Pedersoli poor quality

[Coinneach]

I think that everybody is forgetting that Italy got hit extremely hard with Covid. A lot of the craftsmen and women at Pedersoli and Pietta may have died and their replacements haven't gotten as skilled yet.

Pedersoli were having quality problem deficiencies well before Covid hit.

 

[rusticbob]

I have no problems with my two flintlock Pedersoli’s. Both spark well, and shoot straight. In fact I just ordered another. My only issue is the stock finish is UGLY. I stripped both and gave them a nice TruOil finish. A couple of real nice pieces of walnut were hiding under the finish.Top gun is Pedersoli Trade gun, bottom gun is T/C Seneca

 

[SPQR70AD]

I hunt with most of my rifles that are reliable. Some I get out and have fun shooting. I will definitely be taking the frontier out.

like to see how it shoots when you get a chance

 

[Joemolf]

That’s true. I believe they were the ones the got hit hard before anybody else other than china.

And that I heard is because some of these manufacturers were working with Chinese labor to build some of these Italian products. Not sure where I read it but I read it. I had even read some parts were outsourced there though that may have stopped because they the Chinese were insisting they be marked made in China and the Italians finally said no. Unfortunately the Italian people took a beating during covid; obviously the age issue but the Chinese were in an out of Italy at the beginning of the pandemic spreading it around. Another one of there sweet heart deals with manufacturing companies.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I have the Frontier model. Percussion cap is walnut and flintlock is maple. Both are real nice. Shoot good too.

 

[user 57894]

like to see how it shoots when you get a chance

I’ll post back on here when I do. The weather has been holding me back from shooting it right now.

 

[Flint1]

I bought my Pedersoli Kentucky new in 1991, my first flintlock. Back then they were only $250, I think Dixie has them for $895 now. The parts to wood fit is perfect, but there is a rough spot right in front of the lock panel. I just ignored it. It was pretty accurate, but personally I was never a fan of the 1:48 twist on factory guns. Most of the club members were using custom slower twist barrels. My main gripe with Pedersoli is that ridiculous touch hole liner. The touch hole is so small I could only get a nipple pick I used on my percussion rifle and revolver in it. I would wiggle it around sideways and up and down as much as I could between shots to try and clean it. Still the last 8 to 10 shots of a match I would have to try cleaning out the touch hole and priming 3 to 4 times to get it to go off. Each time I got home and removed the liner the fouling had still built up in it with only a small hole the size of the nipple pick going all the way through that coned section, which must have been a quarter of an inch long. The surrounding fouling was hard as a rock. No wonder it was so hard to get it to go off. That happened every single match. I pure tee despise their touch hole liners.
The trigger pull was also horrendous. I took the lock apart to polish the sear and tumbler contact points and it improved only a little. Problem was I never was able to get everything tight in there again. A small pin would always work its way loose after that and the mainspring would come unattached and spring out inside the lock. This always happened halfway through the matches. I had to keep a mainspring vise with me so I could remove the lock and put it back together to finish the match. Each time I got home the pin was halfway out again. I know I caused that problem by not being able to get everything tight after I took the lock apart and attempted to lighten the trigger pull. I finally fixed that problem by ordering a replacement lock from Beauchamp and living with the trigger pull. The replacement lock also has perfect wood to metal fit. I don't think their lock geometry is very good. I had to use those small 1/2 inch flints and bevel up or bevel down it ate them like they were going out of style. I would knap them a couple times during each match and still have to replace them before finishing the match. Our matches generally consisted of 30 to 35 shots.
I shot it in one match after replacing the lock and then retired it. By then I already had my second flintlock, built with a lock made by Robbins and a Douglas barrel. Since then I acquired a flintlock made by one of our club members with a small Siler lock he modified and a Rayl barrel and also ordered new from Narrangansett their Early Virginia with a Chambers lock and Colerain barrel. Those last 3 I love, the Pedersoli not so much. The Pedersoli now hangs on a gun rack collecting dust. I won't sell it because it was my first flintlock. I had heard before purchasing it that Pedersoli was considered the best of the mass produced factory guns and that may well be.
During my years of shooting my Pedersoli I have concluded it is a great gun to hunt with where you won't be taking too many shots. It is certainly accurate enough for that, the small touch hole won't present a problem, and you can learn to live with the trigger pull. If you operate on the lock like I did and can't get a tight fit on everything you won't be taking enough shots for it to come apart on you the way mine did. If you like to walk around in the woods and play longhunter it would also be great to carry. It may not be exactly historically accurate, but it is a full stock flintlock and carries the name Kentucky. When I was kid in the '60s watching Fess Parker play Daniel Boone each week and carrying a stick around in the woods pretending it was a flintlock on my adventures I would have loved to have had a toy gun that looked like my Pedersoli, non-firing for a kid of course. But if you plan to use it as a match gun and you experience the problems I had, be prepared to feel like wrapping it around a pole.

 

[user 57894]

I bought my Pedersoli Kentucky new in 1991, my first flintlock. Back then they were only $250, I think Dixie has them for $895 now. The parts to wood fit is perfect, but there is a rough spot right in front of the lock panel. I just ignored it. It was pretty accurate, but personally I was never a fan of the 1:48 twist on factory guns. Most of the club members were using custom slower twist barrels. My main gripe with Pedersoli is that ridiculous touch hole liner. The touch hole is so small I could only get a nipple pick I used on my percussion rifle and revolver in it. I would wiggle it around sideways and up and down as much as I could between shots to try and clean it. Still the last 8 to 10 shots of a match I would have to try cleaning out the touch hole and priming 3 to 4 times to get it to go off. Each time I got home and removed the liner the fouling had still built up in it with only a small hole the size of the nipple pick going all the way through that coned section, which must have been a quarter of an inch long. The surrounding fouling was hard as a rock. No wonder it was so hard to get it to go off. That happened every single match. I pure tee despise their touch hole liners.
The trigger pull was also horrendous. I took the lock apart to polish the sear and tumbler contact points and it improved only a little. Problem was I never was able to get everything tight in there again. A small pin would always work its way loose after that and the mainspring would come unattached and spring out inside the lock. This always happened halfway through the matches. I had to keep a mainspring vise with me so I could remove the lock and put it back together to finish the match. Each time I got home the pin was halfway out again. I know I caused that problem by not being able to get everything tight after I took the lock apart and attempted to lighten the trigger pull. I finally fixed that problem by ordering a replacement lock from Beauchamp and living with the trigger pull. The replacement lock also has perfect wood to metal fit. I don't think their lock geometry is very good. I had to use those small 1/2 inch flints and bevel up or bevel down it ate them like they were going out of style. I would knap them a couple times during each match and still have to replace them before finishing the match. Our matches generally consisted of 30 to 35 shots.
I shot it in one match after replacing the lock and then retired it. By then I already had my second flintlock, built with a lock made by Robbins and a Douglas barrel. Since then I acquired a flintlock made by one of our club members with a small Siler lock he modified and a Rayl barrel and also ordered new from Narrangansett their Early Virginia with a Chambers lock and Colerain barrel. Those last 3 I love, the Pedersoli not so much. The Pedersoli now hangs on a gun rack collecting dust. I won't sell it because it was my first flintlock. I had heard before purchasing it that Pedersoli was considered the best of the mass produced factory guns and that may well be.
During my years of shooting my Pedersoli I have concluded it is a great gun to hunt with where you won't be taking too many shots. It is certainly accurate enough for that, the small touch hole won't present a problem, and you can learn to live with the trigger pull. If you operate on the lock like I did and can't get a tight fit on everything you won't be taking enough shots for it to come apart on you the way mine did. If you like to walk around in the woods and play longhunter it would also be great to carry. It may not be exactly historically accurate, but it is a full stock flintlock and carries the name Kentucky. When I was kid in the '60s watching Fess Parker play Daniel Boone each week and carrying a stick around in the woods pretending it was a flintlock on my adventures I would have loved to have had a toy gun that looked like my Pedersoli, non-firing for a kid of course. But if you plan to use it as a match gun and you experience the problems I had, be prepared to feel like wrapping it around a pole.

895 is what I paid for mine. It was over a grand shipped to the door with taxes and fees. I have a t/c hawken flint from the 70’s that has the same issue with fouling getting built up in the breech and causing only flash ups after repeated target shooting. But I use it for deer hunting and if I shoot at deer twice with it in one day that’s a great day so I’m not too concerned about that with the frontier. My frontier is a 54 cal and has a twist of 1:65. I only shoot PRB that’s why I went with a 54, I saw the smaller calibers came with a shorter twist rate.

