Pedersoli Quality?

[jdouglas70]

Not exactly, The Frontier I got has an American tiger striped maple stock. I bet they function close, but the detail and finsih on the DP is a lot better. It would be like comparing a Colt Python to a Colt King Cobra. They are both great guns and both will serve well. eace:

 

DP makes'em both, the Frontier and the Blue Ridge, but the "wood" is different (maple on the Frontier, and walnut on the Blue Ridge).

YMHS
rollingb

 

[smokeblower]

I have nothing but praise for my .50 Blue Ridge flinter. it is a nail driver when I do my part.

 

[Tahquamenon]

Thanks for all the replies.
Looks like DP makes a fairly decent product, with exception to the photo's of the Mortimer disaster rifle. I'll have to get one in my hands and take a close look. I don't buy any rifles through the mail, that I've not looked over closely anyway.

As far as styles I'd like either a long rifle or a plains style.

I really don't have the time to make my own from a kit and certainly not from scratch. I'd like to start shooting a flintlock this year, not in the next 10 years+.

 

[aragorn]

Very pleased with my DP flint Kentucky 45, bought about three months ago as my first ever BP gun and so far fired about 350 rounds. Elsewhere on the forum I've posted a few queries/quibbles about this gun, but I'm generally very happy with it and as far as DP in general goes agree with Lehigh C. and other proponents above.

 

[JackAubrey]

I thought I'd toss in my two cents.I have two DP's, a brown bess and a Blue ridge .36 flint. First thing I do w/ a new weapon is disasemble, strip the stock and refinish w/ boiled linseed oil and coal oil.Both of these guns were a tad pricey,but have been excellent and all in all worth every penny paid.Having said that,I am very interested in looking into custom guns in the future.I have no reason to doubt any of the negative experiences related here, I may have just been lucky OR they were just unlucky.

 

[horkeye]

DP makes'em both, the Frontier and the Blue Ridge, but the "wood" is different (maple on the Frontier, and walnut on the Blue Ridge).

RB,
Takin yer i-site inta akownt I fergivs ya; the DP Frontier is standard walnut & optional maple.

Jim.

 

[piteruu]

I am going to buy longrifle from Pedersoli. Is there any important differnce between Pennsylvania model and Frontier model (both in .45 or .50 cal, standard models not delux)? Important it's mean accuracy at 100 yards, quality of lock and barel. Why Pennsylvania is cheaper?. I am intersted in target shooting with best possible accuracy at 100 yards, qood barel and lock. What should I buy?

 

[Rebel]

The lock on the Penn. is small and only take s a 5/8" flint. The lock on the Frontier/Blue Ridge is large almost musket sized, and uses a 7/8" flint. I know for a fact that the Frontier/Blue Ridge lock works well and they are very accurate shooters. Can't say how the Penn. lock functions.

 

[Brad Phillips]

I have an older Penn. flinter that seems to be what I would expect for the money that I spent. Although the barrel seems to develop surface rust in the bore no matter what I do. I also had a dp sharps that was a beautiful rifle that was a joy to shoot. Any suggestions on the bore rust?

 

[Rebel]

What are you using to clean it with? If you are using the Murpheys oil soap, peroxide, alcohol solution, then it may be the peroxide. If you are using extremely hot water that can cause flash rusting. I use warm to cold water and sometimes a little dish washing soap. fill the bore after flugging the nipple or vent, and let set while cleaning the lock. Then dump it out fill it about half way, cover bore with thumb and slosh it around some then run a few wet patches through while keeping the muzzle and vent pointed down if it has a pinned barrel, and unplug the vent alowing water to flush out the vent hole. Then a couple of dry pathes and then one soaked with WD-40 to remove any moisture. An oiled patch and your done.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I've seen a number of replies here that seem to imply that the Pedersoli guns are overpriced. I'd have to ask "compared to what"?
The Pedersoli Blue Ridge is priced about like a Traditions Pennsylvania which is a crude toy compared to the Blue Ridge.
I've owned a BlueRidge .45 flint for 10 or 12 years. It has been fast, accurate and reliable. I've never had a problem with it and sure can't say as much for CVA or Traditions guns of similar price range.
If you like the halfstock plains style, then T/C, Lyman, and others do offer good quality at Pedersoli prices but in a fullstock I doubt you can beat the BlueRidge for dollar value. :imo:

 

My experience with Pedersoli is similar to most in that my Charleville sparks well but I must keep the flint sharp. Usually need to knap after about a dozen shots. It does however point very well and I have a great deal of fun shooting it. Nothing quite like sending a gong flipping when it gets smacked by that big ball. Fit and finish is very good. Nice walnut, solid gun.

 

[Flint1]

Ok, I'll share my experience with Pedersoli. I purchased my Kentucky rifle new from them in '91 or '92 for $250. It was my first flintlock after years of percussion shooting. I'll begin by saying I like the gun, and I've often heard Pedersoli has the reputation of being one of the best, if not the best, manufacturer of mass-produced factory bp firearms. Now for the critique. Although called a Kentucky, it is a generic muzzleloader, and not a good example of an American longrifle--barrel length is only 35", walnut stock, no cheekpiece (that can be painful with heavier loads)--overall appearance just does not conform exactly to the longrifle. It takes a 1/2" flint--just too small--it usually took me two flints to make it through a 30 to 35 shot match, and that is knapping each flint several times. I always felt the touchole was too small--lots of flashes in the pan when you weren't toying with the flint. Accuracy was not too bad, but a factory gun with a 1:48 twist is not a match winner--at least not compared to the Douglas, Colerain, and Rayl barrels on my other flinters. My biggest beef was the lock--horrendous trigger pull and I probably messed it up myself when I took it apart to polish the tumbler notches. After that, the cock always had a lot of sideways play. During shooting, the little drift pin going through the stirrup would work itself out, and usually the mainspring would expand, leading to lock disassembly to finish the match. I finally ended up ordering a replacement lock from Beauchamp--back to the horrendous trigger pull. I decided not to disassemble the new lock to lighten the trigger pull. I ended up firing it for one session, cleaned it, put it away, and have not fired it since. By contrast, my Chambers lock uses a 7/8" flint, and I've gotten in excess of 90 shots with one flint (knapping of course, but not until well into a session with that flint). Once I learned to deal with it, it wasn't so bad. Like I said, overall I like their product, probably better than most other mass-produced guns, but I feel far outclassed by a semi-custom muzzleloader.
Ron

