Pedersoli Bess Arrived

[Enfield1]

My Pedersoli Bess arrived. The vent hole is where it is supposed to be, thank goodness. I have not had a chance to throw any balls down range, yet. The vent hole does look very small. Has anybody ever had to widen there's any?

 

[Russianblood]

With my Pedersoli Bess, I had to deepen the pan and drill out the touch hole to 3/32" to achieve consistent ignition. I initially drilled it out to 5/64" but I was still having a lot of "flash in the pan". Now she's as sure fire as a musket is suppose to be.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would think you should be first concerned with how strong those springs are, the angle of the flint striking the frizzen, and how well hardened the frizzen is. There is an article on Shooting and Tuning Flintlocks under Member resources that should be instructive to you.

The last thing you should be doing with a lock is opening the vent hole. I had to open one on a gun I have to 5 /64" when everything else failed to cure the occasional flash in the pan, but I opened the hole in three stages from its original dimension, and shot the gun extensively at each stage, and only opened it further when I had more than one Flash in the Pan that could not be explained any other way. I would still prefer it was back down at 1/16", a 64th" smaller, but its location on the barrel prevents me from being able to deepen the pan further. At 5/64", I have had NO Flashes in the Pan.

Does the gun come with a vent liner, or is this simply a hole drilled in the barrel? That can make a difference in your ignition. I would put a vent liner in the barrel before trying to open the vent to a large hole diameter to cure ignition ills.

Oh, I happen to feel that a 3/32" vent hole is too large, even for these guns, for good ignition and good velocity. If you are a re-inactor, and will only be shooting blanks, this will not affect your use of the gun. It matters a lot more if you ever intend to use the gun to hunt.

 

[Russianblood]

A Pedersoli Bess has just a small 1/16" hole drilled in a thick barrel for a touch hole. That is way too small for a musket. I prefer a 5/64" touch hole on all my flintlocks but after extensive shooting, it just wasn't big enough for my Bess. I would flash the pan every time (hence the cock and hammer were fine) but no main charge ignition.

I wouldn't put a touch hole liner in unless it's a last resort.

 

[ronrryan]

I have found a very slight counterbore on the outside of the touchhole to be helpful in assuring instant ignition. Good smoke, Ron in FL

 

[torn moc]

***** NOW THE FUN BEGINS *****
Let us know how she shoots! :hatsoff:

 

[Many Klatch]

The touch hole on my Pedersoli Bess Carbine is pretty big. I have never measured it, but it looks to be close to 5/64" or maybe even 1/8". With 90 grains of 2F and 2F priming it goes off every time. I'd try shooting it before I did any modifying. Try a thin .010 patch.

Many Klatch

 

[J.D.]

The touch hole on my Pedersoli Bess Carbine is pretty big. I have never measured it, but it looks to be close to 5/64" or maybe even 1/8". With 90 grains of 2F and 2F priming it goes off every time. I'd try shooting it before I did any modifying. Try a thin .010 patch.

Many Klatch

The touch hole on mine measures .103, and it goes off every time. I do not recommend anyone drilling their TH that large. This one came that way, and it works,so why change it?

Patch thickness depends on bore diameter and ball diameter.

For example, an 11 ga bore of .750, with a ball diameter of .715 needs a patch of about .018.

.750-.715=.035/2=.0175, or a patch thicness of .018 to begin with. A .020 patch may shoot a little better.


A general rule of thumb for smoothbores is to use a ball about .030 smaller than bore diameter. A friend had a .720 custom mould made for his bess and it shoots nearly as well as a rifle,using paper cartridges.

Most 11 ga bess' seem to like .715 balls with .018-.020 patches, however, every gun is different so's ya gotta try several patch/ball combinations.