Pedersoli Kentucky Frontier Flintlock Customization Project

[Compressorguy]

A rifle that beautiful must have a name , you can't calling her "it"

Very good point! I’ll have to think on that one.

 

[Compressorguy]

Was considering calling her “Vesuvius”, a volcano located in Italy, lending a connection to its Italian mfg and since it’s a volcano thought it appropriate since both are powerful, noisey, spit fire, ash and smoke, lol. Kinda leaning this way!

Maybe “Vesuvius” it is!

 

[Compressorguy]

That walnut just pops in the sunlight.

 

[Compressorguy]

 

[Compressorguy]

 

[winter1857]

Very nice. Well done!

 

[Miles42]

Nicely done, you have made it yours for certain.

 

[LawrenceA]

Coupla suggestions.
Vesta is the Roman goddess of fire or
Mount Etna one of the worlds most active volcanoes and in Italy or
Diana Roman goddess of hunting

 

[Compressorguy]

To finish off the rifle and correct for perfect balance I ended up drilling 3) 1/2” holes in the butt stock and added 12) .50 cal 178 grain balls each, 4 to a hole for a total of 2,136 grains / 437.5 gr per ounce = 4.88 oz. Each ball was glued into position then followed with some walnut plugs I had lying around. The rifle now balances perfectly in the hand where I hold. It raises and shoulders perfectly and since I contoured the check rest the sights come into perfect alignment immediately as soon as my check welds to the stock without having to move my head at all. The rifle now easily remains steady on target without having to fight it being quite nose heavy. That is very satisfying and didn’t realize just how much it was fighting me as I just became used to it. This quick, easy mod should help improve accuracy by acquiring the target sight picture more quickly and being able to hold more steady in my mind. Recoil may also be reduced slightly but it doesn’t really kick using 70’ish grains anyway. The rifle now weighs in at 8.25 lbs.

Another passion of mine, hence my desire for the star and moon inlays!

 

[Compressorguy]

One quick final project dressing up the muzzle end. Took less than 30 min. Just put the punch/ramrod jig back in for reference. Barrel was removed when I did this. Went slow with same number of “light” taps for each divet, no need to pound it. Basically 10 light taps each divet going around 4 times. Pic doesn’t show the pencil scribe lines going across and this has been filed flat and finish sanded with 400 grit.

 

[DuncNZ]

Nice , I think I'll try that .

 

[appalichian hunter]

Looks good, nice job.

 

[Spikebuck]

CG

Excellent work! You really did a wonderful job. It's amazing what a small $ investment and some pleasurable elbow grease time can turn these production rifles into.

Glad my rebuild effort put you on the path to complete your own custom rebuild. You'll enjoy that gun for many years to come. I've been amazed that thousands of views of my Flickr album have accumulated over the years.

 

[Compressorguy]

Thank You Spikebuck, that means a lot considering the excellent job you did on your beautiful rebuild! You’re right it really was a small investment in parts at less than $100. I enjoyed every hour working on it. The end result was a very personalized, customized rifle in my eyes and was a great learning experience for when I do finally build a rifle. A very satisfying project indeed that I couldn’t be happier with! Not to mention it feels incredible in the hand now and balances and mounts perfectly.

Thanks again for your post, it really was inspiring and with excellent pics! I know i’m responsible for at least a couple hundred views!!!

 

[rusticbob]

Great work! I only wish I had your talents.

 

[Compressorguy]

Thank you for the compliment. Talent is on loan though. It’s also about the decision to make the first cut and patience making the rest.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

This is one of the finest threads I have ever read…that was awesome. WOW.

 

[Compressorguy]

Thank You Rock Home Isle, that’s really generous. Hopefully it helps/inspires others desiring to customize their rifles that are beginners like me but really the important thing is to get out and shoot, share the sport/hobby and enjoy them!