Cabela's Blue Ridge Flintlock

[ghostdncr]

I've been especially blessed on a number of different fronts this year, mainly by a wonderful family, timely passing of illness and injury, and a series of economic disasters that ultimately worked themselves out. I was so pleased to get through the past year that I asked for no Christmas presents of any kind beyond fellowship and a good meal or two! As it went, I was blessed even more by a few small, very useful gifts and an assortment of gift cards, cash, and a Cabela's coupon. I decided to apply the monetary gifts toward a Blue Ridge flintlock, which I've wanted for years. My first flinter was a heavily worn Blue Ridge in .45 caliber with a badly rusted bore and ill-sparking lock that I never could get to shoot worth a dime, but I loved the feel of it and it swung me over to shooting flint almost exclusively for nearly twenty years now. I still shoot poorly, but that's a different matter...

I went to the local Cabela's this morning and they had a single Blue Ridge left. It was a .54 caliber, which is (as I understand it) the only caliber offered with an appropriate PRB twist of 1-66" and as I'd sooner stick my hand into a hornet's nest as shoot sabots, the .54 was what I was hoping to find. It was a display gun in great shape aside from a minor scratch on the off-side lock panel, which the manager graciously offered a 5% discount in compensation. Sounded fair to me, so the box was located, packed and taped, and off to the checkout I went. After all the various discounts and gift monies, I ended up paying about $340 out of pocket and was tickled fair to death with that. I know how upset we all get over threads like this without photos, so here's a quick one:

First thing I did after getting it home was tuning the flint so it would snap the frizzen forward, then checked it for spark. It definitely qualifies as "throwing a shower" so my worries of having to re-heat treat the frizzen were unnecessary. I cleaned the bore and found very light surface rust, which cleaned up after only a few patches. I opened the flash hole to .070" and coned the back side of the liner to improve ignition. The inside of the lock appears very well finished and functions beautifully. Overall fit and finish is very nice for the price.

I'll be taking it out on a scout tomorrow so a related thread may pop up in the trekking section in the next few days. Wish me luck. I hope a wonderful Christmas was had by all!

 

[flyfisher76544]

Nice, glad everything panned out for you this year!! My son loves his Blueridge.
:thumbsup:

 

[badpenny]

congradulations, l found one in .36 flintlock in the bargain cave many years ago. i have have been very pleased with it over the years

 

[Alden]

Sounds like a special time -- enjoy. I presume on your "trek" you'll shoot it, and will look for more pics on the treking forum -- Pedersolis have been known to "pose" for lotsa pictures.

 

[ghostdncr]

I presume on your "trek" you'll shoot it, and will look for more pics on the treking forum -- Pedersolis have been known to "pose" for lotsa pictures.

Indeed, Alden! I'll be carrying enough PRB and powder for 2-3 weeks of plain living and hope to end the day with nothing more than a full loading block and only enough powder to make a light swish in the horn. I'll be starting out with only 50 grains of FFFg and working up from there, as this rifle will be seeing not only deer and hog duties, but small game usage as well. I've found it not too difficult to bark squirrels with a .54, but it's ugly when you strike a might high. :shocked2:

 

[hanshi]

You got a great deal on a rifle I'd like to own, myself.

 

[ncmtmike]

Congrats on everything :wink: Now enjoy that Flinter! :wink:

 

[Leatherbark]

Your .54 Blue Ridge is one of the few .54 caliber muzzleloaders that has a 7/8ths inch barrel. That is mighty thin barrel walls. Good thing it has a patent breech as there prolly wouldn't be enough barrel meat to put a drum in the side of that barrel. Pedersoli says it is very strong steel though. I had one and although it shot well if you shoot a lot mirage (heat shimmer) will cause problems because of the thin barrel. At least it did with mine in cold weather. Sure did carry easy though. Mine had a tighter than normal bore and had to use a .526 ball

Bob

 

[Renegade Dan]

Congrats on a great buy! :thumbsup: I have always wanted to get one of the blue ridge rifles in 54 caliber. Looking forward to range results. Have fun!
RD

 

[azmntman]

I had a .45 blueridge flint years back. Wasn't impressed at all with the accuracy. My CVA.50 is a dead shooter though. The blue ridge sure looks sweeter though. I traded it for a 45-70 about a year ago. Thinking smooth bore now after being on this forum for a few months! I would get a .40 cal if I could find one. Probably get a .69 to start though. Nice gun, nice family! I did get a pound of pyrodex P from my daughter !!

