New to me Pedersoli 12 guage

[TCMonts]

You're going to have a lot of load development ahead of you, a 20g double is a very versatile firearm if you take the time to make it so. The cylinder bore can be used for shot or prb. With the round ball you need to see what works best, tight patch, loose patch, bare ball, powder charge etc. then for shot in that barrel do you want the more open patterns you'll get with just the card wads or do you want to tighten it up with shot cups or a SkyChief load. The modified barrel will probably be a good all round barrel for small game and small shot sizes or if you want to back up that round ball with aload of buck shot select a size that's 1/2 the bore size so they will stack in there well and use about 8 or 10.
Good luck with it and be prepared to burn a lot of powder figuring it all out.

 

[Nuthatch]

I've been playing around with a new (to me) Pedersoli 12 ga with removable chokes. One trick I learned here is to take the fiber cushion wad & break it up into 2-3 pieces. That way, they can each be bent a little to get past the choke tube & then they straighten out once you push them down with the loading rod. I noticed that this also improved my patterns a little. I'm guessing that the smaller, lighter pieces of the cushion wad separate upon exiting the barrel rather than staying together as one big plug & blowing holes in my patterns. That's just a theory, though.

Mine also shoots really low. If I mount the gun so that my eyes only see the bead and none of the length of the barrel, at 20 yards, nearly all of my pattern is below an 8.5x11" sheet of paper. I compensate mostly by keeping a higher cheek weld than I usually do and aiming a little higher. Usually, for turkey, I prefer to aim at the spot on the neck where the skin & feathers meet. But with this gun, I think I'll aim for the head itself & let my pattern hit low.

With PRB (and a cylinder choke), I'll use the bottom of the bead as my aiming reference -- covering up the bullseye completely. It groups fairly well, though. I was impressed. It has the potential to be a serious 2-for-1 gun where I could have shot for birds in one barrel and a PRB in the other for potential pigs. I'd check your local regs to see if that's legal in your area before giving that a try.

 

[Sound Tribe]

Appreciate the info guys. I think I have a much better sense of what to do now and really helps simplify things by only needing thin cards.

If anyone with a 20gauge Pedersoli (or similar) muzzleloading shotgun could share what type of load they use with some success, mainly the type of shot, that would be great. I will be experimenting on my own but would help me a lot to have a baseline to go off of.

I know some of these Pedersoli shotguns have interchangeable barrels, at least in my gun's case they can be switched with the barrels from a Howdah pistol for example. Would this be possible to also switch with a 12gauge barrel, effectively changing my gun completely?

Does Pedersoli or someone sell spare barrels? I checked a few places such as VTI, DGW, Taylor's, etc that sell parts for these guns but they seem to offer everything but extra barrels unless I am missing it, 20 or 12 gauge.

Maybe I should make a separate thread...

 

[Sparkitoff]

shoots really low. If I mount the gun so that my eyes only see the bead and none of the length of the barrel,

Gun fit and gun mount are important things. You should be looking at the flying target or the paper target, then mount and shoot. You should be aware of the last 1 or 2 inches of barrel (muzzle) for a "flat" shooting gun, (60/40 or lower) or half to 3/4 of the barrels if you are strictly shooting rising targets (and want 65/35 or higher). That's a guideline, everyone is a different size and shape. For turkey, squirrel and other stationary targets, you need a point of reference and that's where the bead comes in. Since you're shooting low, you can try a smaller bead or install a mid bead and stack the front one on top of it to bring up the elevation. You can also move your head forward on the stock a bit. There are also different methods of raising your cheek, from stick-on pads to leather wraps, etc.

 

[Lorne Johnson]

Thanks, that helps. I got the wads+cards for free from a friend, but I think they're actually over powder and over shot cards. I'll have to double check

So if the left is choked do I have to do anything different or anything to be aware of or will it just be a different pattern/spread?

And forgive my ignorance, I have never been into shotguns at all, but is #4 shot the same as #4 buck shot? Can I use 00 buck too?
Would #7 shot be considered bird shot? I have been looking into this but many different numbers/names for shot has me a bit confused

Where is a good place to buy shot and possibly some thin cards? Are the "thin cards" just the .025" over shot cards mentioned above?
TOTW has #4 buck but is out of 00 buck, but they do have .025" over shot cards though... Sounds like I should be good with #4 buck and the over shot cards from them then, but unless I missed something they don't have any birdshot or shot smaller than #4 I believe

I have a Pedersoli 20 gauge cylinder/modified that I shoot quite a lot at skeet and sporting clays targets. Mine likes 19 gauge overshot cards better than 20 gauge. With 20 gauge cards the second barrel load tends to move some when shooting the first barrel. Choke constriction for 20 gauge is less than in 12 gauge (10 or 12 thousanths in that gun), so loading isn't the problem that it is with a 12. Track of the Wolf or Dixie Gun Works carry a full supply of wads. (I find the cushion wads to be worse than useless, they blow holes in the pattern.) If you look at the VM Starr and SkyChief loads (above), you will see that very different approaches can work really well. There is not "one right answer"!

7 1/2 shot is typical in 20 gauge, works on woodcock, grouse, chukar, and even preserve pheasants, I often use 6's in the second barrel. For ducks get a 12, or a 10 gauge. Someone listed a whole bunch of loads above, I use 68 grains FFg and 7/8ounce shot.

 

[Mike in FL]

Right. As long as there's something between powder and shot that sort of makes a seal, and something over the shot to keep it from falling out the muzzle, you're good to go. The cheapest way is to use over-shot cards for everything. 1000 of them are around the same price as half that many "over powder" cards. 2 or 3 on powder, 1 on shot. Likewise, you can use a single over-powder or nitro card on the powder, or try 2 or 3 if you want, and put one over the shot. You could peel one in half and just use half over the shot too. One type of wad will get you shooting and produce a pattern you'd expect from a shotgun. If you then decide to change how the pattern is (more spread, less spread, better density, etc.) you can tinker with how many and what kind of wads and in what sequence to load them. If you're wing-shooting, rabbit hunting or squirrel hunting you probably don't need but one type and changing them won't make that much difference. Turkey hunting, waterfowl with heavy loads - there are techniques to tighten up patterns, etc.

I somehow lost my cards in the middle of a hunt, about 4 miles from the truck. I was into birds so I didn't want to pull the dog off and go all the way back. I found broad, pliable green leaves and crumbled them up to form over powder and shot "wads". I found a plastic wad from someone else. I cut the base off and used that for a over powder wad for one load and used the cup for another with leaves on shot. I fired 10 rounds that afternoon between the leaves and the two shots made with recycled plastic - and I knocked down birds just fine.

That is ingenuity, and knowing how to obtain what you need in the wilds.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Choke constriction for 20 gauge is less than in 12 gauge

 

[Sound Tribe]

I have a Pedersoli 20 gauge cylinder/modified that I shoot quite a lot at skeet and sporting clays targets. Mine likes 19 gauge overshot cards better than 20 gauge. With 20 gauge cards the second barrel load tends to move some when shooting the first barrel. Choke constriction for 20 gauge is less than in 12 gauge (10 or 12 thousanths in that gun), so loading isn't the problem that it is with a 12. Track of the Wolf or Dixie Gun Works carry a full supply of wads. (I find the cushion wads to be worse than useless, they blow holes in the pattern.) If you look at the VM Starr and SkyChief loads (above), you will see that very different approaches can work really well. There is not "one right answer"!

7 1/2 shot is typical in 20 gauge, works on woodcock, grouse, chukar, and even preserve pheasants, I often use 6's in the second barrel. For ducks get a 12, or a 10 gauge. Someone listed a whole bunch of loads above, I use 68 grains FFg and 7/8ounce shot.

Perfect info for me to get started. Thanks!

Now I just need to find extra Pedersoli barrels, if anyone knows a source

 

[Blackpowderart]

Ballisticproducts.com has some mini nitro cards. I use them for the op card sometimes to keep the second barrel not shooting the load loose after you fire the first barrel. They much thinner than a regular nitro card or maxi nitro card. Also I sometimes use a thin over shot card on top of the powder then some corn meal "same amout as the shot being used" followed by a mini nitro card, shot and then another mini nitro to top it all off. So many endless combinations depending on the pattern your trying to achieve for specific game.. lots of fun. For targets I get a roll of "red rosin paper" from lowes home improvement for 13 dollars. That's enough to shoot for several years for most people and it's 36" tall . 25 yd turkey pattern from my pedersoli 10ga sxs

 

[TCMonts]

Are you making wads or shot cups with that rosin paper? If shot cups, a few pics or a demo would be ice.

 

[Sparkitoff]

If anyone with a 20gauge Pedersoli (or similar) muzzleloading shotgun could share what type of load they use with some success

First, mine is really a 19-gauge. I think all the 20-gauge Pedersolis are. For ball, I use the biggest one that will fit in each barrel. In this case, a .626 ball in the right barrel and a .610 in the left. I load 80 grains volume 3F, a card and a cushion, then a bare ball and an over-shot card. Using the two beads stacked like a figure-8, I put the tip of the top circle on the spot I want to hit. This gun hits right at 35-yards and forms a figure-8 on the paper with the shots touching at that distance. Further, the holes in the paper begin to spread apart, usually randomly (no consistent direction of the difference between R and L barrel). The balls will stay on an 8-inch circle out to 50-yards, but may be quite far apart.

With shot, I like a somewhat hard card (I think my current batch is .0125. I have found 2 of these make the best pattern, and with some loads 1 works fine too. So, I am putting whatever amount of shot I want, usually the 7/8-ounce scoop of 3F, 1 or 2 cards, the same scoop of shot (this gun favors shot size #7 - #5 (a little bigger than you'd think) and an over-shot thin card. I have substituted the .0125 cards for the thin over-shot cards and put 3-4 on the powder with almost the same results. My pattern is just a little bit wider and slightly more sporadic with the thin cards on powder. Total guess - maybe the gasses are getting past them or they are canting one way or another when leaving the barrel.

Ducks and turkeys I use the scoop set at 1 1/8-ounce with 3F, always the harder cards and the same scoop of shot and an over-shot card. I'm using #4 or 5 lead on turkey and #4 or 5 Bismuth on ducks. On Turkeys I use the left barrel almost exclusively. With ducks, I frequently use the left barrel first as my first shot is often further than my second, but I switch it up as opportunities present.

You can put just about anything for wads and cards and still get shot on the target, but patterning will tell you what your gun likes best. I really wanted to load #8 for woodcock and dove but the gun just doesn't like it, and 7.5 is only a slight improvement. But go to #7 and the whole thing changes for the better. I've used 100% cotton balls on powder in a pinch and had not problem knocking down smaller birds at close range. But if I have the time and resources, I know what works best and load that way whenever I can.

 

[Lorne Johnson]

Perfect info for me to get started. Thanks!

Now I just need to find extra Pedersoli barrels, if anyone knows a source

A new set of Pedersoli barrels is likely to run around 70% of the price of the whole gun. Not worth it, unless you come across a used set. (Don't ask me how I know.)

 

[Blackpowderart]

Are you making wads or shot cups with that rosin paper? If shot cups, a few pics or a demo would be ice.

No, the paper is for shotgun sized targets. 36in tall and 167ft of it... $13 - $15 bux, can't be beat

 

[TCMonts]

Thanks for explaining that to me, I mis read it somehow. Good information.