pedersoli info?

[bhasty0]

Hey everyone. New here, have done some reading and found this forum to be very helpful. I am green to muzzleloaders and know very little about them. I would like to get into hunting with a black powder shotgun, mostly for waterfowl. I was looking at buying a pedersoli 12 gauge. After doing some research I have found that I will need to use bismuth or tungsten shot. What kind of cap will I need for this gun? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Brad

 

[Many Klatch]

Unless you replace the nipple with one designed for the musket cap the Pedersoli will use the standard cap. None of the traditional outside hammer caplocks use the modern shotgun primers that the inlines use.

Many Klatch

 

[BrownBear]

...I have found that I will need to use bismuth or tungsten shot.

It's not just any tungsten shot, but Ecotungsten shot. The distinction is important because standard tungsten shot will require heavy plastic wads to protect your bores. To Ecotungsten and bismuth, I'll add ITX Original-10 shot. I've used the latter more than the others for waterfowl, and I'm sincerely impressed, both with patterns and kills.

And speaking of chokes and the Pedersoli, tight chokes might look like hot property, but they can be problematic for loading from the muzzle rather than the back end. You have to get the wads down through the chokes, and tight ones don't like to be fed that way.

I'm using cylinder bores on my Navy Arms Pietta, but with careful load development and ITX shot I'm getting nice duck-killing patterns to at least 30 yards. I could stretch it a little further using plastic wads, but I'm content to move my decoys a little closer.

A number of folks here on the site are avid muzzleloading waterfowlers. Once you get the gun and start with load development, they stand ready to help you get started.

Enjoy that new gun! It's truly addictive and surprisingly effective for waterfowl. :thumbsup:

 

[bhasty0]

Thanks guys..Looks like I have a lot more research to do. After your responses and doing a little more reading i have learned hat the caps are refillable with priming powder am i correct? I was thinking that they were replaced after each shot. I didn't know it was possible to use plastic cup wads. Can I just use regular reloading wads or are there special wabs for black powder guns? Bear with me folks I'm taking baby steps.

 

[ohio ramrod]

percuson caps are not reloadable( or even spellable tonight ). Pedrosoli's use standard #11 caps. You could use a plastic shot cup but I recommend you use a paper shot cartridge instead. You can make them by rolling three thickness of newsprint around a wooden dowel (5/8 will work for a twelve gauge ) tieing one end shut with kite string, filling with your shot charge then folding over and tieing shut.

 

[bhasty0]

Thanks Ohio, again, very helpful. Do you guys know if it is easy to find chokes for a pedersoli. By the way, the reason I am asking so many questions is because very few people know very much about these guns including their customer service.

 

[Rifleman1776]

You have already been advised caps are not refillable. But, I am curious where are you reading this kind of misinformation?
Later you ask about chokes, is your gun threaded for interchangable chokes? And, do pay attention to what BB said about the difficulty loading a choked ml shotgun. I don't/won't use one for that reason. My flint fowler is a cylinder bore.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The problem with choked barrels is that you want the wad between the powder and the shot to expand to reach the sides of the barrel, and with a full choke you have to compress the wads a lot to get past the choked portion for the wad to expand and seal the bore. IF you don't get a proper seal the gas from the powder will blow through your shot pellets and disrupt your pattern and reduce the shot velocity, thus lowering the killing power.

Some folks opt for modified choke for waterfowl as it's easier to load, and they get decent patterns. Many folks use bismuth as it's often easier to find, since it's been supplanted by the newer types of non-lead shot.

I'm not sure how "safe" it is but I know of a couple of black powder waterfowlers who obtain old bismuth from local gunshops... some of the shops allow customers to turn in old shells for destruction. A loose shell left on the floor of a car trunk that gets some moisture will often get rusty at the "brass" portion, and some guys don't want to try and shoot those shells, though the bismuth is still perfectly good. So they turn a few in to the shop. The shop then has an employee who uses a knife and cuts open the front of the rusty shells and harvest the bismuth. The rest of the shell is then destroyed. They then sell this for around $1.00 an ounce. That's safe for customers, but sometimes the guys have friends with modern shotguns that give them a few of their old, rusty, bismuth shells, and they do the bismuth harvesting on their own. Probably not that dangerous, and otherwise the shot will go to waste if not harvested.

LD

 

[FishDFly]

Contact Flintlocks Etc. for chokes. There are U.S. made chokes for U.S. shotguns which will fit Pedersoli, do a search and Cabelas did sell them.

Check Cabelas question and answers, the answer is there I have seen it.

 

[bhasty0]

I may have read something wrong, sorry for the confusion. I haven't bought the gun yet but I was looking at a used pdersoli that is bored to modified but I am keeping my eyes out for one that is threaded for chokes, or considering buying a new gun. Open to any and all opinions on other guns to look at. I am hoping to keep the price under 1200$ looking for a good waterfowling gun, shooting decoying birds.

