Pedersoli Blue Ridge Flintlock Rifles

[rdstrain49]

In another thread the Pedersoli Blue Ridge Flintlock Rifle was mentioned as being a decent rifle. I looked it up and even with the picture enlarged as much as possible, I can't tell how the barrel is held in the stock. Anyone know?

 

[Gene L]

My caplock is held with screws through the ramrod thimbles and up into the barrel. Very good rifle, btw.

 

[uno676]

Yeah screws through the ramrod pipes. Mines a flint .54 cal

 

[Grenadier1758]

The Pedersoli Blue Ridge is built on the plans of the Hatfield rifle. These are decent rifles and can be accurate shooters.

The Hatfield design used the screws through the ramrod thimbles into the barrel.

 

[jbwilliams3]

In another thread the Pedersoli Blue Ridge Flintlock Rifle was mentioned as being a decent rifle. I looked it up and even with the picture enlarged as much as possible, I can't tell how the barrel is held in the stock. Anyone know?

It’s a decent rifle, made all the more frustrating because with a few changes, Hatfield and/or Pedersoli could have made a great rifle. As it is, for a production rifle (seeing as how there are few to choose from in the longrifle genre) it’s good. I’ve compiled a summary of the pros and cons below. For what it’s worth, I put the screwed on barrel in the cons category, just because it’s weird.

The negatives ”“ the sights are horrendous. That’s easy enough to remedy, but annoying. The rods are even worse ”“ again easy enough to remedy, and pretty much par the course for production-level guns which use dowels. The stock architecture doesn’t represent anything specific in the historic record and it leaves a ton of extra wood on the entire fore end. Furniture isn’t inlaid, but screwed on which was no doubt a cost saving measure. The barrel is not pinned, but uses screws under the rod thimbles ”“ pretty weird, but if one doesn’t care about historicity, then not that big of a deal. The lock is pretty good (though larger than it should be in relation to the rifle size), but it is a real flint basher. It is muzzle heavy, but that’s normal for longer barreled rifles with straight barrels. Finally, these use an unnecessary patent breach can cause ignition issues if not regularly attended to. I’ve heard that the chamber isn’t as much of an issue in the larger calibers, due to the chamber being larger. A small (say, .22 cal) cleaning brush is required to get down in there and scrub fowling. My experience with a .45 was ignition problems until I found out that there was an anti-chamber in the breech ”“ what in the world? Annoying since it’s unnecessary.

Biggest positives ”“ It’s a longrifle, even if flawed, which you can pick up for a pretty good price. They shoot straight. They spark consistently

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The Pedersoli Blue Ridge is built on the plans of the Hatfield rifle.

I thought that around 1992, Hatfield simply contracted with Pedersoli to have Frontier model rifles made with better metal finish on the barrels and better than basic wood, plus the Hatfield name engraved on the barrel, the same way that Cimmarron has upgrades to basic Uberti pistols these days. I was unaware that Pedersoli used a "Hatfield design".
:hmm:

LD

 

[Scott_C]

My wife bought me one in .36cal years ago. Once I had a blacksmith treat the frizzen, it's been a great shooter. Make sure the sparks are many and white (instead of few and orange).

 

[Semisane]

It’s a decent rifle, made all the more frustrating because with a few changes, Hatfield and/or Pedersoli could have made a great rifle. ......... The stock architecture doesn’t represent anything specific in the historic record and it leaves a ton of extra wood on the entire fore end. ...........

Other reports (see link below to Muzzle Blast article) indicate it does accurately represent an historic firearm, being based on an original Kentucky long rifle built by Moses Hatfield in the 1830's.
http://muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol3no1/articles/mbo31-2.shtml

And this article says "He (Ted Hatfield) spent a couple of months in his hometown, St. Joseph, Mo., building a strikingly faithful replica of the gun his great-great-grandfather had built."
https://www.inc.com/magazine/19901001/5391.html

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Other reports (see link below to Muzzle Blast article) indicate it does accurately represent an historic firearm, being based on an original Kentucky long rifle built by Moses Hatfield in the 1830's.

That article and the second link provided, refer to the original Hatfield flintlock rifle, that made the company's name. The Pedersoli Frontier, is NOT the same rifle by any means, and the description of the Hatfield in the first link confirms this.


...., Relief cuts parallel to the ramrod extend from the entry pipe to the muzzle end of the wood...,
..., and in .45 and .50 calibers with a 1:70 twist....,
..., The excellent L&R lock is well designed and gives reliable ignition.
The locks and triggers are made by L & R Lock Company ...,

The original Hatfield has an entry thimble..., the frontier has never had one. The Pedersoli comes in a 1:48 twist, or in .54 it has a 1:66 twist, while the Hatfield had a 1:70 twist for .45 and .50, and was not offered in .54. The Pedersoli lock is not a copy of the L&R lock used by Hatfield.

The article is confusing the original rifle with the "new" rifle, looking at the photographs, for the "new" image has no entry thimble, and a double set trigger, while the image of the L&R lock..., has a single, set trigger.

LD

 

[rdstrain49]

Thanks for the replies and information.