Pedersoli Indian Trade Musket - Review

[Pioneer flinter]

Hey Rob I make peep sights for my rifles using angle iron. so looking at the gun from the right side the sight would look like an ( L ), I cut it a hair wider than the tang and file it down square and to the width of the tang. Drill the hole for the tang screw and counter sink. try to keep hole as close to bend in angle iron as possible it will be less apt. to swivel on screw. then drill for your peep. I counter sink the back of the hole. to cut down on glare. then I contour and shape the edges so it is less apt. to snag. the only problem for you would be this sight. is non adjustable. I do all my adjustment with my front sight. I hope this will help. shoot straight.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Hey Rob I make peep sights for my rifles using angle iron. so looking at the gun from the right side the sight would look like an ( L ), I cut it a hair wider than the tang and file it down square and to the width of the tang. Drill the hole for the tang screw and counter sink. try to keep hole as close to bend in angle iron as possible it will be less apt. to swivel on screw. then drill for your peep. I counter sink the back of the hole. to cut down on glare. then I contour and shape the edges so it is less apt. to snag. the only problem for you would be this sight. is non adjustable. I do all my adjustment with my front sight. I hope this will help. shoot straight.

Done similar myself but used tin to make mock-ups to get the zero and then take measurements etc.

B.

 

[Rob Dorsey]

Phill & All,
Many thanks for the great ideas but Phill I think has nailed the turkey in the head. I'm pretty good at angles and sight pictures and such and I've been shooting it just as Phill says, or as I assume he intends. Throw the piece up and center the blade on the barrel flat then envision an angle, a visual slope, for elevation and nail'er. I know we're not talking target precision but for hunting, which this little darling was born to do, I'm pretty sure I can achieve minute of whitetail accuracy. For now, that's how I'll proceed.

Thanks again guys,
RD

 

[pargent]

YES put it on paper at 25 then 50 see how you go , mind you smoothbore hunting targets are usually close and big , some of use can get very good groups once we get a load and our act together

 

[Wes/Tex]

Yeah, Rob, it's amazing how well you can train you eye and yourself to find the same sight picture with a smoothbore. Right now, and because of my late wife's failing health, it became necessary to sell off nearly every gun I had. When the season rolled around, a friend lent me his Pedersoli Trade gun since he's an ardent rifle guy. A couple rounds at the range gave me a load good enough to get Bambi in the freezer. Now, if can only get the Bambies to cooperate! I mention all this to point out that even though it's a new gun to me and certainly 'feels'different than my old fowler, it shoots well and I know you're going to like yours. This sport is one of those where only doing it can get you the results you're looking for. I wish you very good luck with the journey and have a real hoot doing it. :thumbsup:

 

[Rob Dorsey]

Thanks Wes, Since I've got some attention here, how about criticizing my load. Pretty simple, ball or 1oz of shot, 90gr FFg or 1 1/2Fg Swiss or Pyrodex RS. I don't muzzle load Triple Seven or the Goex product (name escapes) though I do use them in my BPCR guns. And for those of you who also shoot BPCR long range (500M) let me remind you by way of a warning: Do Not Mix Up Volumetric Measuring with Weight!! This is true of Black Powder as well. ALL BP and Substitutes should be measured volumetrically. ALL!! I know that a lot of guys measure their pure BP by weight which is fine, with true BP, but carry that habit into Pyrodex or 777 and you are putting that irreplaceable vintage firearm and yo-sef in grave danger. They are all designed to be volume measured. :nono:

I'm sure that 99% of you already know this but, damn, if just one doesn't and avails himself of these words, our forum may have just saved a life, or his sight, or his ability to play anything but bar chords on his guitar.

So, how's my load? 90gr of almost anything by volume and 1oz of shot or the 342gr .610 ball, am I too low or too hot?

Best,
Rob

 

[Britsmoothy]

Thats quite alot of powder for 1oz! If it works then.....
70grn ought be better with an ounce of shot, not tramping your load sir, just that 90grns is usually a top load of powder for 1&1/4oz of shot.

Brit :thumbsup:

 

[Rob Dorsey]

Ah Brit Mah Ol Mate, that's just what I was lookin' for. Proper criticism. And I reckon you are right as the 90gr load appears to be increasing the pattern size of the #6's but propels the ball quite well so I may stick with it for that projectile.

I have one more load which I've mentioned, the 8, .32 balls on top of 90grs. At 25Yds I get a grouping (ain't gonna call it a pattern since any one of the little buggers could put down most anything below whitetail size), anyway a grouping of about 14" in diameter. Now imagine a circle a little over a foot in diameter with eight .32 holes evenly dispensed over the area. I would not want to be a squirrel or pheasant taking those odds,...you?

Out at the club we often get some pheasants that are survivors from a driven "hunt" (the difference between "hunting" and just "Shooting" but don't get me started) and these birds won't fly for nothin'. They know what happens to pheasants that fly. Badda Boom Baddda DEAD! So these guys just run, and run they can. They lay their bodies down level with the ground and haul ass, like a torpedo through the cover. And man can they jink and jive while they are doing it. Friggin amazing! But, I friggin Love it. It's what the little fowler was made for and #6's or .32 balls, either will quiet him down most rickie-tick. It's about the most fun a man can have with a fowler in his hands. I've emptied a double at one of these bullets without loosening a pin feather and my guess is that they are still running, middle Indiana about now.

