Pedersoli Indian Trade musket has arrived.

[NorthFork]

The big brown truck dropped it off a hour or so ago. First impressions are favorable. Lock sparks very well. Not incredibly well, but very good none the less. Sparks are plentiful and have good starbursts if you get my drift. Interestingly enough, what I received is not what was advertised. The current Trade musket is advertised and pictured as having a blued barrel and color case hardened furniture except for the brass thimbles and side plate. Mine has a brass butt plate, not case hardened. Also has a browned barrel, not blued. The lock mortise is a little oversized for the lock and the trigger guard is mounted to the stock slightly crooked. However overall the fit and finish is fantastic for a production firearm. Came shipped with plenty of storage grease. So I will be busy this evening! Can't wait to shoot it.

Edit- proofing date code of CP indicates 2016

 

[Britsmoothy]

:hatsoff:

B

 

[Crewdawg445]

Allot of work can be done to make that a wonderful shooter, out of the box however it'll work. Look through the forum to find information on turning a okay rifle into a phenomenal rifle. Have fun!

 

[Rifleman1776]

hotoSmile:

 

[BillinOregon]

Sorry to hear about out-of-the-box QC issues. That's disappointing for a Pedersoli product.

 

[NorthFork]

I would not really call them true QC issues. I can be too picky for my own good sometimes. I've seen worse, actually FAR worse on custom rifles. Boxing it up and sending it back didn't even occur to me. So those two issues I mentioned really are minor. It looks like it will be raining all weekend so I will have to wait until midweek or so for shooting. I will do my feeble best at figuring out how to post some pictures.

 

[azmntman]

Find a teenager :thumbsup: They figure it lickity split!

 

[tenngun]

Now when you buy a compleat gun you may not want to have to tinker with it.
However you could navel jelly the barrel, then apply the cheap BC cold blue. That will wear fast and give you the look of an of a trade gun. Brass butt plates were the norm.

 

[CG6018]

Best of luck with your purchase of this new long gun, and enjoy many years of making smoke on the range and afield. :thumbsup: Taking one of these flintlock jobs to the range for the first time is a real hoot, and far out does moments at the bench with a modern breech loader. The sound is different, the smell is certainly different, and the satisfaction of settling on the long gun's favorite powder, patch, and ball combination, is unmatched. Enjoy! :hatsoff:

 

[NorthFork]

I'm happy it did come with the brass buttplate instead of the case hardened variant. Was a pleasant surprise. As for doing a bit of 'corrective' work to make it a touch more HC, I've done it before on other firearms with good results. If I do it to this one, it won't be immediately. I want to concentrate on getting a good round ball load for deer season first.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

A boy on YouTube said he roto rootered the "waves" out that fill out the serpentine lockplate on his Pedersoli. Apparantly the originals were hollow in the middle and din't have the waves, that's one easy think you might be interested in.

Also you can add brass tacks in a design to the gun which was very popular for natives and whites to do during that time. But some don't like it, I think it's cool and adds character.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Having to "roto root" anything is a bad idea... That analogy always seems to go hand in hand with a dremel and that indeed is a no, no.

That said, the serpent plate can be easily fixed with a jewelers saw and files. Study period examples not YouTube. Unfortunately that plate is not entirely HC but if you take your time filing and polishing it will turn out great.



A great deal can be done to enhance this particular rifle. In the end though it will always be a Pedersoli but will perform well.

 

[DickS]

Is the serpent inletted or surface mounted?

 

[NorthFork]

Got a break in the rain this morning. Had a lot of fun. Very accurate at 25 yards with prb. .600" with .015" patch over 70 and 80grs 2f. Slow to fire with 2f in pan. Much faster with 3f. I have not had 4f for years. Good patterns at 25 yards as well with shot and homemade over powder and overshot cards. Have some minor issues to work out but overall I'm pleased!

 

[Crewdawg445]

These particular plates were surface mounted just as you see. I have though came across a few examples in a book that were inlet a tiny bit, although I would venture to say that may have been done by previous owners.

Originally the goal for these rifles were quick production for trade. Time wouldn't have been allocated for such detail work.

The rifle in the upper image was built from a kit, not a straight production gun. If I was to purchase one it again would certainly be in kit form. This allows one to correct the factory imperfections/ flaws and custom tailor the finished rifle as one desires.

 

[Britsmoothy]

:hatsoff:
B.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Try enlarging the vent, that will certainly improve your ignition time. Properly set up you should notice zero lag between the cock falling and BANG! I bought multiple spare vents and have enlarged them myself, I also cone the exterior a tad just to put the priming charge closer to the main charge.

I'd aslo venture to say the lock could use a good polishing job on the internal bearing components to speed up timing. How is your frizzen? Does it close with force? Bounce open quickly or is there resistance? I've had to file down several Pedersoli frizzen springs as they were way to stiff, same for mainsprings. However I like the one they use on this rifles lock, feels just right from half cock to full cock. Out of all the Ped locks, I've found this one to be the best. Still needs work but minor things, nothing major.

What size flints are you using?

You have a respectable rifle, with some adjustments you'll have her preforming very well. Seems your off to a good start!

Also wouldn't hurt putting a better front sight on. Easy to do and TOTW has some good options.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Try enlarging the vent, that will certainly improve your ignition time. Properly set up you should notice zero lag between the cock falling and BANG! I bought multiple spare vents and have enlarged them myself, I also cone the exterior a tad just to put the priming charge closer to the main charge.

I'd aslo venture to say the lock could use a good polishing job on the internal bearing components to speed up timing. How is your frizzen? Does it close with force? Bounce open quickly or is there resistance? I've had to file down several Pedersoli frizzen springs as they were way to stiff, same for mainsprings. However I like the one they use on this rifles lock, feels just right from half cock to full cock. Out of all the Ped locks, I've found this one to be the best. Still needs work but minor things, nothing major.

What size flints are you using?

You have a respectable rifle, with some adjustments you'll have her preforming very well. Seems your off to a good start!

Also wouldn't hurt putting a better front sight on. Easy to do and TOTW has some good options.

Valid points :thumbsup:

B.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Also, a properly functioning rifle will ignite 2 and 3F powders with no delay, no 4F needed.

 

[Britsmoothy]

One thing I did with mine was polishing the pan to rid the rough surface. It make wiping the sludge out on damp days much easier.

B.