Pennsylvania pistol kit help!

[omarick1948]

I received the Pennsylvania pistol kit, that was on the classified ads. It is one of the lower-end brands of percussion reproductions that could be bought about anywhere years ago and probably still available today. It is an import, with PALMETTO and Italy. 44 caliber, Black Powder Only on the barrel. Out of it's original box, the kit is more than 99% fitted for all the parts and very little work is needed except sanding stock etc. There is very shallow rifling, but I was going to complete the kit and give it to one of my grandson's. ARE THESE A SAFE SHOOTER?.... ANYONE HAVE OR KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM? I haven't had the barrel miked, but was wondering what patched RB should I be thinking about, for this 44 caliber?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Zonie]

All of the Italian companies are required to proof their guns before they can be sold.
The proofing may involve testing only a few barrels out of a "production lot" but basically it does give good assurance that the entire production lot is safe to shoot.

Without actually measuring the bore it is difficult to say exactly what sized patched roundball will work well in your gun.

I found reference to a ".44 caliber Kentucky Pistol" imported by Replica Arms back in the '70's and it said to use a .424 diameter ball.

I have no idea where they came up with that one. :hmm:

Dixies catalog says Hornady makes a .433 diameter roundball and that size should work in your gun with a .010 thick cloth patch.

Another option shown in the Dixie catalog is a Hornady .395 ball.
This would require some very thick patching in a .44 cal barrel but if you can find some worn blue jeans the material should be about the right size for use with this ball.

Because the bore size is not really known, this smaller .395 diameter ball has a couple of other advantages over the .433 balls. The price shown by Dixie is lower and the smaller ball will accommodate a slightly undersize bore without hammering it into the muzzle.

Pistols are difficult to shoot accurately to begin with and unless you or your grandson's are really good at pistol shooting I doubt that the slight loss of accuracy from using a ball that is way undersized will be noticed.
Besides that, the undersized ball will serve as a good excuse for not getting winning sized groups. :rotf:

I would keep the powder loads down below 24 grains and, depending on the age of your grandson's I would lean towards dropping that down to 16-18 to keep the recoil down to a fun level.

 

[omarick1948]

Thanks Zonie! That's more information than I thought I would get about this gun. That's a big help!

Rick :hatsoff: