolster.

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[Papa]

Your new nipple may be the wrong one for your rifle. There are several different threass, some rifles take metric, which are different lengths. I would start there.
Mark

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The nipple is the correct one I'm sure of that. I think what happened is that the previous owner or I cross threaded the thing when installing the nipple. There are some burrs on the threads near the top of the bolster where the nipple goes in and this is what threw off the angle of the nipple by a centimeter or two. I have it so the nipple screws in easily and securely and bottoms out tightly and securely but at the wrong angle to contact the hammer face. Keep the ideas coming guys we'll figure this out.

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[beowulf]

common problem with the cva kentuckys, know a lot of guys who locked the hammer in a vice , heated it up , and gently bent it into the correct position ! I`ve done it once ! you have to be careful move the piece just enough to clear the nipple , they can snap on you !

[Papa]

Beowulf may be right and the hammer "might" need to be bent. If the original nipple worked I'm still going with the nipple. If the front of the hammer is hitting the top of the nipple then the nipple cone is to long. Either shorten the cone or look for a shorter nipple cone.
Mark

[Hanshi]

A lot of good possibilities have been brought up.  If the threads are stripped in the bolster, you might be able to correct them with a proper size tap which will "recut" the threads.  And yes, the nipple may need to be shorter.  I fixed a similar problem once by opening up the hammer face with a dremel tool.  Bending the hammer, in my opinion, would be a last resort.  It takes a little more knowledge and particular tools to do this than a new BP shooter might usually have on hand.  Try the easier fixes first, then get help to bend the hammer if nothing else works.

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I have a friend who's neighbor is a machinist and has built a few muzzleloaders. I'll try to get in touch with him and have him look at it. I know track of the wolf sells a 7-1 nipple specifically for repairing 6-1 nipple bolsters on Spanish made guns. It requires the bolster be rethreaded for the 7-1 nipple. I figure a machinist/gun maker ought to be able to do that for me. As anxious as I am to shoot my new rifle I want to be sure its safe and I have other ML rifles to play with and shoot in the mean time.

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[Papa]

If the threads are not buggered up to badly, cross threaded etc. you can probably take a .25X28 bottom tap and re chase them. If it was supposed to have a metric nipple and someone forced a standard nipple into the bolster you can drill out the threads and use a .255X28 tap and oversize nipple. Both available from Track of The Wolf or others. Many of the imports did use metric nipples. BTW, metric nipples are usually a little shorter than standard ones and could be the reason the standard one is hitting the hammer nose. The geometry would be different.
Mark

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The nipple seems to want to go into the bolster in one of three ways. Canted backward in the proper angle to meet the hammer face but either slanted toward the barrel or slanted away from the barrel visibly crooked and still not meeting the hammer face. The way it goes into the bolster the third way is canted forward toward the muzzle and away from the hammer face but straight otherwise. I think someone with some savvy with a tapping set can probably fix this issue for me. I am afraid I lack the experience to do this my self.

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[William]

common problem with the cva kentuckys, know a lot of guys who locked the hammer in a vice , heated it up , and gently bent it into the correct position ! I`ve done it once ! you have to be careful move the piece just enough to clear the nipple , they can snap on you !

I remember this problem and seem to recall someone, maybe CVA themselves came up with a new hammer that was produced as a direct replacement that had the correct geometry and the hammer face contacted the primer squarely.  Anyone remember which company that was?

Does anyone make a new bolster for that model?  If so then it may be cheaper and easier to replace that instead and the drill & tap on the old one.  That is if that CVA model doesn't have the bolster that is screwed into the breech plug.