Cabela's Blue Ridge (Pedersoli)

[Desert Ratxx]

A buddy of mine has the Blue Ridge in .45. He is having a heck of a time getting it sighted in. It seems the groupings change from session to session or don't really group at all. We noticed once that the screws that hold the barrel in were loose and after tightening them up things dialed in for a hadfull of shots but then started going wild again. My questions are...

1) for those of you that have the .45 what is your load combination of patch and ball? How tight is your ball and patch?

2) Do the Pedersoli's need a long time to break in?

3) Is there any other special tricks or procedures any of you have found to improve accuracy?

Some additional info is the sights are tight, he even dimpled them to make sure they are not moving, and have tried a variety of powder charges. I think the next time we go out he is going to try some different patch material to see if a tighter patch makes a difference.

Thanks for all the help in advance, even though it's not my rifle it's getting fustrating trying to get it figured out.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

hay CoyoteJoe has one and seems to get good groups with it you could PM him and I am sure he would help you out.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sounds like the barrel is not bedded properly. The screws are working loose with each shot because there are high spots in the barrel channel, or the tang channel, or where the breechplug contact the wood at the rear of the barrel mortise. Take the barrel out, and use some kind of marking dye on the barrel, plug and tang, and then seat the barrel and tang back together. screws, and pins. Then take it out again, and see where the high spots are. Using a very SHARP chisel, remove those high spots, dye it again, and re-install the barrel. Keep this up until you have the barrel making good contact with the wood in all those places.

Some people just use glass bedding compound around the barrel to get rid of these kinds of problems. If you don't know how to shave wood with a wood chisel, you probably should find someone else to do the work with the glass bedding compound, too.

 

[Desert Ratxx]

The screws have held tight after that initial tightening (it's the first thing we check now). I wondered if the stock fit could be causing issues, but with the screws staying tight I'm not sure.

 

[CrackStock]

Read what Paul wrote again. He is telling you that the barrel channel in the stock may not cut quite right and the high spots are causing this trouble. It is worth taking the barrel out and looking at the channel. I would glass bed the barrel channel and breech area.

CS

 

Make sure that the screw heads that go through the thimbles and screw into the underside of the barrel are catching the inside channel of the brass thimbles. The holes that pass through the thimbles are supposed to be of different sizes. The holes close to the barrel must be smaller than the screw head so the head catches and actully secures the foreend to the barrel. The other hole is supposed to be larger so the screw can pass (head and all) through to permit assembly and disassembly. If the inner holes are too large you can a.) pean it closed a bit b.) get a star washer and use it to increase the head size of the screw. You will have to JB Weld the washer in place because if you put it on the screw - it will not go through the outer hole. I had the same problem with mine and was able to pean in the holes nest to the barrel permitting the screw head to catch. It shoots great. Send me a private message if you need help with this and we will work it through together. BTW - I have a great deal of respect for Paul V.and his knowledge is remarkable. But please try my suggestion first.

 

[mloader40]

Loosen the tang screw a bit, if it is overtight the stock will be bowed some.
I have a Hatfield (same design) that will shoot the eyes out of a nat if someone other than me sights it. Peening the thimbles sounds like a good idea to.
Good luck,
BPWRL

 

[Desert Ratxx]

Thanks for the replys.

To clarify my last post let me re-phrase it. I'm not trying to argue with Paul or cast out his thoughts. We found the screws loose once, they were possibly loose from production I'm not sure. After we tightened them they have not come loose again. I thought with the screws holding tight there was less of a chance of the barrel channel being out of whack. I'll let him know and have him check it out.

Deaconjo, that makes a lot of sense, if the thimbles aren't holding it right it would let the barrel move. I'll also have him try the tang bolt as well.

If there are anymore ideas, keep them coming. There's suppose to be a buck out there waiting to be taken with this rifle, my buddy would hate to have to let him go if he can't get this rifle sighted in better. :grin:

 

[cowpoke1955]

I have a .45 Blue Ridge flinter. I never had any problems with it, so I can't help you there. I shoot 70 grains of FFFg Goex, .440 ball and pillow ticking with moose milk. At 50 yards, it will blow the X ring out. The only change I made was the front sight. The factory front sight is too thick. I installed a thin silver blade front sight and it gives me a better sight picture. You can find them at Dixie or Track of the Wolf. Good luck with the new rifle and let the deer beware :thumbsup: .

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Desert Rat, I don't think the barrel requires much break-in. They appear to be button rifled and very smooth. The grooves are rather shallow and the rule of thumb for shallow grooves is to run a larger ball and thinner patch than you might try with a deep groove barrel. My Blue Ridge flint .45 likes only one load and is very fussy about it. I run 45 grains of 3f, a .451" ball with .014" linen patching, spit lubed. It does require quite a stiff swat on the ball starter to get it past the crown but then is easy enough to ram on down, the slick bore helps alot.
I have glass bedded my barrel and I do that with all my rifles. One possiblity is that the screws are bottoming out in the threaded hole and not really pulling the barrel down tight. That is a very slim barrel and it doesn't take much to upset the vibrations. If shooting from a rest you may find that the point of contact between forend and rest will have an effect on grouping. Try to be consistent with that little detail.
I've also replaced the sights on my rifle. I could not get consistent results with the original buckhorn rear sight, it looks neat but did not work for me. I went with a flat top rear sight which gives me a cleaner sight picture with good reference for elevation and cant.
Keep at it and I'm sure you will find a load that works.

 

[agill]

I shoot and hunt using a .445 ball with a Crisco lubed .010 pillow ticking patch and 50 grains of FFF primed with a little bit of ffff. I changed the front sight to a German silver one, which is thinner than the original.

 

[Dave K]

I had a similiar problem with a 32 Pedersoli I had.I took those screws out that holds the stock to the barrel and made little sleeves that would allow the screws/sleeves to "float" in the wood.Kind of like pillar bedding. The screws were tight to the sleeves, but the wood was a little loose to the sleeves. Hope that makes sense. It worked for my gun.

 

[Desert Ratxx]

Thanks for all of the replys, I printed them out and talked them over with my buddy yesterday. He's going to check out the things that you've mentioned and hopefully have it ready for a range session next weekend. I'll let you know how it turned out.


Thanks again. :hatsoff:

 

[jbwilliams3]

I'm an amateur at best, but I've had my .45 Blue Ridge for about six months and have never had a problem- I started with a .445 ball and .12 ticking with 50 grs. of 3f powder, using an experienced friend's home made lube- since then I've switched to crisco as it is readily available and i've noticed no difference. I've also started to use thicker ticking (about .14) as that's what I have available and it's about as tight as the .12 was at first. I did have trouble initially with the buck horn sights and still getting used to that adjustment- other than that, she shoots a good group (and killed some meat)