Cabela's Blue Ridge Rifles

[buckmaster]

These are the reproductions made by David Pedersoli & Co.
My wife was kind enough to get me one for my birthday...and I am having a hard time with it. More misfires than my Austin and Halleck....and I am assuming a problem with the sites...which I must file. Gun is consistently shooting a patched ball 8" below center at 50yds. Anyone have any experience with these guns...also the material that came with it wasn't very helpful...anyone have any suggested load combo's that work well for them. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rebel]

Caplock or flintlock? What caliber? The front sight is left high so you can file it down to get the right elevation, but don't start filing until you have fired a 100 rds or so through the gun to get the barrel broke in. If it is a flinter, the vent hole needs to be enlarged. Drill it out to at least 1/16", i find that 5/64" works better. Give us some more details and you will get some more advice that should help ya out.

 

[No Powder]

What cal.? My 50 likes 70 ffg with 490 ball .015 patch. or 55 fffg same patch and ball. Front sight will have to be lowered. I did not enlarge the vent hole on my flinter but I am assumeing yours is a caplock since you posted under percussion. :m2c:

 

[buckmaster]

Sorry...yes it is a .50cal percussion rifle. What is the maximum load you would consider using in this rifle?
Also I am using 777 powder..just becuase it was what I had around for my in-lines....someone on this board mentioned in another thread that because 777 burns a little hotter than pyrodex rs and actual blackpowder...it may burn the patch and lead to inconsistency...any thoughts...?
Btw..thank you for the quick responses already.

 

[Plains99]

I had one of these in flintlock. It was a good rifle... accurate and dependable. Light weight and carried very well in the woods. I had to file my front sight very close to get it to shoot right. Don't file too much at one time cause it won't grow back. You will probably need to use FFg or FFFg to get the charge to ignite reliably. This is also one of those rifles that shoots better if you store it barrel down to allow lubes and solvents to drain away from the ignition chamber. Remove your percussion nipple every time when cleaning and do not over lube after cleaning. Before loading, set off a cap and blow down the barrel. Watch for smoke coming out of your nipple to insure that the ignition path is clear.

 

Buckmaster,.... Bless yore wife's hart, fer git'n ya a more traditional style muzzleloader!!

My wife shoots a .45 Blue Ridge Pedersoli, 50 grs. FFF Goex blackpowder'n CCI caps, and NEVER has "misfires"!!

Once you find the "best" load for yore's, then start work'n on the sights.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[JackAubrey]

Hi Buckmaster.I have a .36 cal. Pedersoli/Cabelas Blue Ridge flinter. It is my squirrel gun. I can only attest to the quality of the rifle.I would call or email Cabeles for load info. They will be more than happy to send it to you free of charge. Generally speaking a safe load in a .50 cal. rifle is 90-100 grains volume of goex 2f or pyrodex RS.This is the load I use in my GPR for deer hunting.

 

[montanadan]

Buckmaster-I have two Pedersolis(45,50)basically the same rifles you have. I had the same problem with ignition,(went with Bill Knight nipples 1/4 x28)that cured that problem.As far as shooting T-7 you are going to need much hotter caps. CCI 11 magnums or RWS 1075 plus worked for me. My loads with T-7 are(for target)50grn(25yds),60grns-70grns(100yds). Some one else mentioned about over lubing and storing the rifle barrell down(I actually store both this way),I use diskbrake cleaner to get all the lube out prior to shooting. You will need to shoot at least 200 balls before messing with the sights.(I did file the front sight down).I use .490 rb and .010 patch. Went back to goex in the fifty(3ffg).I hope this helps,these rifles will shoot. Respectfully Montanadan.

 

[flaming canvas]

Sorry...yes it is a .50cal percussion rifle. What is the maximum load you would consider using in this rifle?
Also I am using 777 powder...

I have seen sidelocks have ignition problems with 777. Once I was taking a group through the trail walk at a rendezvous and one pilgrim could never get his gun to fire. I knew where the gun had come from, having been beaten soundly by the guy that used to shoot it, and I knew it wasn't the gun.
After having to put 4f under the nipple three times, the pilgrim told us that he had triple 7 because the clerk at the gun shop told him it was the best stuff on the market.

We switched him to Goex and that solved the problem.

 

[farmersblend]

What is the twist of your barrel? 1-48 and faster twist rates usually won't shoot prb as well as the slower 1-60/66 twist barrels. I use P pyrodex in my rifle and it fires everytime.Nothing extra or special added to make it fire.Tho I would like to get Hot-Shot nipples to get a hotter flash and more complete burn.

 

[buckmaster]

With a little more fiddlin'...I think my problems so far have been predominately a combination of two things...using 777, and maybe overlubing with bore butter that have lead to my problems...misfires aside...it does group pretty darn well with a prb, better than conicals so far, even with the 1-48" twist. At 50yds it is grouping about 3" but that is with me shooting sitting crosslegged....so when I have it sandbagged on the bench I am sure the group will tighten.
So I am ordering some Swiss ffg powder today, and some other nipples to do some more experimenting. Thank you for your advice and help so far...I will let you know how it pans out.