Lyman GPP Or Pedersoli Kentucky Pistol Kits? And What Tools Are Needed?

Lyman Gpp or Pedersoli Kentucky Pistol?

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That will be most attractive. I'm going the opposite way that Mike did on his Kentucky. Rounding down sharp edges, polishing metal, and smoothing out the stock hand rubbing it with linseed oil. Also finishing my self bow "Twisted Sister" with boiled linseed oil. It's a gum tree sapling we whittled down into a hunting bow drawing about 60 lbs at 29" draw with a near center shelf due to the 'twist'
It's not kiln dried, we did dry it out over small fire while carving it down. It's lighter than the walnut of the Pedersoli but near as porous from what we can glean. May try tinting some of the latter coats with walnut hulls. The idea is to start on the bow first as a test medium.
Will go with commercial finishes if any doubt arises.
My inspiration was a reviewer who simply banged on the sights and called it a day. From Dixie:
Awesome already assembled! I installed the sights, inspected and cleaned it, trigger pull is good, and flint makes a spark. Can’t wait to load some powder, paper, and a 45 caliber lead ball down the tube and see it work.

It really looks tough the way it is and I don’t plan on doing anything to it unless cleaning it after shooting and replace flints when needed.
Click to expand...
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/produ...ews_id=8943&osCsid=g0sgmck6i9752anq0g0uvnip52
That and another reviewer who was unhappy with his factory lock on a trade gun and managed to re-inlet for an r.e. David lock.
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/produ...ews_id=2288&osCsid=g0sgmck6i9752anq0g0uvnip52
We hope to 'get away' with the factory lock, if not the price of components is reasonable to our imagination, even if we end up with an entirely new stock. if we 'get away with the factory lock ( on a plinker.. ) even better.
We were going for the trade musket kit, but decided to try a pistol first. Might end up just buying a finished flinter, but I want to see if i can put something in to it. The price of the DPS Kentucky kit or the LYman is within our tolerance.

The Barrel attachment is unique, accurate to all accounts and one of our fine members from France advises with with 60grains of fffg and a 230 gr real slug you want to hold on tight to avoid knuckle busting.
OTOH, there is a live hunt with a flint lock Lyman .50 pistol on youtube taking down a nice doe...
 
I just re-acquainted myself with boiled linseed oil. Have no idea how old my can it. Smells rank, yellow color and the results on my ten year old raw gum self bow after one lightly rubbed coat is stunning to my eye. I'm hunting that bow this year... so right now I'm thinking see what the oil does...
 
Well My DPS Kentucky flint kit arrived. Great service as always from Dixie and good sale on the kit. Mine was not assembled, barrel was held to stock with masking tape and ram rod thimbles installed. With the exception of the trigger guard 'tang(?: Distal end of triggerguard )' the gun was easily assembled "In the white' at the kitchen table with only the benefit of precision screwdrivers.
Only minor surgery on the triggerguard ( or extending the inlet on the stock ) is needed to assemble the gun completely other than whanging on the sights.
Never owned a flintlock, lock feels spongy and stiff to me. Makes sparks. Have zero black on hand, sparks did burn some pyrodex 2f albeit a bit slow, in the pan only, nothing down the bore for a while yet.
So we wiped it off, a little lighter fluid to clean the pan up and wiped down. The lock does seem to throw sparks well. So there is that.
Trigger is unsophisticated and breaks cleanly. Lock time seems acceptable.
Lock is color case hardened except for frizzen. Seems to be 'in the white'(??)
Gun feels lighter than we expected, balances well in the hand. Unable to cock the gun one handed.. :/
Stock is gorgeous, only really needs shaping for my hand in the lower grip and smoothing out rough edges. At this point thinking linseed oil and call it a day. Multiple coats and 220 grit..
Most likely just leaving it be until we get a bench vise set up and get a good book in. Nothing really gives me any pause even with my pre-school level mechanical skills except getting those sights on. I've never been good at that but we will take our time and learn.
So this 'kit' should be play time for anyone with any skills if it doesn't scare a free thinker like me. :D
 
Looking forward to seeing some cool builds coming. Keep it up guys and don't forget to post some "pichers" as it were!! :D
 
*DONE

There is a small gap behind the cap on the right side. Looks like some rasp leavings and glue to this wood butcher..

Muzzle

Muzzle


Part of me loves shiny brass, part of me says leave it be this gun is meant to wander the woods plinking and such. Time will tell. The wood is gorgeous to me. Needs sanding all over with much left rough.
Once cocked and trigger slack taken up it feels good breaks clean.

