wood to metal finish on pedersoli bess

[superdeluxe]

I have looked at 3 different brown bess muskets made by pedersoli (two at Cabelas, one at pawn shop) and all 3 had bad metal to wood finish especially around side plate, breech plug and ramrod entry pipe. My qestion is, is this typical of all pedersoli bess's or did pedersoli do this because the originals had bad metal fitment? I have never held an original so I don't know how originals were. I have owned two pedersoli rifles before (blue ridge and kentucky rifle)and metal to wood finish was a lot better than bess's. thanks Trent

 

[gjkershul]

I got mine in 1994 and the fit was excellent. After 6000+ rounds target shooting and hunting, service as reenacting piece, numerous forays into the field under all adverse weather conditions, getting run over by my truck,my efforts to glass bed the barreland repairing loose under barrel lugs, I still find it a thing of beauty.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Wood to metal fit is absolutely tight on original Bess's. The Pedersolis are inlet by machine and wide inlets are the norm.

 

[J.D.]

Wood to metal fit is absolutely tight on original Bess's. The Pedersolis are inlet by machine and wide inlets are the norm.

The inlets on my 30 year old Pedersoli bess are ok. Not great, but much better than the new ones.

I recently looked at a spankin' new Ped bess at the local Cabelas that, compared to my old one, looks like it was carved and inlet by a beaver. Some seem to think the inlets and carving look great.

 

[superdeluxe]

Thanks for the replys. I plan on getting a repro bess one of these days but not a pedersoli if they are all built with poor inletting.

 

[Many Klatch]

If you are going to shoot blanks with your Bess then any repro will do. If you are going to shoot round ball then a Pedersoli might be what you want regardless of the inletting. The Pedersoli Bess stock is made of walnut like the originals. Many of the India made Besses are made with local woods and they are very heavy. There have been a number of threads here about whether the India made barrels are safe or not. There have been a few barrel failures, but we don't know exactly what happened.

Pedersoli makes a safe reliable gun. They are made quickly so they can make a profit. If you want a 100% historically accurate Bess the only way to get one is to have one custom built.

Many Klatch

 

[mikee51848]

What Many Klatch said is right. I have a three year old Pedersoli that I kit bought, and made some minor alterations to. There was a posting here, maybe last year, of someone who did make more alterations on his Bess, and it looked really nice. Again, it might matter what you are gonna do with it. And some guys I reenact with, their Bess looks like it came right from the showroom, and others (like mine) are dinged, scraped, and barrel browned from rust (mine started with the first event). But it still shoots great.

 

[10 gauge]

I am very happy with the fit on my Ped Bess. It has nice straight walnut and the barrel is proof tested. If I need a part in the future to be replaced I can just order one and install it my self, it doesnt have to be hand fitted like others. It is made from a reputable company and I can contact them, good luck contacting the ones in india.

 

[BadHorse]

oh heck this is getting silly, why not get it, and rebuild it getting rid of the issues. it isnt hard to do, doesnt take long, and doesnt cost much. problems solved.

 

[superdeluxe]

So you're saying that I should buy a poor fitting gun for a 1000.00 and then tear it apart and redo it? I thought about just buying a bess kit from Track but thought I would look into the pedersoli bess (finished gun compared to kit for about same money) but after looking at pedersoli's in person theres no way I would pay that much for what you get.

 

[BadHorse]

maybe your best be is to get the kit from track, or one of the other reputable suppliers. it only takes time to build and you get a by far superiour weapon when your finished. and you will know your gun inside and out! building one would be my choice.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I do recommend getting the Bess kit from Track. Bear in mind that this is one of their "advanced projects kits". That translates into Rifle Shoppe parts. This means they are very good but the lock is a collection of cast parts. If you get one of those kits, pay the extra money to have the lock assembled and tuned. This makes one of the biggest positive steps to improve performance in one of those guns.

Wishing I could afford to order one of the advanced projects kits.

 

[oldarmy]

I just shot an old Navy arms Charleville. The fit and finish was excellent.Very tight and neat
It was made by a Japanese company.
It was made back in the 70's never shot.
The Gun dealer then let me shot his Pedersoli Brown Bess and I was less then impressed.
This was also a very early one.
The wood was nice, but the fit was not worth the price and the trigger was just plain awful.
You might want to check out the Navy Arms.
Or build your own.