Smooth bore 38cal Kentucky Pistol

[Hermit Tim]

Also it looks like someone opened up the hole and rethreaded it. It can be fixed though. Good luck with it and keep us in the loop. It might take a group effort but I'm sure we can get worked out.

 

[devious Dave]

Something wrong there!
Will it fire it?

At the angle ir

Dave, you might try removing the nipple and then lowering the hammer to check alignment between the hammer face and the nipple seat in the bolster. The two surfaces should be parallel. If they are, it looks as if you need a very short nipple upon which the hammer nose will strike squarely. To determine the correct nipple thread, take the barrel only to a good hardware store and see if one of their metric screws will fit the nipple hole properly. Then you will be able to order the correct thread size from a supplier such as Track of the Wolf. Should you be unsuccessful in finding the proper thread size your only option might be to drill and tap for a more easily obtainable size such as 1/4-28. It appears from your pictures you don't have much headroom to work with however.

Best of luck in your efforts to get the little guy back in business.

Thank you I appreciate the advice im going to try my luck at figuring out the correct thread the nipple I have now threads in correctly it's just too tall and not the right one I didn't pay very much for this so it might just be best for me to hold onto it for awhile and buy something more common I got this on GunBroker for pretty cheap

 

[CyrusP]

I have a Pedersoli flint Kentucky pistol in .38 smooth bore. As stated above using bulk 000(?) .35 cal(?) was gallon-jug accurate to 25 yards. I’d need to find records to confirm but 20-25 grains 3F sounds right. The smooth bore format allows versatility for sure. Different diameter balls with patching to match. Lots of fun. I’d imagine in a pinch steel slingshot ammo small enough diameter would work if backstop was safe from ricochet.