No stain for this baby. Still reading about Tung oil, leaning towards linseed.

DpsKentKit

DpsKentKit

 
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Well We have spent some time evaluating this 'kit'. First things first. If the kit were representative of DPS quality writ large, I would advise against their products. If you are a first time builder looking for an easy kit, look elsewhere. The quality control isn't where it needs to be and, my opinion only, the Dixie sale price AND the service we get from them ( spent enough time in West TN. to know not to brace the wommins, EVER :D ) make this kit a reasonable buy to me.
The triggerguards of late seem to be problematic by some reviewers. Mine is. It will have to be cut and a pilot hole will need to be drilled in the stock or the inletting extended. BOGUS! That ain't assembled ''in the white'. The needed correction ain't exactly finishing either so Uncle Dave will likely get a written beatdown from yours truly when I brush up on my Italian a bit. I can cuss him out Napoli style now but for a man of his stature a more sophisticated approach is indicted.
The wood on the stock is breathtaking for the price. The workmanship? Well my dad would have and did demand more care in my first pine wood derby car. My dad is a freaking actor by the way, not a tradesman of any kind but he did make his own bow saw when he was 35, so there is that. CRAPPY WORKMANSHIP! Uneven at the muzzle end of the stock, grip carving looks like it was done by the Long Island Ice Tea Champion in my Advanced Avionics school, USN one each. Very uneven.
Barrel tang will give me apoplexy if we try to index off it to begin our sight picture. Uneven.
Barrel stampings? BOO HISS BOO. Just no dude. They can do better. Looks like crap even on a 'period piece' that likely never existed. Can't imagine Dan Boone toting one of these through the cane break..
The lock? Bleck. bah meh gah! Looks like something off a toy my granny got me in the 60's that held a roll of caps. Except that 'in the white frizzen' actually looks the part. The color case hardening is tacky. The lock feels like pooh, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to cock this sucker until six weeks after my hernia repair. We are totally ignorant of these marvels and it could be simply in need of a little inletting. It did get much harder to operate after installing it.
THE GOOD STUFF!!! :D WAIT THERE"S MORE!
Ramrod!!!! Due to the fact that I hate wooden ram rods and I love this one we have decided not to bribe anyone to let a few live chickens loose in the DPS breakroom after morning Joe :D This is a very nice ramrod.
THE BRASS YO! this is solid brass work to my eye. It will take a nice patina rough but I'll likely polish it up a bit.
The Sideplate!!! Perfect, just what I wanted.
Inletting! PRECISE!!! If an idiot like me can get it put together enough to fire from a bag of parts somebody did their job on this stock. Not the possibly espresso addled minion who rushed the carving job mind you, but the person who inletted the barrel, ramrod channel, and lock mortise? GOLD STAR!
We appear to be blessed with extra screws!! NEVER A BAD THING.

So here is the overall:
Less to do with the stock than we had imagined. It will take me a long time shaping the grip slowly to get it right. Other than that sanding in general, a few sharp edges to soften. Done.
Not going to mess with the nose cap too much. again, sharp shoulders softened and no more.
The lock? Might have to take it down, go ahead and get a vise learn that trick on a lock we're not in love with.
Barrel - other than stampings and slightly honked looking tang? Looks very nice. Recessed for ez loading... I like the way it is held on.
If you are not afraid to clean up somebody's mess, this is an okay kit from what we can tell so far.
If you expect merch to be as advertised, maybe not your huckleberry right here.
 
Butt

Butt

Thimbles

Thimbles

Onecoat

Onecoat

Blackpowdershooter44 said:
Nice pistol and good luck with your build! From what I've gathered is that Tung oil soaks into walnut wood as it is a rather porous wood and would work better on maple.
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In his build video Mike B said that Linseed would just endlessly absorb and he went with Tung oil. I decided to go with Linseed. My family has used it for generations, and we had some on hand... I'll post up a pic, I think it's going to come out gorgeous. I've taken it down to the stock and left the thimbles in for now while we sand the stock a little. Stand by for Pic, prepare to drool :D
 
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If I were you, Perl Dog, I would sand down those "spines" on either side of the grip, the raised lines coming off the lock plate area. I have never seen an original American pistol with those, and I think it is purely a modern Italian thing to help production.
 
that kit didn't look bad to me as I built two traditions bp guns! a pistol and a rifle and they were work as well but I don't mind working the kits as this way I know I got it my way! :)
 
The only aggregious thing about
midland man said:
that kit didn't look bad to me as I built two traditions bp guns! a pistol and a rifle and they were work as well but I don't mind working the kits as this way I know I got it my way! :)
Click to expand...
this kit is that trigger guard. No how no way, unprofessional. I've owned italian guns since I bought a Tangfolio Guiseppe .32 Titan II in 1982, Had Beretta, Pietta, Uberti. Never seen no ish like that trigger guard. The pilot hole in the wood, the screw hole in the brass, No how no way. I'm used to a certain standard from Italian makers, Dave P. & th' boyz Is about to hear it too. :)
 
perldog007 said:
The only aggregious thing about

this kit is that trigger guard. No how no way, unprofessional. I've owned italian guns since I bought a Tangfolio Guiseppe .32 Titan II in 1982, Had Beretta, Pietta, Uberti. Never seen no ish like that trigger guard. The pilot hole in the good, the hole in the brass, No how no way. I'm used to a certain standard from Italian makers, Dave P. & th' boyz Is about to hear it too. :)
Click to expand...
I guess I didn't see that trigger guard pardon me so did you put up pics of it and where your upset about if so disregard this question but if not please post pics thanks! :)
 
Cooldill said:
If I were you, Perl Dog, I would sand down those "spines" on either side of the grip, the raised lines coming off the lock plate area. I have never seen an original American pistol with those, and I think it is purely a modern Italian thing to help production.
Click to expand...
I'm with you, that and rounding off sharp shoulders is about all this stock is going to get. Along with many many hand rubbed coats of boiled linseed and polished with fine sttel wool when we we get weary of fine grit sandpaper. I am looking forward to learning how to work with the metal. All I know is basic brass polishing and blade sharpening.
 
midland man said:
I guess I didn't see that trigger guard pardon me so did you put up pics of it and where your upset about if so disregard this question but if not please post pics thanks! :)
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I should post a detail pic so people know what I'm talking about. This is a minor nit to an intrepid moron like me. I do my own stunts. ;) For a person that was expecting it to fit, well one guy reviewing on Dixie gave it a one star. I had to give it two. I'm glad to have the challenge but am a bit put off that a house charging a premium would put that out. I love the Amalfi Coast and even Naples. Makes me haz a sad when I remember all the wonderful crafts folks and artisans. They were generally a people who took great pride in themselves and the their culture. Hang on a minute there. The Brass can be bent in with a vice, bowing the trigger guard a bit. Of this I'm nearly positive. But check the hole placement... stand by..
What

What

trigger guard tang will not fit inlet in DSP Kentucky Pistol, inlet appears to be for a...
If thats not a pilot hole at the end of the inlet what the heck is it doing in my stock? I didn't need it... If it is, and there should be some kind of starter hole for a wood screw in a walnut stock, even I know that, it certainly doesn't match the part. I'm not that enraged overall. But hey my first Pedersoli and all that. I didn't get upset over the elections so maybe it is my turn for meltdown :D ? Anywa, I've had my fit, time to fetch a file and learn this shaping the brass stock to the stock inlet trick :) Jedi training we are. Apparently..
 
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perldog007 said:
I should post a detail pic so people know what I'm talking about. This is a minor nit to an intrepid moron like me. I do my own stunts. ;) For a person that was expecting it to fit, well one guy reviewing on Dixie gave it a one star. I had to give it two. I'm glad to have the challenge but am a bit put off that a house charging a premium would put that out. I love the Amalfi Coast and even Naples. Makes me haz a sad when I remember all the wonderful crafts folks and artisans. They were generally a people who took great pride in themselves and the their culture. Hang on a minute there. The Brass can be bent in with a vice, bowing the trigger guard a bit. Of this I'm nearly positive. But check the hole placement... stand by..
What

What

trigger guard tang will not fit inlet in DSP Kentucky Pistol, inlet appears to be for a...
If thats not a pilot hole at the end of the inlet what the heck is it doing in my stock? I didn't need it... If it is, and there should be some kind of starter hole for a wood screw in a walnut stock, even I know that, it certainly doesn't match the part. I'm not that enraged overall. But hey my first Pedersoli and all that. I didn't get upset over the elections so maybe it is my turn for meltdown :D ? Anywa, I've had my fit, time to fetch a file and learn this shaping the brass stock to the stock inlet trick :) Jedi training we are. Apparently..
Click to expand...
well your brass trigger guard is going to cover it up anyway so as a friendly comment don't worry about it :) plus dog soldier is right its a strong point about the wood overall so its good it's there like I said its hidden by the trigger guard and it will work out when that trigger guard is fitted :):)
 
