harpers ferry pistol Questions

[Kal52]

I am going to be ordering the harpers ferry percussion pistol very soon, and have a few questions
this is the smoothbore version btw, ive read some were rifled at one time or another.

firstly I would like to know what type of wadding is available that is not flamable, its been pretty dry in ND the past few years and I do worry quite a bit about grass fires out here, so any advice
I have read about leather, hornet/wasp nest, and felt wads soaked in olive oil,
any other recomendations or something i may have missed?

For the main purpose of this pistol is just the joy of having it, and making large clouds smoke to impress the nephews, but wouldnt mind having it along as a bunny buster during hunting season,
what is the range with a load of shot, is it capable of such a task.

ive been out of the black powder for a while now, and used to bring the cap n ball revolvers out for some rabbit hunting every now and then, fun and really humbles a guy LOL

any other things that I should know, advise etc

Thanks
Dave

 

[AlexanderA]

I have always liked the Harpers Ferry flint pistol. Of course the originals are out of reach financially.

The reproduction flint version has been available since the 1960's. Unfortunately, it was made in a rifled .58 caliber, which made it too far from the original to be considered.

I was happy to see an authentic .54 caliber smoothbore being made. However, it was in percussion. Nevertheless, I bought a pair.

It turns out the locks are interchangeable with the flint version. The percussion drum can be unscrewed and replaced with a Pedersoli touch hole liner (available from VTI Gun Parts). When you have these parts, you can switch back and forth between the percussion and flint versions.

I would quibble with the authenticity. The barrel is far too heavy (thick walled), and the flint lock leaves a lot to be desired. But this is the only way to get a half-decent reproduction, unless you want to pay $2,775 to a custom gunsmith like John Zimmerman (and wait 2 years for delivery).

 

[arcticap]

any other recomendations or something i may have missed?

what is the range with a load of shot, is it capable of such a task.

That would be a lot to conjecture.
It depends on how much powder and shot is loaded, the type of components used, along with how much that you want to punish your hand and also possibly damage the pistol stock.

Would you consider trying modern 28 ga. plastic shotshell wads?
I have some older 28 ga. Winchester wads that measure .5045 - .5055 at the hollow base.

Ballistics Products have some 28 ga. magnum wads of which one is listed as measuring .546 .
Someone recently posted that plastic 28 ga. wads load like they are made to fit the .54, but I can't verify that since some wads are listed as having a diameter of .55 .
But it's still possible that some would fit due to their flexibility, or they can be adjusted if needed by shaving them down slightly.

They can be loaded over a card or wool wad to protect them from excessive heat.
I haven't noticed any melted plastic shooting them with Pyrodex when their base is protected.
Some folks claim that they have experienced melted plastic, but many more have said that they don't melt.

Besides experimenting with a paper shot cup, I can't think of much else to try that would improve the performance of shot from a short unchoked pistol barrel.

Perhaps an effective hunting distance may be 8 - 15 yards, only more if one were very lucky and loaded heavy which I wouldn't want to recommend for an expensive pistol.

BTW, how large are the rabbits [wild hares] where you live in ND?
I found this story that made me wonder which kind of shot would work, small size buckshot maybe?

Dozens of Dog-Sized Jackrabbits Swarm Development in North Dakota
https://abcnews.go.com/US/dozens-dog-sized-jackrabbits-development-north-dakota/story?id=28662261

 

[Kal52]

Rofl
yeah, I live in Fargo
And yep, they are Huge! Not uncommon to see 20-30 running around some of the parks on the southern end of town, mainly during the winter months.
the best is when they are running around outside of the dog parks, that is funny watching all the dogs react, pack mentality, one goes off, the rest decide its a fine idea!

I figured it would have a fairly close limit, I can live with 15 yards, cottontails are kinda dumb, and you can usually get pretty close.

I am willing to try anything really, as long as its safe for me and the gun. As far as recoil, im able to handle it, but id rather not if its not necessary, and if it is, well then i guess ill be bringing a different gun. LOL

Thanks all for the replies.
Dave

 

[AlexanderA]

The brass-tipped wooden ramrod that comes with the gun is fragile. I've had one break on me. You can make a much stronger metal ramrod by cutting a section of 5/16" diam. steel cleaning rod to length, and adding a brass button tip, available from Dixie Gun Works. I had to use a Helicoil to adapt the threads of the cleaning rod to the threads on the button tip (the pitch was the same but the diameter was slightly different).