Pedersoli Trade Gun

[Brian Gibbs]

OK, I know this has probably been beat into the ground. However, I'm going to open this up. I have read MANY posts about the trade gun by Pedersoli. Alot of suggestions state " with a little work" or "if you customize this" they are good shooters. So, what is everyone talking about? What specifically does one need to do to make them super reliable? Many locks and parts are not available anymore such as Davis, etc. So, PLEASE, help me out here.

Thanks

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I'll gladly follow this post. Oh I've got nothing to add, I want to see what develops. Thanks for the question.

 

[tenngun]

I’ve heard that some need a little lock work to get best from them.
What I would think of for a ‘little work’ is modify side plate. The one pedi uses doesn’t look like trade gun side plates. The metal finish on the trigger gaurd should be cleaned up. There is a bit too much wood on it.
Although these guns were built to be as cheap as possible but the complex side plate was inlet into the wood.
It’s all cosmetic and has nothing to do with the function of the gun. And I don’t think even the strictest group would raise an eyebrow if you showed up with on. I have one it in a park service museum as a ‘typical’ trade gun.

 

[Britsmoothy]

My issues were function.
The frizzen was soft.
The frizzen was not ground flat.
It smashed flint due to a too strong frizzen spring.
I bent the cock a little.

Now it is fast and very reliable, good flint life too.
At first I wondered what I had bought but now I won't part with it.

 

[Brian Gibbs]

WOW! Thanks Britsmoothy! That IS beautiful to look at!

 

[Brian Gibbs]

Britsmoothy, what do you mean by the hammer being ground flat? A perfectly "flat" striking surface? Did you change yours? Also, do you remove the pinned barrel to clean it? Did you harden your hammer or have it done? Wish we could sit down over a whiskey and chat. For now, I'll read your posts.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Britsmoothy, what do you mean by the hammer being ground flat? A perfectly "flat" striking surface? Did you change yours? Also, do you remove the pinned barrel to clean it? Did you harden your hammer or have it done? Wish we could sit down over a whiskey and chat. For now, I'll read your posts.

The frizzen face, or hammer yes was not ground true to the pivot axis. So the flint would connect one side first then finish on the other side. A twist had been ground in.
I ground it truer and then fired it in a carbon rich environment.

No I never remove the barrel apart from new to seal the wood and grease under the barrel and check the bedding....which reminds me....the underside of the barrel was just touching the locks main spring too!

 

[Rat]

On anything but a custom built flinter, where the maker has tuned and tested the lock, a little tuning might be involved. On my Pedersoli Bess, the mainspring was a bit weak, and the cock was kind of "listing" to the side. Some shimming, and el-heato-bendo, and SHAZAM! She's totally reliable now.

I think those are minor details, very fixable. For sure, it would be "nice" if the locks all functioned perfectly. An added cost for sure, if you have to send it out for tuning.

Judging from Brit's pic, I think you can rest assured that the lock is basically a good lock, with good geometry. Some manufacturers locks just don't have the geometry right, and it's pretty hard to get them to work right. The lock on my Bess is a copy of a good lock, so same deal, minor problems, if any, and very fixable. I think one just has to decide how big a deal it is, to do some lock tuning, or have the lock tuned.

When you and Brit get together for that drink, let me know, I like whiskey too.

 

[Brian Gibbs]

Thank You Rat! I will let you know for sure!

 

[flinter1977]

I have one and have shot about 20times so far so good one hundred percent reliable. Waiting to try out on some squirrels this weekend .

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You get one, and check it out.
Mine you can clearly see the factory quench line on the frizzen. Just a little of an angle from the side of the frizzen that is next to the barrel to the corner of the edge of the fizzen where it touches the outside of the pan. Doesn't harm the function, but poor attention to detail. Further, mine had the pin hoes drilled for the ramrod thimbles that in one case the thimble broke away from the stock. Luckily the ramrod was in place so caught the part. All of the thimbles were removed and had a dab of epoxy to them when replaced in the stock. NOT what I'd expect from a $1000 gun. But it shoots well and harvests game, so....

LD

 

[flinter1977]

You get one, and check it out.
Mine you can clearly see the factory quench line on the frizzen. Just a little of an angle from the side of the frizzen that is next to the barrel to the corner of the edge of the fizzen where it touches the outside of the pan. Doesn't harm the function, but poor attention to detail. Further, mine had the pin hoes drilled for the ramrod thimbles that in one case the thimble broke away from the stock. Luckily the ramrod was in place so caught the part. All of the thimbles were removed and had a dab of epoxy to them when replaced in the stock. NOT what I'd expect from a $1000 gun. But it shoots well and harvests game, so....

LD

Once I shoot it a little more we'll see how it is . I agree that 1000 dollar gun should be better than that . mine has a wood screw holding the lock in in front that you have to take out every time for cleaning I didn't see that before I bought it . poor design.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

...mine has a wood screw holding the lock in in front...

OH yeah that's a common Pedersoli trait. They worry (I guess) that if you have a single screw holding the lock, that you will lose the lock if that single screw works loose and falls away ??? So they do that manure with the Frontier model rifle too. I don't think they expect the lock to be removed as much as Americans will do so, to clean the gun.

