Pedersoli Mortimer flintlock Rifle purchase

[dan_1]

Hi all, this is my first post, so please be gentle...

I have an opportunity to purchase a new unfired Pedersoli Flintlock Mortimer rifle for $800. It's a very heavy gun, but my hope is to use it for deer hunting from a tree stand, so the weight isn't that big a deal. I'm mostly looking for something that will go bang when needed, and it's good if I can shoot it at some distance. This year I used my inline and made a couple of 80 yard shots with saboted bullets.

I tried to find documentation on the Pedersoli web site, but what they have is pretty sparce. I was able to find something that has some recommendations for bullets, and it looks like you can fire a Mini bullet out of the rifle, but it doesn't say what size. I cast bullets for pistol and rifle, so I would like to add the flintlock to my list of castings, but the documentation doesn't give bullet weight or diameter. The document does have a bullet number, but that number doesn't show up on any of the molds. Does anyone know if you can use a mini ball in this rifle?

The other issue I have seen on the internet is problems with the lock. I saw several references to problems with the sear. It seems that it wears out pretty quickly. If I do purchase this rifle, I should be able to dismantle the lock and harden the pieces and polish the lock. I have a friend who makes knives and he uses liquid nitrogen to harden blades. Will that do an appropriate hardening for the lock parts, or will I need to heat treat them too.

Thanks in advance for any info on this purchase. The owner is going to hold the rifle for a week while I decide.

 

[biliff]

I've been shooting mine for almost eight years now. Bought it from Flintlocks etc., when talking with the owner he had stated his personal rifle shot the Hornady Great Plains bullet very well. Believe the .54 GPB has been discontinued for a few years, though. I would guess a similar conical in the 425 grain range would work. Personally, I've only ever shot round ball in mine. .530 ball, .018" drill patch. Accuracy has been excellent, with sub 1" 50 yard groups and sub 3" 100 yd groups being the norm.

First I've heard of lock problems. Have several thousand rounds thru mine with no issues. Given this rifle is meant to be a competion/target gun I can't see Pedersoli putting out a lock with soft parts.

Yeah, at 10lbs it's a bit heavy to carry, but it comes with sling swivels for a reason.

Do a forum search and you will find a few threads on this rifle.

 

[Robby]

It is a nice looking gun and being somewhat hefty I bet it is a pleasure to shoot off the bench. Pedersoli lists it as having a 1:65 twist, so it sounds like a patched round ball barrel to me. Good luck!!!!
Robby

 

[dan_1]

That's good to know about the rifle twist. I have only shot patched round ball in my flintlock and sabots in my inline. I was hoping to try mini ball but was curious about lead fouling.

I cast bullets for rifle and pistol and have been powder coating to keep the lead out of the barrels. I was wondering how bad a problem is with the soft lead Mini's?

 

[Archer 756]

Leading, it all depends on the lube that one use on Mini's

 

[TreeMan]

I have a Mortimer that was made in 1989. Had a main spring break two years ago. A call to flintlock etc. had that fixed in no time. Other than that it’s been flawless. It’s been shot a LOT in matches. One spring in 30 years of heavy use is pretty reliable in my opinion. My lock has been cocked and fired 1000s of times. I use a .530 roundball, .018 patch and 80 grains of 2F. One of the best shooting rifles I own. The Mortimer lock is extremely fast. As far as hunting with it I have other options I prefer. The Mortimer is very barrel heavy. Carrying it shouldered with the sling takes effort to keep it upright. The barrel weight makes it want to flip upside down off of my shoulder. As far as conical bullets go I’ve never tried them. Slow twist and deep cut rifling to me equals wasted lead even trying them. Round balls work too good to make the effort. For $800 if I were you I’d get it and not worry about what you “heard” about the lock. It just isn’t true.

 

[dan_1]

Thanks for the response. That's what I hoped to hear. I bought a nice little 45 cal flintlock with the intention of using it for deer, and I will most likely use that. If I do use the bigger gun it'll be from a tree stand.