 

[bpd303]

That's funny I have a .45 Blue Ridge and it's a tack driver. I just bought the .54 Blue Ridge from Cabela's bargain cave and it sure fits and handles well. Haven't shot it yet though too much snow & cold weather here, (OK I'm a wuss) but comfortable by the fire. :grin:

 

[ghostdncr]

Good points, there. I'm anxious to see how the 7/8" .54 barrel carries in the field, but it's quite light and points great in the kitchen! I have no clue why the muzzle is left in-the-white, but here's a pic for reference:

I hadn't given mirage much thought but can see how it would be an issue after several shots. An old veteran once described to me how the human brain can pretty accurately nail down the location of a distant shot to one of the four points of a compass. If the listener moves a short distance, they can usually walk to within 100 yards of where the second shot was fired from (if the shooter doesn't move between shots). Based on that, I hardly ever fire more than one shot from a location without moving on up the trail, reloading as I go. Most of my shooting nowadays is on these so-called "scouts" so loading and shooting is done as close to historically accurate as I can manage. In that respect, carried much and shot little seems more appropriate (IMHO) for the time period I'm dabbling in.

Also, I was able to thumb start a dry patched .530 ball, but just barely. Seems like that should work out okay if I can find a good powder charge to suit it.

 

[kingsax26]

well one of two cenarios comes to mind....1) they make the barrels really really long and cut them to length and crown the end or more realisticly, they leave it white as to not get browning/ bluing in the bore and rust it up....I tried browning the end of my traditions kit....really bad idea...took me a week to clean the bore out. But all in all I ahve a frontier rifle (cousin of the blue ridge) and I love it. In fact I took my first deer ever with black powder this year....I dont ahve a single complaint about my pedersoli

 

[ghostdncr]

Number two seems to make a lot of sense, but number one may explain it, too. No doubt, it will start developing a patina after a few trips afield. I love the soft matte black finish on the barrel. It's a superbly executed job and one that I expect will wear nicely.

Congrats on that first deer! :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

Maybe they left the muzzle in the white as a hint that you need to buy a piece of black "wet/dry" silicone carbide sandpaper. Some 180 or 220 grit will work nicely.

Tear a piece about 1" X 1" and lay it on the muzzle.

Using your thumb, press the sandpaper down into the bore and then rotate your thumb back and forth in a circular direction.
As you do this, stop every 3-5 sessions and rotate the gun barrel 1/4-1/3 turn. Then continue.

When the paper stops cutting, replace the square and continue until every trace of those sharp edges on the rifling and where the crown meets the face of the muzzle are rounded off.

Rounding off those sharp edges will keep them from cutting the patch while your starting the patched ball.

If you really don't like the white look of the muzzle, some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue will darken the metal nicely.

 

[bpd303]

Even though I cleaned all of the factory grease out of the bore and pulled the lock to oil it, I never noticed the muzzle was in the white. I just went and looked at it and had to laugh... yep. I did notice that the lands & groves are really sharp so I will smooth them with some 600 grit W&D paper before shooting it. One thing I did notice is the flint is wrapped with lead though.

 

[steve free]

Congrats, on the new rifle, she's a beauty. Let us know how she shoots.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Keep an eye on that lead holding your flint...it tends to loosen up over time and will need tightened periodically! Other than this...you got a fine rifle at a great price...as far as the 7/8th inch barrel I believe it is perfect for hunt'n purposes as you won't be shoot'n it all that often where you would have to contend with heat mirage and the savings in weight will make it a joy to carry! May God bless you and the family this new year! :v

 

[Old Creek]

Congratulations J, if you like it as much as i like my .45 frontier you got her licked. I am so glad to hear everything worked its self out and pray you will have smooth sailing from here on out.
looking forward to see how the sight in goes and some pictures of fallen game.

creek

 

[maypo59]

Good points, there. I'm anxious to see how the 7/8" .54 barrel carries in the field, but it's quite light and points great in the kitchen! I have no clue why the muzzle is left in-the-white, but here's a pic for reference:

I just got a Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken (percussion) a few weeks ago, it also has the barrel end "in the white".. rest of the rifle is beautifully finished.. The Kentucky I came across last week has a finished muzzle face. It is an older Pedersoli, 1974 or so.