perldog007 said:
I'm with you, that and rounding off sharp shoulders is about all this stock is going to get. Along with many many hand rubbed coats of boiled linseed and polished with fine sttel wool when we we get weary of fine grit sandpaper. I am looking forward to learning how to work with the metal. All I know is basic brass polishing and blade sharpening.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you're oiling it now? Doesn't look like a bad kit. There is a reason why they're cheaper, after all. You have to put in the work to build them and finish them. Me, I'd rather just spend the little extra money and get one pre-made. My DPS Harpers Ferry:

20160212_115021_1.jpg


I've built kits before and in general, I have found it isn't really worth all the effort and the cost savings of the kit is usually offset by the cost for tools, sandpaper, stain, etc. Also, I just don't really enjoy building them. I enjoy getting out and SHOOTING them, that is where I get my fun out of them. :)
 
Well I'm having a really good time though, and now we know how one of these goes together, and that we have more guts than skill ... I knew going in, and posted that this was not a good move economically. We did destroy the trigger guard with aplomb. However, now the redundant pilot hole that the hole in the brass could not reach is covered, and we have a new pilot hole and the trigger guard now fits, ALMOST!! :D Oh well, so close!

It's not a bad kit at all! Just, my opinion only, that trigger guard was entirely unsat and reading reviews is a recent wrinkle, possibly last couple of years only.
ANYWHO! Here is where that situation is

We may or may not circle back for this one. depending...

Actually the busted up look is kinda me..
Jobdone

Jobdone

well, I measured that bass ackwards! Should have taken off just under a quarter inch. That's not...

I was so confident in the way I took the profile and measurement off the stock... exactly almost backwards. I should have taken exactly the profile of the file I used. Instead some how I imagined that about three times that length had to come off. Oh well the trigger guard fits now. We can always dial up vti for another one. On the plus side I find that this brass is easy to work with without seeming flimsy. Very taken with the brightwork on this one.

CoolDill I sanded it over then oiled it and continued to sand. Just a way doing stuff I picked up from my grand father. We like to shape with sandpaper when we are close to the shape we want. Before we even start on the barrel it will have a few coats. Everybody says this is porous wood.
The stock around the lock are and barrel we aren't going to mess with, or the nose. Only rounding down the 'sharp' edges. Now the grip is a different matter. Some of the proud wood has got to go especially where it's uneven even to butcher like yours truly.
 
perldog007 said:
Well I'm having a really good time though, and now we know how one of these goes together, and that we have more guts than skill ... I knew going in, and posted that this was not a good move economically. We did destroy the trigger guard with aplomb. However, now the redundant pilot hole that the hole in the brass could not reach is covered, and we have a new pilot hole and the trigger guard now fits, ALMOST!! :D Oh well, so close!

It's not a bad kit at all! Just, my opinion only, that trigger guard was entirely unsat and reading reviews is a recent wrinkle, possibly last couple of years only.
ANYWHO! Here is where that situation is

We may or may not circle back for this one. depending...

Actually the busted up look is kinda me..
Jobdone

Jobdone

well, I measured that bass ackwards! Should have taken off just under a quarter inch. That's not...

I was so confident in the way I took the profile and measurement off the stock... exactly almost backwards. I should have taken exactly the profile of the file I used. Instead some how I imagined that about three times that length had to come off. Oh well the trigger guard fits now. We can always dial up vti for another one. On the plus side I find that this brass is easy to work with without seeming flimsy. Very taken with the brightwork on this one.

CoolDill I sanded it over then oiled it and continued to sand. Just a way doing stuff I picked up from my grand father. We like to shape with sandpaper when we are close to the shape we want. Before we even start on the barrel it will have a few coats. Everybody says this is porous wood.
The stock around the lock are and barrel we aren't going to mess with, or the nose. Only rounding down the 'sharp' edges. Now the grip is a different matter. Some of the proud wood has got to go especially where it's uneven even to butcher like yours truly.
Click to expand...

