Hello everyone! I hope you had a good Christmas, and that your New Year will be happy and full of muzzleloading fun! Here is a review of my new Pedersoli made Harper's Ferry .54 caliber smoothbore percussion pistol. Enjoy!
This gun is a new offering from Davide Pedersoli of Italy. It is a rendition of a Harpers Ferry flintlock military "horse pistol" that was converted to a percussion lock system. This conversion was actually done to some of these trusty pistols when that system of ignition came into widespread use during the late 1830s-early 1840s. Original conversion can be seen on various auction and history websites. This style conversion allowed these venerable guns to serve alongside more modern .54 caliber smoothbore military pistols, like the M1842 Aston Johnson guns among others.
Like the later M1842 pistol, these guns were often called "horse pistols" and were used extensively by cavalry, who usually carried two of them that were stored in holsters on either side of the horse's body, offering two quick shots for closer in engagements that were still out of range of a saber.
The Harpers Ferry conversions most likely would have seen use early on during the U.S. Civil War, mainly in the South when more modern arms were difficult to come by. The actual gunsmithing work of replacing the old flintlock mechanisms with percussion locks was carried out by local militia gunsmiths. They were most likely replaced as soon as possible with Colt's or other maker's revolvers for increased firepower as soon as they became available.
This Pedersoli rendition exhibits excellent fit and finish. I should state however, that this is actually the second specimen that I received from Dixie Gun Works. The first pistol I got had some issues with it. Some bubbles in the finish, an off threaded nipple, and off center hammer meant the gun went back to Dixie. They handled the exchange very nicely, and made a point to inspect the second pistol, which had none of these issues. Here it is, with a .530" round ball for scale:
As you can see, the pistol is finished in high-quality American Walnut wood, with brass fixtures, with a notable brass butt cap that was historically used as a club once the pistol was fired. The tapered barrel is made of stainless steel, at least I believe it is, and has a brass front blade sight with no rear sight. The lock plate shows a well done "U.S." crest with "HARPERS FERRY 1807" also printed on it. The gun comes with a ramrod stowed below the barrel, though I chose to use a sturdier one with built in short starter for the purposes of loading.
Disassembly of the pistol is relatively straightforward, though most screws on the gun are very tight, especially the barrel tang screw. Removing said screw as well as the ramrod frees up the barrel from the wood stock. Removing the nipple and percussion drum screw is largely all that is needed to clean the pistol after shooting. The lock can be removed by unscrewing the two screws on the left side of the gun, and is held on by the brass connecting piece there. This is normally not necessary however. I found my normal cleaning method of using a 4:1 mix of water to Ballistol to work nicely on the gun, using some wire brushes and cleaning jags to scrub the bore and exterior surfaces down.
Now, on to the shooting review!
Today I ran about 20 shots total through the pistol. I will say that I had no failures of any kind. I was using Remington #10 caps, .530" cast lead balls from Track of the Wolf, authentic GOEX brand FFG black powder, and .010" lubricated Ox-Yoke .50-.59 patches. All components worked very nicely, and the patched round ball fit nice and snug down the bore, without being excessively tight.
Per Pedersoli's recommendations, I started with 35 grains of powder and held their, bumping up to a 50 grain charge for a "grand finale" shot at the end.
The gun had a very different recoil to it. It certainly does move in the hand upon firing, but the recoil impulse is more of a "shove" than the sharper feeling of a smokeless gun. I have to say, it's very interesting, and fun! Here is a 1st person video I took of me firing the gun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtW_0Is26Mg As you can see, there is some recoil but like I said, it's an enjoyable push. The gun creates a nice cloud of fragrant black powder smoke, as you can imagine. Here is an alternate view of shooting, from the side. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3HDdKuBos
Firing offhand at a paced range of seven yards, the gun was shooting about 5 inches high. Adjusting point of aim to a six o'clock hold dropped the point of impact to the proper level. The gun grouped very acceptably for a smoothbore gun:
The first few shots were high and wide, though as you can see by the end of session my groups shrank significantly as I settled down. I am sure this gun can group under 2" at this range, perhaps easily better with a properly tweaked load. I have seen people shoot these smoothbore guns offhand out to 25 yards or so, keeping them within a hand-sized group. Though certainly not as precise as a rifled barrel, a smooth bore isn't much of handicap for this type of pistol. They most likely would have been used when on horseback, fired at relatively close range. For that usage, this accuracy is very acceptable indeed.
I should mention that I was using a wire frame target stand from Wal-Mart, and that it quickly met it's demise against the mighty horse pistol. Said target stands will not survive being shot by a .530" lead ball at speed! A cardboard box was handy and served as a suitable backup target. I will also admit that I was greatly tempted to fire a load while doing a mock "cavalry charge" on my four wheeler, though I decided I better not!
In military service, this gun and those like it would have been most often loaded with paper cartridges, like almost all other service arms of the period. I definitely want to try my hand at making such cartridges at some point in the near future. If anyone reading this knows how to make proper ones, any details would be greatly appreciated.
From my research, it appears that Pedersoli developed this model primarily for use in the N-SSA smoothbore pistol event.
All in all, this Pedersoli gun is a fine piece of shooting iron. While not as high firepower as the percussion revolvers that supplanted them in service, these horse pistols served soldiers and explorers alike faithfully during the first half of the 19th century and some years thereafter. If you are in the market for this type of gun, you would do well to get one as I have found mine to be extremely fun and enjoyable to shoot.