 

[SPQR70AD]

And that I heard is because some of these manufacturers were working with Chinese labor to build some of these Italian products. Not sure where I read it but I read it. I had even read some parts were outsourced there though that may have stopped because they the Chinese were insisting they be marked made in China and the Italians finally said no. Unfortunately the Italian people took a beating during covid; obviously the age issue but the Chinese were in an out of Italy at the beginning of the pandemic spreading it around. Another one of there sweet heart deals with manufacturing companies.

the same tribe that blame the Chinese for everything to hide what they are doing say White supremacy is the biggest problem in US to hide what they are doing. dont fall for it

 

[Kansas Jake]

It is sad a $900 gun is so poorly built and there are so few options if one is buying a new one.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Had a PA. Squirrel Rifle. Pedrosoli. Got it in 93 from Val Forgett himself when Navy Arms was in Bergen N.J. . Passed it onto my Nephew. He got into some trouble and it disappeared from his home when Authorities confiscated his Weapon,s. Shame...it was a really nice Rifle very nicely put together. The cost back then...$400

 

[user 57894]

Had a PA. Squirrel Rifle. Pedrosoli. Got it in 93 from Val Forgett himself when Navy Arms was in Bergen N.J. . Passed it onto my Nephew. He got into some trouble and it disappeared from his home when Authorities confiscated his Weapon,s. Shame...it was a really nice Rifle very nicely put together. The cost back then...$400

Sorry to hear that. That’s a shame.

 

[pacanis]

It was over a grand shipped to the door with taxes and fees

That's why I like buying from Dixie. No sales tax and cheap shipping ($18.xx on the 32 Kentucky rifle I just got).

Edited to reword.

 

[Prairieofthedog]

My Pedersoli Scout looks like it came off the stock carving machine and someone started finishing out the carving before saying screw it and just passed it down the line to finish it. I got it second hand for a good price, so I'm not too worried. It'll make a good project fixing it up, and I can reshape the roman nose while I'm at it. You can see in front of the lock where they started to finish carving it and then just gave up.
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[Prairieofthedog]

That sure looks like a kit rifle!

 

[Stantheman86]

Pedersoli is the "best" of the box stock mass produced production muzzleloaders and cartridge rifles.

They make a good "production high end" Hawken with the Rocky Mountain and Missouri River models, I have one of each. They aren't custom level but they are nice for factory guns

My Pedersoli CS Richmond I bought brand new for $1200 has flaws, but nothing deal breaking. The rifle is a tack driver.

 

[64Springer]

It is sad a $900 gun is so poorly built and there are so few options if one is buying a new one.

900 dollar guns are poorly built because people continue to buy poorly built guns for 900 bucks.

Stop buying these poorly built guns and the quality will go up or the price will come down.

 

[user 57894]

900 dollar guns are poorly built because people continue to buy poorly built guns for 900 bucks.

Stop buying these poorly built guns and the quality will go up or the price will come down.

I’m not saying you are wrong, I agree with you on that, I bought one because I can’t afford paying thousands for a custom built rifle nor have the skills to build one myself and save a ton. Over a grand for a rifle is a big purchase for me.

 

[64Springer]

I’m not saying you are wrong, I agree with you on that, I bought one because I can’t afford paying thousands for a custom built rifle nor have the skills to build one myself and save a ton. Over a grand for a rifle is a big purchase for me.

Many of us are in your boat.

It's a damn shame the production builders can't, won't, step up to the plate and do better work.

Their loyal customers deserve so much better.

Hope you get the stock ironed out.

 

[user 57894]

Many of us are in your boat.

It's a damn shame the production builders can't, won't, step up to the plate and do better work.

Their loyal customers deserve so much better.

Hope you get the stock ironed out.

It is a shame. I’ve heard nothing but great things about them from people I know but they all own older pedersolis from the 90’s. I’m done with production made smoke poles after this. My next one will be a custom rifle. I’ll get it buffed out in due time. I’m just too deep into right now. I’ll post back on here for everyone in how it shoots. I’ve read they shoot really low.