 

[Zonie]

Well, I can see the mob forming in the distance, getting ready to tar and feather me for talking about a Caplock here, but the Pedersoli Tryon is an excellent gun, with excellent fit between the wood and metal parts.
It has won the International Muzzleloading Competition which does not speak poorly for Pedersoli's quality.

The Pedersoli Queen Anne is the only Flintlock that I own which is made by them.
It is about impossible for me to shoot a good group with it, but this is because it is a smoothbore with no sights.

I am not real happy about the pistols mainspring pin in the link between the mainspring and the tumbler because it has become loose, but other than that, the Pistol is a nice gun.

I don't have first hand information, but I understand that their replacement locks cost at least twice what a good American lock costs.

 

[aragorn]

RW1, I thought I'd pretty well exhausted what I've got to say about my DP 45 flint Kentucky on this forum, but here are a few comments:

1) Yep, that little screw worked its way out on mine too, but not after I glued it in.
2) I was advised to bore out the touchhole to 1/16" by someone who also had an older Pedersoli, but then I found I could drop a 1/16" drill bit in mine so I guess DP cottoned on to the problem. Mine was made in 2004.
3) I use 5/8" flints, knapped on the back side to fit the space between half-cock and closed frizzen. The 5/8" width is slightly wider than the frizzen, but this doesn't cause any obvious problems - I just knapp off the slight protrusion on one side of the leading edge that can be left after 10 or 15 strikes. It means that you generally get a better sparking than with 1/2" as you are guaranteed of hitting the entire width of the frizzen. I've been lazy about knapping my flints to their maximum life as I have a big batch and it's too cold at the moment to deal with misfires, but I'd guess these would last me 40 or 50 strikes in many cases, at least.
4) Leaving aside the question of how generic the design is and focusing on its practicality, I personally find that my accuracy freehand is limited by the short stock (it bunches me up too much around the neck, like I'm shooting a toy - but then I am 6'5" with very long arms), and by the front-heavy, straight barrel. I wouldn't like to have to use this gun for hunting small game needing pinpoint accuracy, but this maybe has more to do with the fact that the gun doesn't really fit me than any intrinsic faults.
5) From the bench using a gun vise (with the front sight now filed down and adjusted sideways) I get very respectable groups (ie overlapping, 1" or less) in the 25 yard range (using 50gr 3F, 440 ball, 015 patch), though I'm not confident yet how it fares at 50 yds where it produces more of a palm-sized or wider spread, even with 55 gr. At the moment I have nothing to compare it to as it is my first BP gun.

Overall I think it's a fine rifle and would recommend DP to any newcomer - certainly DP are the best mass-produced I've seen - and I wouldn't have had any other to go through my BP teething period. I'll always have a soft spot for my 'Kentucky' because of the hours I've spent with it! But yes, I'm really itching now for a semi-custom York or Lancaster.

 

[piteruu]

Accuracy was not too bad, but a factory gun with a 1:48 twist is not a match winner--at least not compared to the Douglas, Colerain, and Rayl barrels on my other flinters.

I know that Colerain and Green Mountain barrels have much slower twist (1:56 - 1:70) for .50 thru .58. Even .45 GM barrel has 1:66. Do these barrels shoot with better accuracy then barrels with 1:48 twist at 100 yds? Do you think that 1:48 twist is too fast for .50? (I am talking about patch and ball shooting). What is more accurate at 100 yds .45 or .50 (both in 1:48 twist)? What twist had original Longrifles?. I have read this forum, but still have questions. I am new and I wish to buy the most accurate shooting Longrifle from Pedersoli (only for target shooting - I can't hunt with them).

 

[Redleg130th]

I have a Brown Bess by them and am in general very happy with it. It is much lighter than my Armi Sport Springfield 1861, the wood that DP is using seems much less dense. In fact, the wood is cracked behind the lock which was very dissapointing for me. They did not clean up cuts in the wood very well, and there were spots on the metal with rough file marks specifically the barrel crown. Cabelas would fix the wood somehow, but I am gonna try resocking myself anyway so I will live with it.

But I still love it, it just seemed pricey compared with the Armi Sport product, which was much more refined and neatly finished. But, DP is the only one that I could find that makes the 2nd Model Brown Bess, unless I wanted in Indian gun which kinda seemed scarry after seeing blown out breech plugs.

 

Lets get this straight, you are in Bagdad, dodging IEDs and sucicide car bombers and you are worried about a badly fitted breechplug in an India made musket?

The perfectly fit breechplug is a modern concept and never existed until the late 20th century!

Most of the breechplugs on origional guns are terrifying, but you guys will shoot an origional at the drop of a hat!

Believe me, I saw more blown up M-16s between 1968 and 1974 than I have seen blown up muzzloaders in the entire 30 years since that time!

:crackup:

 

[Redleg130th]

hehe, just got back not too long ago.

I should change my profile info