Take care all, and have a great New Year!
Earl Burlin
This gun is a new offering from Davide Pedersoli of Italy. It is a rendition of a Harpers Ferry flintlock military "horse pistol" that was converted to a percussion lock system. This conversion was actually done to some of these trusty pistols when that system of ignition came into widespread use during the late 1830s-early 1840s. Original conversion can be seen on various auction and history websites. This style conversion allowed these venerable guns to serve alongside more modern .54 caliber smoothbore military pistols, like the M1842 Aston Johnson guns among others.
Like the later M1842 pistol, these guns were often called "horse pistols" and were used extensively by cavalry, who usually carried two of them that were stored in holsters on either side of the horse's body, offering two quick shots for closer in engagements that were still out of range of a saber.
The Harpers Ferry conversions most likely would have seen use early on during the U.S. Civil War, mainly in the South when more modern arms were difficult to come by. The actual gunsmithing work of replacing the old flintlock mechanisms with percussion locks was carried out by local militia gunsmiths. They were most likely replaced as soon as possible with Colt's or other maker's revolvers for increased firepower as soon as they became available.
This Pedersoli rendition exhibits excellent fit and finish. I should state however, that this is actually the second specimen that I received from Dixie Gun Works. The first pistol I got had some issues with it. Some bubbles in the finish, an off threaded nipple, and off center hammer meant the gun went back to Dixie. They handled the exchange very nicely, and made a point to inspect the second pistol, which had none of these issues. Here it is, with a .530" round ball for scale:
As you can see, the pistol is finished in high-quality American Walnut wood, with brass fixtures, with a notable brass butt cap that was historically used as a club once the pistol was fired. The tapered barrel is made of stainless steel, at least I believe it is, and has a brass front blade sight with no rear sight. The lock plate shows a well done "U.S." crest with "HARPERS FERRY 1807" also printed on it. The gun comes with a ramrod stowed below the barrel, though I chose to use a sturdier one with built in short starter for the purposes of loading.
Disassembly of the pistol is relatively straightforward, though most screws on the gun are very tight, especially the barrel tang screw. Removing said screw as well as the ramrod frees up the barrel from the wood stock. Removing the nipple and percussion drum screw is largely all that is needed to clean the pistol after shooting. The lock can be removed by unscrewing the two screws on the left side of the gun, and is held on by the brass connecting piece there. This is normally not necessary however. I found my normal cleaning method of using a 4:1 mix of water to Ballistol to work nicely on the gun, using some wire brushes and cleaning jags to scrub the bore and exterior surfaces down.
Now, on to the shooting review!
Today I ran about 20 shots total through the pistol. I will say that I had no failures of any kind. I was using Remington #10 caps, .530" cast lead balls from Track of the Wolf, authentic GOEX brand FFG black powder, and .010" lubricated Ox-Yoke .50-.59 patches. All components worked very nicely, and the patched round ball fit nice and snug down the bore, without being excessively tight.
Per Pedersoli's recommendations, I started with 35 grains of powder and held their, bumping up to a 50 grain charge for a "grand finale" shot at the end.
The gun had a very different recoil to it. It certainly does move in the hand upon firing, but the recoil impulse is more of a "shove" than the sharper feeling of a smokeless gun. I have to say, it's very interesting, and fun! Here is a 1st person video I took of me firing the gun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtW_0Is26Mg As you can see, there is some recoil but like I said, it's an enjoyable push. The gun creates a nice cloud of fragrant black powder smoke, as you can imagine. Here is an alternate view of shooting, from the side. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3HDdKuBos
Firing offhand at a paced range of seven yards, the gun was shooting about 5 inches high. Adjusting point of aim to a six o'clock hold dropped the point of impact to the proper level. The gun grouped very acceptably for a smoothbore gun:
The first few shots were high and wide, though as you can see by the end of session my groups shrank significantly as I settled down. I am sure this gun can group under 2" at this range, perhaps easily better with a properly tweaked load. I have seen people shoot these smoothbore guns offhand out to 25 yards or so, keeping them within a hand-sized group. Though certainly not as precise as a rifled barrel, a smooth bore isn't much of handicap for this type of pistol. They most likely would have been used when on horseback, fired at relatively close range. For that usage, this accuracy is very acceptable indeed.
I should mention that I was using a wire frame target stand from Wal-Mart, and that it quickly met it's demise against the mighty horse pistol. Said target stands will not survive being shot by a .530" lead ball at speed! A cardboard box was handy and served as a suitable backup target. I will also admit that I was greatly tempted to fire a load while doing a mock "cavalry charge" on my four wheeler, though I decided I better not!
In military service, this gun and those like it would have been most often loaded with paper cartridges, like almost all other service arms of the period. I definitely want to try my hand at making such cartridges at some point in the near future. If anyone reading this knows how to make proper ones, any details would be greatly appreciated.
From my research, it appears that Pedersoli developed this model primarily for use in the N-SSA smoothbore pistol event.
All in all, this Pedersoli gun is a fine piece of shooting iron. While not as high firepower as the percussion revolvers that supplanted them in service, these horse pistols served soldiers and explorers alike faithfully during the first half of the 19th century and some years thereafter. If you are in the market for this type of gun, you would do well to get one as I have found mine to be extremely fun and enjoyable to shoot.
Take care all, and have a great New Year!
Earl Burlin
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