Pedersoli to CoS conversion

Good afternoon,


I figured I would document my attempt at turning a Pedersoli Bess into a Committee of Safety musket. Aside from a Jukar derringer kit, I haven't done much gunsmithing, so this will certainly be a challenge. I purchased this Bess used back in 2015 and it was my first flintlock firearm. I enjoy shooting it, however I was always irked by the undersized buttstock and incorrect lock plate markings. After reading about the various committee of safety muskets produced in the colonies, I decided this conversation would be a good fix. Specifically I wanted to do a Maryland CoS musket as I was stationed there in the army and I really liked the area. I found four examples online of original Maryland muskets with high quality pictures. One from ilovemuzzleloading.com, one from Rock Island auction house, and two from Morphys. I decided rather than make a 100% accurate clone of any one musket, for simplicity's sake I would draw features from all of them to make something representative of the muskets being produced at the time.

The first step was to scrub off the incorrect pedersoli lock markings. I did this with flat and round files, a Dremel sanding drum, and lots of elbow grease.

Once I got the majority of the engraving off the the cock and lock plate I polished them with 60 grit all the way to 3000 grit sandpaper. There are still a few small file marks, but I can live with those. Given the conditions these muskets were made under, a fine grade finish was probably a low priority. This part took me about two weekends to complete. Luckily one of the originals had the same double engraved lines around the frizzen and top jaw as the pedersoli, so I decided to leave those. Next I will try to recontour the stock to look more like the originals.

Original lock plate


Original engraved top jaw
Removing the markings

Original frizzen spring


All back together!

That lock cleaned up very nice! Good work. I'm looking at the front, and it's likely just different lighting, but I can see a gap between the frizzen spring and the front of the lock. Was it that way before or is it just nice and shiny now and noticeable?

ChuckJonesWagon said:

That lock cleaned up very nice! Good work. I'm looking at the front, and it's likely just different lighting, but I can see a gap between the frizzen spring and the front of the lock. Was it that way before or is it just nice and shiny now and noticeable?

Click to expand...

I think it's just the light and the angle the photo was taken at. The stock reshaping is done, I just need to sand and re-stain it next weekend

Hi CG,
Good project! Double check the thickness of your lock plate where the slot for the sear spring is located. Often, they cut the mortise too deep such that there is almost no thickness left to the plate. If you do any engraving on that outside surface you may break into the slot particularly after you ground off the "Grice 1762".

dave

CurleyGrimes said:

Good afternoon,


I figured I would document my attempt at turning a Pedersoli Bess into a Committee of Safety musket. Aside from a Jukar derringer kit, I haven't done much gunsmithing, so this will certainly be a challenge. I purchased this Bess used back in 2015 and it was my first flintlock firearm. I enjoy shooting it, however I was always irked by the undersized buttstock and incorrect lock plate markings. After reading about the various committee of safety muskets produced in the colonies, I decided this conversation would be a good fix. Specifically I wanted to do a Maryland CoS musket as I was stationed there in the army and I really liked the area. I found four examples online of original Maryland muskets with high quality pictures. One from ilovemuzzleloading.com, one from Rock Island auction house, and two from Morphys. I decided rather than make a 100% accurate clone of any one musket, for simplicity's sake I would draw features from all of them to make something representative of the muskets being produced at the time.

The first step was to scrub off the incorrect pedersoli lock markings. I did this with flat and round files, a Dremel sanding drum, and lots of elbow grease.

Once I got the majority of the engraving off the the cock and lock plate I polished them with 60 grit all the way to 3000 grit sandpaper. There are still a few small file marks, but I can live with those. Given the conditions these muskets were made under, a fine grade finish was probably a low priority. This part took me about two weekends to complete. Luckily one of the originals had the same double engraved lines around the frizzen and top jaw as the pedersoli, so I decided to leave those. Next I will try to recontour the stock to look more like the originals.
View attachment 350444
Original lock plate
View attachment 350445

Original engraved top jawView attachment 350446
Removing the markings
View attachment 350448
Original frizzen spring
View attachment 350447

All back together!

Click to expand...

Cool project! Thanks for sharing!

I got the stock reshaped and am just waiting for the stain to dry. I used a rasp, files, and sandpaper to reshape the stock nose, foregrip swell, lock plate finials, and beaver tail. I then lightly sanded and restained the whole stock. I also used a small dowel to plug the hole for the orginial escutcheon screw, as this will use a small wood screw through the top of the escutcheon

I got the Committee of Safety musket completed yesterday. After staining I drilled the escutcheon for a wood screw and replaced the two middle rammer thimbles with simple brass tubes. I also reshaped the rammer head to more of a trumpet shape. While there were a few small hiccups along the way, I think it turned out pretty well and I am much more pleased with it now.

It looks good to me. Just my $0.02 opinion.

Nice Now you need to replace those Pedersoli sling swivels with correct ones.