So thanks for the load critique Brit and let's see what else comes up.

Rob - Viper1

 

[Wes/Tex]

I'd pretty much had worked out my own loads when I first came to this site. Early on I was fortunate enough to see ole Spence10's site and started corresponding with him. I can recommend nothing better for smoothbore shooting, from load evaluation to game recipes and entertaining tales. His fowler and mine both have 46" barrels but these loads seem to in any .62, reguardless of origin. Besides which, he's got a touching style of writing and humor that's worth spending an afternoon reading his page...do it a couple times a year or when I need a story fix!
www.home.insightbb.com/~bspen/

 

[pargent]

Don't have a Pedersoli 20g but I use 70grns of 2f for most loads , shot 1-11/4 oz and patched ball in my 20g . +1 on Spence's loads and Stumpkiller has posted lots of good relevant imformation as well both are well worth a serious look :thumbsup:

 

[BCarp]

I'd pretty much had worked out my own loads when I first came to this site. Early on I was fortunate enough to see ole Spence10's site and started corresponding with him. I can recommend nothing better for smoothbore shooting, from load evaluation to game recipes and entertaining tales. His fowler and mine both have 46" barrels but these loads seem to in any .62, reguardless of origin. Besides which, he's got a touching style of writing and humor that's worth spending an afternoon reading his page...do it a couple times a year or when I need a story fix!
www.home.insightbb.com/~bspen/[/quote]

Link is not working for me....

 

[Rob Dorsey]

I'll try all the ideas put forward here and see what works. If 70gr works well then I would like to adopt it for all projectiles and shot. That lets me pre-load a bunch of little tubes with the 70gr that I can carry in my pocket.

I have a condition called neuropathy and I cannot feel my fingers or my whole hands for that matter, up to my wrist. Not whining but explaining that a possibles bag is difficult for me to work and I have to be able to look into it to see what I'm grasping. Can't tell a powder measure from a pocket knife. I therefore am hoping to leave the bag in camp and putting all I need for the stalk on my person. I've already made a leather thong necklace with a flintloader multi-tool ring that can hang around my neck and a powder measure on a thong that can do the same thing. Pre-measured shot (with wads) and powder in separate little containers then allows me to put them in separate pockets so I don't need to see what I'm grabbing.

By the way, any ideas of good, small containers would really help. I have a supply of the little yellow load tubes which work perfectly on my .50 for patched ball or Buffalo Bullets but no the .62. I'm thinking about corks to put in those yellow tubes or finding other tubes, different collars for shot and powder, if I can find something suitable.

Thanks in Advance,
Rob

 

[Hierophant]

By the way, any ideas of good, small containers would really help. I have a supply of the little yellow load tubes which work perfectly on my .50 for patched ball or Buffalo Bullets but no the .62. I'm thinking about corks to put in those yellow tubes or finding other tubes, different collars for shot and powder, if I can find something suitable.

Thanks in Advance,
Rob

If you can find any, 35mm film canisters might work ok.

 

[larryp]

I've used the 35mm canisters with premeasured charges when out hunting with my T/C Hawken.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Let me try something...

Well krap with a capital "K"...that didn't work either. However...google "Bob's Black Powder Notebook". It shows up and goes straight there and shows the same site info as what I posted. I'll let a computer whiz jump in and tell me what I did wrong!
:shocked2: :haha:

 

[pargent]

Roll your own cartridges and shot packets may work for you too .

 

[bpd303]

What were you trying to do? http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/

 

[Wes/Tex]

What were you trying to do? http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/[/quote]
That was it, but I still got the "you can't get there from here" message! Maybe I wasn't holding my mouth right!

 

[Rob Dorsey]

Film canisters are a winner as are some similar sized clear little jars with snap-on caps that I have rattling around her. I've drilled a hole near the edge of the cap and into the top of the container body and put a small split ring through each. That way the lid stays with the body when open. Each load then encompasses two containers, one with powder only and the other containing shot and the two appropriate wads or a single patch and a ball. I might do away with this as I can carry my little ball bag and a few lubed patches in a pocket, no problem.

I love it when a plan comes together.
RD

 

[Rob Dorsey]

Just read for the third time the article in the NMLRA mag "Muzzle Blasts" on flint locks and it seems to m e to be too arcane for the average shooter. When I build a gun I use Siler locks, the little on .32 and .36 rifles and the big one on everything else.

The flintlocks provided on the Pedersoli rifles and muskets are, in my opinion, first rate and the frizzens well tempered, springs of high quality and pans/touch holes that fire every time. I've never had one misfire ever and while I probably shoot less than many on this forum, that's a hell of a statement, ain't it.

I've tried to figure out why and all I come up with, including a discussion with Sr. Pier Angelo with whom I have a long time, friendly relationship, is that they selected a very good period lock, English or German in origin, and copied it faithfully. When I told him that they fire every time he just said, "Yes, I know."

Last item: My Pedersoli Trade Musket has a large English style curved lock marked "LOTT" just in front of the cock hammer. Any ideas on the origin of this name? It is unfamiliar to me.

Best,
RD