IF you're not careful, you can strip out the wood where the wood screw goes, and it will hold onto nothing. Then you have to fill that spot with something like epoxy, and drill a starter hole, and reinstall the wood screw. OR....,

You remove the lock, and take some emery cloth to the lock to remove the case hardening color [barf!]. Then you fill the wood screw hole by melting a faux button and pouring that into the spot where the screw goes, and then make the metal overflow flush with the lock face. IF you want the lock to age and not have a permanently round sliver bit where the screw went...you get some tin and melt it and it will darken and stain over time as will the steel of the lock, or go for dull gray and just use the lead from a ball. It will just look like the tip of a bolt coming through flush from the other side.

LD

 

[Brian Gibbs]

I have one and have shot about 20times so far so good one hundred percent reliable. Waiting to try out on some squirrels this weekend .

Let us know how that goes! We don't have tree squirrels out here in NV. Ground squirrels. We bust cottontails!

 

[Brian Gibbs]

So.....here's what I've decided. I've already sent the lock off for work. Not a gunsmith myself and don't want to goof up a lock on a $1000 gun. Just getting back into muzzleloading, I pulled the trigger on this Pedersoli and am going to make the best of it. I am confident that with a little work this gun will work well for me and will work well for field use. Definitely don't want a wall hanger. Want a work horse. So, with that being said, will probably go forward with seeking out a custom rifle for mulies out here in the west!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Brian..., you do know that if you practice woodland movement, you may have a good chance of getting to within 50 yards of that mulie..., and a .600 round ball from that trade gun at that range will poleaxe a deer. Van Dyke writes in The Still Hunter, how to learn how to move vs. mulies and white tails (he hunted a lot in the scrubby brush of California) and used iron sights and a cartridge that was only a tiny bit superior to muzzle loader ballistics.

LD

 

[Brian Gibbs]

LD, Thank you! I got a big chuckle out of your post! I shot my first mulie with a ragged ass .45 cal CVA kentucky rifle I built when I was 14! The rifle looked like hell! But....it worked and made meat! I think that was 1978. Yep! I believe I will try someday with my smoothbore. I guess I've gotten used to hunting horseback and covering ground. I believe I will study up on this "woodland movement". Thank You Dave! I appreciate your input!

 

[Rudyard]

This is very odd , Trade guns like most all Flint guns had a' side nail' (Front lock bolt if you insist) going though from the LH side front & back .Not a wood screw in the front. Yes its sometimes a trick to get it just so and not impede the barrel or rod hole but its the Only proper way ..So its curious to learn Petersoli with all their jigs & fixtures men went that way into the old faithful' Lott lock' which incidently makes a fine British military carbine lock if the cast engraveing is filled with weld & dressed of ."Our old friend Lott" was how Kit Ravenshear used put it . The common trade gun was produced in the tens of thousands I doubt any had wood screws in the front even for the Africa trade . As for the serpant side plate yes their inlet mostly . If I've castings that may have been late and not inlet going by the lack of draft but that is more likely the moulding in the iron moulds . I don't mean to knock Petersolli. In general they do us all a service ( Though I roll my own so don't have any ) and capandball is priceless. Incidently in 1966 when hitching down to Genoa looking for a working passage . A Manufacturer of muzzle loaders gave me a lift . I often wonderered if that wasn't Pedersolli . (They used to say Petersolli Davied ) But I was bound for Australia so that was' a road not taken'.( Didn't get a ship so went overland to Karachi instead ) Got to have a nice Dragon that' Makes' it ,all very odd to hear of faults Ive only known the occasional spring tensions adjustment with Lotts nothing of consequence .
Rudyard

 

[Britsmoothy]

This is very odd , Trade guns like most all Flint guns had a' side nail' (Front lock bolt if you insist) going though from the LH side front & back .Not a wood screw in the front. Yes its sometimes a trick to get it just so and not impede the barrel or rod hole but its the Only proper way ..So its curious to learn Petersoli with all their jigs & fixtures men went that way into the old faithful' Lott lock' which incidently makes a fine British military carbine lock if the cast engraveing is filled with weld & dressed of ."Our old friend Lott" was how Kit Ravenshear used put it . The common trade gun was produced in the tens of thousands I doubt any had wood screws in the front even for the Africa trade . As for the serpant side plate yes their inlet mostly . If I've castings that may have been late and not inlet going by the lack of draft but that is more likely the moulding in the iron moulds . I don't mean to knock Petersolli. In general they do us all a service ( Though I roll my own so don't have any ) and capandball is priceless. Incidently in 1966 when hitching down to Genoa looking for a working passage . A Manufacturer of muzzle loaders gave me a lift . I often wonderered if that wasn't Pedersolli . (They used to say Petersolli Davied ) But I was bound for Australia so that was' a road not taken'.( Didn't get a ship so went overland to Karachi instead ) Got to have a nice Dragon that' Makes' it ,all very odd to hear of faults Ive only known the occasional spring tensions adjustment with Lotts nothing of consequence .
Rudyard

You been drinking again?

 

[Rudyard]

My reply can only be terse as you imply I drink or emagine things .I assure you all I have written is entirely true & I rather resent your suggestion other wise . Get knotted . Rudyard