 

[bhasty0]

Good idea for finding cheaper shot Dave. I will check craigslist and local gun shops. I was planning to use nothing tighter than a modified. I've always bird hunted with a modified choke anyway.

 

[MikeEasy]

Google is your friend:

Choke Tubes for Pedersoli Shotgun

where the first link shown is

Pedersoli Choke Tubes -- Interchange with Browning Invector tubes

The Pedersoli is an excellent BP shotgun. It should last you and yours forever. I personally prefer the Navy Arms shotguns but they aren't produced anymore.

 

[Britsmoothy]

In my opinion I would forget the chokes and stick to cylinder and cylinder. Just get closer. Its just better that way!

B :thumbsup:

 

[Wayne/Al]

I'm not a duck hunter so I don't know about the special shot. I do have a Pedersoli 12 ga SxS. The left barrel is Mod. and the right barrel is cyl. bore. You can use leather wads to get by the tight choke . Some folks use wonder wads or make their own wads from wool. The shot cup may still be a problem or you could go without one with tight chokes. Once you get your loads worked out you will have a ball.

Wayne/AL

 

[Lorne Johnson]

Thanks Ohio, again, very helpful. Do you guys know if it is easy to find chokes for a pedersoli. By the way, the reason I am asking so many questions is because very few people know very much about these guns including their customer service.

You are certainly right about dealers knowing very little. Most of the newer Pedersolis are cylinder and full. There are also some around with screw-in chokes. Some were made full and full (possible improved modified and full). Richard Beauchamp at Flintocksetc.com usually stocks all three. (Older Pedersolis were cylinder cylinder and were light upland guns.)

For what it's worth I started with a screw in choke version from Cabelas. Big mistake, poor handling, lethal to load. I bought a new set of barrels cyl and mod from Richard Beauchamp, and they are a huge improvement. One can load a considerable variety of wads in these, including plastic, but certainly not requiring it. Traditional wads require careful patterning and load development. (Whatever BrownBear suggests will be an excellent starting point.)

Having told you just what I think of the screw-choke barrels, I could probably find you a set pretty cheap.

 

[bhasty0]

I tried calling cabelas, gun shop owners, gun smiths, google, and customer service to find the answers to a few of what I thought to be simple questions and found it hard to get a straight answer, with the gun shop owners and gunsmiths to be the most helpful. I am very thankful for everyone's input, tips and knowledge.

Now, you guys have me curious about the cylinder bore. Will itbe effective at 30 yds on a duck? What about a goose or swan where a head shot is crucial. Will it pattern tight enough? I was leaning toward the sxs bored to modified as it appears to be a good gun fora good price. Bu by all means talk me out of it.

 

[bhasty0]

By the way, I planned to try different shots, bismuth, nice shot, hevi shot, different wads, etc to figure out what works the best. I would have never thought to use random materials like leather and wool, or even newspaper to create a wad or "cup". This is the kind of stuff I was looking for.

 

[pa woods roamer]

I have a Caywood .62/20 Ga. English Fowler. It has the interchangeable choke system in it. i only have the Cylinder choke but at 25-30 Yds , using #5 shot and 60grs. of 3F, I am confident it will put a hurting on our Pa. small game. It will also shoot the .62 Roundball very well.

 

[BrownBear]

Will itbe effective at 30 yds on a duck?

As they used to say back in the 60's, "Ya bet yer bippie!" :grin: I'm shooting 1 1/4 oz of #4 ITX over 80 grains of 2f or 90 grains of 1f for really nice patterns out of my CYL bores. The patterns are really smooth with no holes, so if you do your pointing job, the load does its killing job.

As for head shooting swans and geese? I doubt it. No more than I'd rely on it to head shoot a gobbler at that range. Dunno about swans, but on geese I shoot for the base of the wing while it's up. Done deal.

One thing to look into- V.M. Starr forgot more about muzzleloading shotguns than most of us will ever learn. Somewhere I have an article by him from way back when about using plastic wads (WAA12R) in muzzleloading 12 gauges. It was the days of lead shot, but as reported by him and confirmed in my own gun a full-length wad resulted in near-MOD patterns from CYL bores. Cut the petals to half length for IC patterns. Load them with a lubed felt or fiber wad beneath the WAA12R and there's no sign of plastic fouling in the bore.

Dunno if you can still buy WAA12R's, but there have to be comparable wads out there. All ya gotta do is try a variety. Just don't forget that lubed wad under the plastic.

Will it head-shoot a goose or swan? Let us know.

 

[Jason Lewis]

I've kill plenty of pheasants every year with my cylinder original muzzleloading shotgun. it kills them just fine, I imagine ducks won't be any problem either.