It's looking really good so far. I wouldn't let the trigger guard worry you, it looks fine and is discrete. Keep in mind if you ever do contact Pedersoli, that Davide is dead. Pierangelo is the current owner and he is a nice man who has emailed be back personally before and he speaks English. Please don't cuss at him LOL. :)
 
midland man said:
well your brass trigger guard is going to cover it up anyway so as a friendly comment don't worry about it :) plus dog soldier is right its a strong point about the wood overall so its good it's there like I said its hidden by the trigger guard and it will work out when that trigger guard is fitted :):)[/QUOTE
I am totally in love with the stock on this one. and I'm not really sweating the curb appeal of this sucker at the rondy. I would have bought the finished one. Or if the money was the issue, Kits are rewarding but not always a savings. The only raised wood I'm taking off is on the sides on the grip, the right side is much higher than the left. Now that kind of stuff is good in a kit. I like room to work with wood. Keeping most of this too for reasons cited. Other than getting a good handhold I see that wood as protecting the works. It stays with a little smoothing up.
Yeah I'm pretty estatic with the experience. just cleaning up the lock mortise by gently sanding the inlet work made the lock a little nicer. It's light, good looking and what folks post for ballistics and accuracy seems like good plinking and goofing off to me.
Now if we wanted to get serious about knocking stuff down with a BP pistol we would have done what Cooldill did. Bought a nice finished smoothbore. His is gorgeous.
The best thing about the DPS Kentucky IMHO is the way the barrel is secured. People report great accuracy and I don't pretend to understand harmonics but believe the simplicity doesn't impede accuracy. So I don't want to mess with the end cap or forend or even stock shape that much. Just want to finish the surface and take care of the wood.
I already learned a whole bunch about how to correct that trigger guard thing :) SO I can't tell you how glad I am at the superb fitting of the rest of the parts. But one may well imagine.
Going to keep sanding and keep working on what bright work we ain't bound to tear up yet. ;)
Click to expand...
 
Cooldill said:
It's looking really good so far. I wouldn't let the trigger guard worry you, it looks fine and is discrete. Keep in mind if you ever do contact Pedersoli, that Davide is dead. Pierangelo is the current owner and he is a nice man who has emailed be back personally before and he speaks English. Please don't cuss at him LOL. :)
Click to expand...
I'd rather sandpaper a gunny in a phone booth than actually cuss out an Italian who runs any kind of factory. And I'm not looking for a gunny or a phone booth :D
Most reviews of Pedersoli products are excellent of have one or two limited issues.
For somebody like me that carries a limited edition N frame to work.. yeah cosmetics not huge. No I'm beyond tat guard now :D And I know EXACTLY what to do if that comes up again. I'm pretty happy truthfully just to have gotten it into the channel. With every thing else installing nicely I only have to figure out how to get those sights in. Plenty of videos and reading.
I thought Davide was alive in the nineteenth century? More reading I need to do. When i saw the trigger guard I knew it wouldn't slow me down. I might just leave it so. Easy to fix. Had fun making the new pilot hole. And now it's fully assembled! If I had taken off the height of the file I was using off the end instead of almost three times that it would have snapped into place like it grew there. those two pieces actually are secure.. but it is two pieces.
 
perldog007 said:
I'd rather sandpaper a gunny in a phone booth than actually cuss out an Italian who runs any kind of factory. And I'm not looking for a gunny or a phone booth :D
Most reviews of Pedersoli products are excellent of have one or two limited issues.
For somebody like me that carries a limited edition N frame to work.. yeah cosmetics not huge. No I'm beyond tat guard now :D And I know EXACTLY what to do if that comes up again. I'm pretty happy truthfully just to have gotten it into the channel. With every thing else installing nicely I only have to figure out how to get those sights in. Plenty of videos and reading.
I thought Davide was alive in the nineteenth century? More reading I need to do. When i saw the trigger guard I knew it wouldn't slow me down. I might just leave it so. Easy to fix. Had fun making the new pilot hole. And now it's fully assembled! If I had taken off the height of the file I was using off the end instead of almost three times that it would have snapped into place like it grew there. those two pieces actually are secure.. but it is two pieces.
Click to expand...

You're going to have a fun shooting gun when you get it finished. I personally enjoy the single shots more than cap and ball revolvers. Lots and lots of problems can be had with the revolvers jamming, locking up, breaking delicate internal parts, etc. but much less can go wrong with the single shots. This is from personal experience. The Harpers Ferry pistol above has been extremely reliable with no misfires at all in 200 shots or more, and has been very accurate especially for a smoothbore pistol with no rear rights. Granted it's a percussion gun but I'd rather mess with and experiment with a flintlock getting to shoot right than the hassle of broken cap fragments getting everywhere and tying up the revolver, caps falling off, cylinders binding and seizing, etc. etc.
 
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