Pedersoli Brown Bess Bayonet

[TXSailor]

So I recently got my first musket, a Pedersoli Brown Bess. I've found myself in a pickle though! I imagined that it being the most common Brown Bess on the market, any reproduction Bayonet would fit it. Not so! The bayonet I ordered from "By the Sword" has just too large of an internal diameter, and rattles like nothing I've seen. It feels like it will fall off if I angle the rifle at all.

So, does anyone have a source on a bayonet which would fit a Pedersoli Brown Bess?

 

[Artificer]

I must recommend caution in case anyone is on High Blood Pressure medicine or has a bad heart BEFORE they open the following link to the FULL RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE of a Pedersoli Bayonet. Fair warning, here it is:
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index...id/554/product_name/BE0203+Brown+Bess+Bayonet

OK, now that is over with, here is what I really recommend. Get a pair of precision dial or digital calipers and measure the barrel diameter on your Bess. Then CALL G. Gedney Godwin WITH that measurement handy and ask if the following bayonet and scabbard will fit your Bess.
http://gggodwin-com.3dcartstores.com/Italian-Brown-Bess-Bayonet-with-27T-Scabbard-36-I27T_p_682.html

Gus

 

[TXSailor]

Yeah that... that's the one I wanted to avoid lol.

I guess I ought to own some calipers anyway...

 

[Artificer]

If you don't have a pair of calipers and if you have a friend or acquaintance who is a machinist or auto mechanic or teaches "shop classes" in High School, they could measure your barrel near the front sight for you.

FWIW, the inner diameter of the socket should be no more than .005" larger than the diameter of your barrel or the socket of the bayonet will be very loose on your barrel.

I have owned two Pedersoli Brown Besses over the years, the first was their "Carbine" and more recently the full length musket. I had to file/grind/sand the socket to fit the barrel, as the socket originally was too small and that's pretty much the way the originals were. Back in the day, each socket was hand fit to the barrel of the Musket to which it was used.

I have also done the same kind of bayonet fitting to Miroku Brown Besses and repro Charleville Bayonets as well, so it is not uncommon to have to do this fitting, unless you find a used bayonet someone has already fit to the type of Bess you own.

Loose sockets can be made smaller by soft soldering brass or steel shims inside the socket, BUT you have to be careful with some of them where you solder the shim stock in place or the front sight may no longer fit under the bridge at the rear of the socket.

If not terribly loose, you can also gently peen the front end of the socket all around and that may tighten up a socket that is only a little loose.

Gus

 

[TXSailor]

I'm an AK guy, so I have no problems filing to fit. I just don't have soldering tools to ADD material to this one. (Shame it's fairly nice otherwise).

 

[Artificer]

If you have propane torch, I would recommend NON LEAD soft solder to add brass or shim stock inside. You cut and bend the shim stock to match the internal curvature as close as you can, then "tin" the side of the shim stock with solder or IOW, get a thin coat of solder on side of the shim that will be soldered to the socket. (Make sure the surfaces of the socket and shim are CLEAN before soldering, and use Acetone or other degreasing liquid for that. If the metal is rusty, then sand them a bit to clean metal first.) Then hold the bayonet in a vise, hold and press the shim in place with a big screwdriver or steel rod and warm/heat the outside of the socket until the solder flows. Keep pressure on the shim for a few seconds after you take the heat away, so it doesn't move/slip. Now you may have to do some filing/sanding afterwards, but that is often to be expected.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

OH, if the front sight just clears the bridge in the rear end of the socket, then solder the shim inside so it forces the barrel away from the front sight. IOW, solder the shim to what would be the top side of the socket where it goes over the barrel.

Gus

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OK, now that is over with, here is what I really recommend. Get a pair of precision dial or digital calipers and measure the barrel diameter on your Bess. Then CALL G. Gedney Godwin WITH that measurement handy and ask if the following bayonet and scabbard will fit your Bess.

OR you can order the bayonet without giving them measurements, and then fit it by hand to your barrel. This is tiresome and tedious but it can be done with some aggressive abrasives and a power drill.

I've seen them shimmed with solder and a piece of steel. I've seen a thin, half-piece of brass that overlapped the front and back of the socket, peened into place on the socket's edges, and helped with a bit of solder.

I've also see the quick and dirty method.... beyond just squashing the the socket to snug it up....

You take a ½" x ½" piece of brass that is thick enough to shim up the socket, at the muzzle, when the bayonet is in place. You then drill through the outside of the bayonet socket and into and through the brass piece. The edge of the brass piece that is toward the barrel is beveled before you do this. (I've seen folks hold the brass piece in place with something like JB Weld when doing the drilling and tapping) You use a drill bit sized for tapping an 8x32 screw. You use an 8x32 tap to thread from the outside of the socket through the brass piece. Then you use a brass 8x32 machine screw to secure the brass piece to the inside of the socket with a little red Locktite on the threads. You lop off the head of the screw on the outside of the socket, and smooth the brass until it's flush with the outside of the socket. You do the same on the inside of the socket. All that is seen is a small brass circle where the screw went in, and the brass shim snugs up the bayonet near the muzzle but doesn't mar the barrel itself, but may make a mark.

This is a theatrical quick fix. It's not good enough to really ram a man through, but then again we're not actually going to go-for-it with a bayonet charge.



LD

 

[Grenadier1758]

I needed a bayonet for my Loyalist Arms Long Land Pattern Musket. Knowing that if I had a slight chance getting one to fit I needed to have all the measurements I would need to order from Loyalist. So, based on where bayonets fit on other members of the unit's muskets, I measured at the muzzle, at the bayonet lug and at the place on the barrel where the socket would finally rest. Called Loyalist Arms Customer Service and based on the measurements, I ordered a bayonet and scabbard.

Naturally it was too small in diameter. Time for the brake hone and my 3/4" drum sander. It took a little while and a few cylinders of sanding drums. As Dave said earlier, tedious. I do have a bayonet that fits perfectly now.

 

[TXSailor]

I'll take too small ALL day.

I don't own a propane torch, or soldering equipment, or a welder... so this adding material is a freaking nightmare.

That said, Loyalist Dave, I might not PLAN to bayonet someone, but there's a reason my uniform sword is carbon and sharp, not a stainless steel wall hanger... why have it, if ya can't use it?!

(Honestly, I only own 3 guns for which I don't have a proper bayonet, and that's because they're simply not designed for them: AK-104, RPK, and AKS-74U)

 

[John Spartan]

Dragging this up from the root cellar…did you ever order G. Goodwin?
Too small, too big, perfect?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

My Bess Bayonet has cooked so many squirrels, perfect rotisserie every time.

 

[cinti.russj]

I ordered a bayonet from Goodwin for my new pedersoli bess. It took many e-mails, phone calls and over 6-8 months waiting to receive. Didn't specify any tolerances when ordering and got a perfect fit. Maybe I got lucky!

 

[John Spartan]

Yea. Timeliness can be a thing when ordering.