50 Cal Pedersoli Kentucky Flinter

[Horace]

Two questions:

I am interested in the above gun and wonder what experience others have had as to the lock, accuracy and load it will handle.

 

[Rebel]

I bought one and sent it back the next day. The ventliner was positioned clear to the front bottom edge of the pan. The vent hole was nearly covered by the pan, and i knew that it would not have good ignition. Others may be different, but i have heard of a couple other people that got them and had the same problem with vent placement.

 

[dkloos]

I have had mine for over a year now (mine is a .45), it fires excellent. As for historical accuracy, well it is too generic to really be called a "Kentucky Rifle". About a month a go I finally took it into the shop again and completely modified it so that it looked more accurate. The rifle itself is perfect, though, as far as I know i've only had a handful of times when the gun didnt go off immediately. Its a durable, powerful gun, and as long as you don't plan to reenact with it, you should enjoy having it. If you have any more questions just shoot me an email. (no pun intended.) ::

 

[Bill Bryan]

I've had one for several months with little to complain. I got over 70 shots on the first flint with seldom a misfire. I shoot 25 grains of 3F at 25 and 50 yards without trouble. The gun can shoot better than I can. :results:

 

[Flint1]

This was my first flinter, bought back in 1991. It is a handsome piece, well-made, but is a generic firearm--not really accurate to a particular timeframe. On the downside, I always had problems with the drift pin working out of the stirrup, causing the mainspring to fully expand during a match. This of course renders the firearm inoperable until the lock is removed and the pin replaced--if you don't loose the pin when removing the lock. I finally ordered a new lock for it about three years ago, and shot it only once after that. The touchhole is too small for my thinking--you can run a nipple pick for a percussion gun through it, but not a touchhole pick--if you're not careful, you will have lots of fouling with only a pin-sized hole for the flash through it. It also eats flints--used to go through 2 new flints per club match, about 35-40 shots. This may be because it uses a 1/2 inch flint. My Chambers Colonial Virginia lock uses a 7/8 flint and I've gotten 95 shots from one flint with it. Also, the lack of a cheekpiece makes it impossible to use moderately heavy loads--unless you want to look and feel like you've tangled with Mike Tyson. It is a pretty accurate shooter, and much cheaper than a semicustom gun. If I were to buy a mass-produced factory gun, I would go with a Pedersoli, but first I would consider one of the semicustoms. If you just want to shoot flintlock until you acquire one of the semicustoms, then I would recommend the Pedersoli over the others. It makes a good first flinter.

 

[Horace]

Hangfeyer,
I am curious as to what loads you have been able to work up for hunting.

 

[dkloos]

I usually shoot a .44 round ball wrapped in pure cotton greased patch (available in a bag for dirt cheap at any Wal Mart.) The load appropriate for that (in my experience) is about .35 - .40 grains FFFG. These things do not require much powder, and are very loud even with small loads of .25 FFFG. I've never hunted with mine, just target shot.
In response to the other question - the gun is too generic for the period that I represent (1750's-1780's) and I therefore do not use it for reenactments. In fact, I can't think of any real accurate units who would allow that gun to be used, at least in my experience.

 

To try to answer your questions:
(1) lock--it works but may need tuning. There are better choices on the market.
(2) accuracy--I have seen very good accuracy from Pedersoli rifles.
(3) loads--for a .50 you would start about 50-60 grs fffg to search for target accuracy and work up a hunting load from there. Most hunters will use 70 to 90 gr fffg or ffg. You will have to determine which ball size/ patch size works best for you.
These observations are from seeing Pedersolis in use by friends, I do not own one. You did not ask about historical accuracy so I will not comment on that. I will say that I think the Pedersolis are overpriced comparing quality with other factory guns out there. For a couple hundred more you can get a TVA or other semicustom rifle. For a couple hundred less you can get a Lyman GPR.

 

[masterbass36]

I have a Pedersoli Pa. long rifle. Have had mine for going on 10 years now. Accurate as all get out. 80 gr. 2FF .012 patched .490 ball. 3 shots touching @50 yards off the bench.
The lock is the one draw back I had. Kept eating flints. Had lock tuned and polished all moving parts. works like a champ. :m2c: I also had the touch hole drilled out. I think I went .080 but cannot remember.
Rifle has served me well. Thinking of restocking it and cutting barrel length down a bit. It is very nose heavy. :front: