Charleville or Bess with shot?

[SgtErv]

There are a couple of posts in this Smoothbore section regarding the Pedersoli Bess. It's certainly not junk. Rather happy with mine; most others seem to be as well. It's a different weapon than a long rifle so took some getting used to. (Same can be said for any different type of gun I suppose.)

After you read through them, feel free to post more specific questions you have. I am not an expert, but as a shooter and owner of one Id say you wouldn't be disappointed at all.

Caveat: I have only shot round ball through it, not smoothbore loads like a shotgun, although that's coming soon

 

[Tinker2]

Are the Pedersoli Bess's worth it? or are they junk?

I have two Pedersoli Bess's. I think they are great.


Last Sunday I was at Cabelas, the new Pedersoli Bess looked like junk. :td: :barf:

To be fair, when I order from them on the internet I am mostly happy with what I get.
When I am at one of their retail stores, a lot of their bp guns look to be returns maybe?



William Alexander

 

[Wes/Tex]

satx: I was surprised there was a "Texas" musket supplied by Tryon.
http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/A...yon_Model_1816_Musket_Now_on_Display/[/quote]
This is true, according to President Lamar the Republic needed an army, navy coastal militia, etc. Problem was you couldn't make change with the amount of money Texas had during those nine years. That's why ole Sam Colt went bust...accepted a big order and was willing to take Texas 'red backs' (named so because of red ink instead of green as U.S. dollars). Problem was they weren't worth the paper they were printed on. At it's lowest, worth about 4 cents on the dollar. Tryon did make a run of 1816 Type III muskets on order from George Washington Hockley, chief of ordnance for the Republic. Ole George was an old school "flint & steel" guy and nearly had a hemorrhage when Colt and Hall supplied percussion guns as well. In the end, the Texas Army with it's 10 companies and the Texas Dragoons with their red lined capes mostly existed in the fevered mind of President of the Republic, Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar! :wink: Texas history is replete with more neat facts than fiction could ever dream up! :haha: :rotf: Some originals do exist and are worth their weight in gold. Below is one example with two of Bruce Marshall's paintings of what the Texas Army should have looked like in dress and fatigue uniform. A couple companies did finally come into existence and were issued the Tryon muskets.

http://jamesdjulia.com/wp-content/uploads/images/auctions/358/images/lrg/51023x4.jpg
http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/republic/marshall/images/plate8.jpg
https://img.ifcdn.com/images/1d5ae5d116c795b04a11d512c349cc41e413da032e752ad3bed7d1495c9dba96_1.jpg

 

[kingsax26]

I had a charleville I used for reenacting, if you are talking about using a stock military gun for hunting purposes, they work great! as long as you keep a couple things in mind 1) they are heavy, much heavier than a civilian gun for the same purpose. 2) they take alot to feed 3)the sights typically are rudimentary at best and may not be the best. 4) They are heavy! the few times I took my charleville out hunting i was kicking myself t he entire time. at the end of the day I whined like a school girl...lol

 

[pargent]

Yes they can be used with shot , but neither will match a trade gun or flinter fowler / shot gun , my own personal choice is a NSW chief's gun in 20 gauge .This is what I use for flint clays as well, a 20gauge loaded with a 12 gauge load will shoot harder and further than the same load in a 12 gauge because the 20 acts like a super choked 12 not for sooks though :wink: