frontear rifle

[fraungie]

Hello Gentleman I have a Cabela's Blue ridge rifle. I have had nothing but problems with this gun since the get go.The rifle is a Pedersoli Fron tear and I believe that the spelling is accurate. Very shortly after I bought the rifle th ram rod broke.I know original ramrods are junk. I replaced it with a brass one. Then the touch hole liner was impossible to remove. The screw slot is too thin it cracked. I took it out everytime and coated it with never sieze before replacing it. I had to use an easy out to remove it and I have replaced it with an allen head type. This works fine. I have a 20 gauge pedersolli double barrel that is great.I think they make a quality product. I also have several other muzzleloaders that I shoot. I also can never get a group from this gun. I have fired around 500 rds from the gun. One time I did get a good group at 25yds. Three shots under an inch. This was after replacing the sights. I have never been able to repeat this. I have tried different patch thickness',different loads from 15 grains to 50 grains,3f and 2f, Cleaning between shots cleaning every third shot. The barrel is atached with two screws underneath I tightened them as tight as I can. Nothing makes a difference 3-4 inch group at 25 yards.The bore seems smooth no rough or tight spots. I bought the gun new. I am ready to throw this gun over a hill. I don't want to sell it for fear of putting someone through this same ordeal.I would not wish this on anyone. Do you guys have an idea or some secret I can try? I have been shooting blackpowder since the 70's and have never had a situation like this.

 

[Rebel]

What caliber is your Frontier rifle? Is ignition speed good and just poor accuracy? Need some more info.

 

[fraungie]

It is a .36 cal. Ignition is fine. It varies from instant to klatchboom. I shoot a TN poor boy .50 I can hit pop cans at 50 yds all day long off hand and the .36 is every bit as fast if not faster. Thanks

 

[Tkendrick]

Your experience reflects mine with every Peder-sorry I've owned.

They make pretty guns, too bad they are manure.

I kept telling myself it was something I was doing wrong.

But..... After four different rifles, I finally realized you can't keep flies off garbage no matter how good it looks.

 

[Otter]

Before you ashcan it, drop me a PM and get me your address so I can send you some money to ship it to me. I have a .50 BR and it shoots better than I should be able to. Haven't had any problems with it.

 

[fraungie]

I have a friend that wants to put a new barrel on it. It's such a shame the gun looks and feels great. It goes off everytime. The lock is a large smooth quality built piece of equipment. The gun just will not group. They are not cheap either. I always thought Pedersolli was a class act. They even gave me a nice video with the gun. Go figure.

 

[ol vern]

Little more info please.

How many shots are you shooting for you group?

Do you get several close together and then a flier that opens things up? Or dose it just throw
shots all over?

Have you checked the sights to be shure they are
not moving?

Tryed shooting one shot letting the barrel cool
off and cleaning before the next shot? I am thinking you could have a beding problem that is
causing the barrel to move.

 

[fraungie]

I usually shoot 3 shot groups. They are all fliers. The group is all over the place. I have not tried letting the barrel cool between shots, but I have not done this on any other rifle either.I wouldn't think the barrel would heat up using a small powder charge in a small caliber. I have tried cleaning between shots. Wet patch both sides followed by a dry patch both sides.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Check the bedding of the barrel and tang, and of course, sights to see if they are loose. When a gun is shooting that wild, it usually has to do with a warped stock, or bedding problems. Sometimes just loosening the screws a half a turn will show amazing results. I had a friend who owned a CVA rifle, and the second year he shot it, it was all over the place at 50 yards. The Fall before it shot one hole groups. When he finally went to remove the barrel keys, it was almost impossible to get them both out. When he finally got them out, the stock had warped over the dry winter, and was bowed in the middle. Leaving the rear key out of the stock, and holding it with the one forward key, the Rifle became a tack driver again. He later re-cut the key slot for that rear keyway, and corrected the problem. His son " Borrowed " the gun from him years ago now, to take deer hunting, and hasn't returned it since. Its a very good gun, and once the problem was identified and corrected, It continues to perform as expected.

 

[DanChamberlain]

My "Fron Tear" is a tack driver. It's also a .36 so I can't comment on yours.

Dan

 

[fraungie]

Thank you: will take the barrel off and look at the wood. I see what you mean a waprped piece of wood can put a lot of pressure on the barrel.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

What ball size and patch thickness are you shooting? Pedersolis have shallow grooves and generally shoot best with a bore size ball and thin patch. My Blue Ridge .45 likes a .451" ball and .014" linen patch, spit lubed. Balls need to be pure lead, any hardness such as Hornady 000 buckshot will not shoot up to the rifles potential. I'd suggest you try some .360" swaged balls, .012-.015" linen or cotton patching cut at the muzzle and 30-40 grains of 3f. There just is no reason it shouldn't shoot under 2" at 50 yards on a calm day. There is no use shooting any .36 caliber on a breezy day and you really can't expect much from any size round ball in the wind.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Since the barrel on these is retained in the stock by the screws through the thimbles, accuracy problems can sometimes be related to these not being snugged down consistently.

Joel, who needs to take more range time with his .32 Frontier

 

[thebees]

Hi guys. I got to this thread kinda late but I've got some experience with the problem.
I bought a .36 Frontier some years ago. I love the shape and feel of the stock. My rifle shot very well and had no ignition problems if I did my part though the litlle pea size bore required to much cleaning. Had to clean between shots to maintain accuracy.
I was shooting about 50 rounds a week to improve for club standings at end of year. My light loads still blew the nipple out of the drum very forcefully. The drum was way too soft and had stretched. There is a danger in these rifles and they need to be checked regularly. No one was injured in my event even though I think the nipple went through the tin overhead. I know of another rifle with breech plug problems so one should be sure and check out the Frontier rifles.
Being as I liked the rifle itself, I had a .40 caliber Green Mountain with a quality breech plug and drum installed. Makes a great rifle.
Bees

 

[fraungie]

I started with .350 ball and have used patches from .010-.018 nothing seems to work. The .018 are difficult to load.