Pedersoli Kentucky Flintlock -.54"

[mec]

I believe this is currently called the "big bore Kentucky." It differs from recent 50 calibers in that the sights are not quite as huge. It also has a 3.5 pound trigger pull which is much lighter than the .50 I have used. It hits about 3 inches to the right of the sights at 25 yards and is on for elevation.

I started out shooting over the chronograph with a milpac target at 40 yards. I was sitting on the ground, back rested with the gun held in both hands over my knees. This confirmed the point of aim/impact relationship so I knew what to do off-hand at 25 yards.

In general, ignition was fast and consistent. I found that either of the 3fg varients ignited as fast and reliably as 4f when used as priming powder. The gun does have a heavy frizzen spring which seems to be consistent with the Pedersoli Kentuckys and is the probably reason that the gun goes through flints fairly quickly. four or five strikes and it is necessary to attend to the flint- by knapping it sharp and, when the bottom edge begins to get two rounded for this- by flipping it over to bevel side down orientation. The flint needs to be absolutely square with the frizzen face and (at least for this individual gun) needs about 1/8" remove from the frizzen face when set at half cock.

The pedersoli multiple-gun -multiple language instruction book is much like other Italian manuals. It differs from them in that when you finally find the load recommendations, it appears that they are actually knowledgible about the matter. The suggested 25 grain charge worked very well both with goex fffg and swiss fffg. and charge weight experimentation did not seem necessary.

I was shooting .535 inch speer balls with .015" of un-lubricated pillow ticking pre-cut patches. This arrangement was quite tight in the bore.

This pistol is much more shootable and inherantly accurate than my high dollar LePage Flintlock and shoots on a par with my LePage caplock pistol

 

[LAR-15]

So the .54 caliber has a better trigger and sights than the 50 caliber version?

Thanks

 

[mec]

At least this single example. It seems to have been made in 1997. I dont know if the sights are different on the various calibers or not or have changed over the years. I believe that the only intended difference in the 50 and 54 versions is the caliber.

 

[LAR-15]

Okay

 

[higene]

Cleaning

Do you knock the pins out every time to clean it?



Higene

 

[1KPerDay]

very cool.

 

[mec]

knock out the pins and remove the barrel. I pump hot soapy water through the barrel and clean the pan area. before thorough oiling. The lockins sufficiently tight that no appreaciable fouling gets inside so, I generally wipe off all metal surfaces removing all residue an then re-oil.

 

[messerist]

Nice shootin' Mr. Boone

 

[DrLaw]

Should have gone after those 5 big mosquitos on the side of the target!

The Doc is out now.


Yeah, I know they are part of the background.

Nice gun & shooting.

 

[higene]

50 - 54 Twist

I believe that the twist rate is also different. 50 - 1:18 and 54 - 1:24.

My question is would a 1:24 be good for conicals?

Higene

 

[mykeal]

My question is would a 1:24 be good for conicals?

Well, yes, but the short barrel wouldn't. I believe the barrel is 10" long, so you're going to get less than a half turn of stabilization; not a good thing.

 

[grimjaw]

My question is would a 1:24 be good for conicals?

I have the percussion version of this gun in .54 caliber. I asked a similar question about conicals out of one of these pistols. There was some concern about whether the smaller powder charge would be enough to expand the skirt on a conical. I ended up never trying it in mine, as round ball out of it is consistently accurate enough for me.



jm

 

[higene]

Conicals and pistols

I like the accuracy of the .54 flintlock and I was wondering is there a BP .54 that is better (good) for conicals. Lyman Great Plains pistol (percussion, I know) has a 1:8 I believe. Could one build a kit with a twist rate and barrel length which would shoot conicals well?

Higene

 

[mykeal]

The Lyman Plains Pistol has a 1:30 twist rate.

I suppose one could build such a barrel, but the advantages elude me. The inherent range limitations of a pistol barrel, regardless of twist rate, mean that there's virtually no opportunity for the conical projectile to exhibit it's superior ability to stabilize at longer ranges.

 

[higene]

Pistol conicals

Thank you for that information.

Higene

 

[DrLaw]

I would tend to agree with mykeal, and also ponder this. Minies were not known of in the age of the single shot flintlock to percussion pistol. When the minie was widely used, I would have to think that somebody, since the evidence of inventions shows that people back then were not brain dead and were thinking, would have wondered if they could get minie performance out of, say the Remington Rolling Block pistols, or the revolvers of the time.

I would think that somebody probably did, but there was no advantage to it from too short a barrel, or the gap between bullet and cylinder wall possibly leading to chain fires.

The Doc is out now. (Picture me sitting here like Rodin's THE THINKER, except that I am not )

 

[arcticap]

I like the accuracy of the .54 flintlock and I was wondering is there a BP .54 that is better (good) for conicals. Lyman Great Plains pistol (percussion, I know) has a 1:8 I believe. Could one build a kit with a twist rate and barrel length which would shoot conicals well?

While it's not available in .54, with its long barrel the Pedersoli Bounty Hunter should be capable of shooting conicals at longer range and is still relatively inexpensive. There's heavy .50 conicals that can closely match the .54's. It would be the next best thing if not better than a .54 for its longer reach.



Pedersoli Bounty Hunter
Available in .45 & .50 Flint and Percussion.
16 5/16" barrel, 1 in 18" twist.
$375 from Cherry's (flint)

Cherry's Product Page:

http://www.cherrys.com/ped_pist.htm

Pedersoli Product page:

http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/?item=ArmiCategoriaDettaglio&CategoriaId=92&lang=en

 

[mec]

Ive shot the 250 grain conicals in the .50 Lyman percussion Plains pistol. they seem about as accurate as ball loads to me. also the 385 grain Hornady plains bullet with the same good results. Lyman does recommend against bullets in these becasue they might move forward in the bore and act as an obstruction when fired. I checked frequently and did not find the bullet prone to move. This might be a good way to split the stock but mine shows no peening, spitting or other stress.

 

[1KPerDay]

Lyman does recommend against bullets in these becasue they might move forward in the bore and act as an obstruction when fired.

Why would they move in the pistol versus the rifle? That's dang good shooting, BTW.

 

[mec]

That is a good question and the only answer I can think of is that the pistol is often carried muzzle straigh down in a holster or belt clip and subject to more enertia. I bump mine on the muzzle several times and checked iwth the ramrod and it seems to be ok. I've heard that it is advisable to check rifles with lubed and bore riding unpatched bullets the same way.

 

[arcticap]

A Swedish friend with a .45 Traditions Trapper pistol said that his shoots REAL bullets with a waxboard over powder wad very well and that only has a 9.75" long barrel.

I really don't see any reason why the Pedersoli .54 flint wouldn't be able to shoot at least some .54 conicals reasonably well.

For instance the .54 Ball-ET is a shorter length conical that's relatively lightweight and is often touted as being capable of shooting well from slow twist rifle barrels:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_99_311_313&products_id=3676

A lead conical could offer an advantage over the round ball for shorter range stand/still hunting where the pistol velocities produced aren't as great as those from a rifle, the accuracy that is required is basically only "minute of pie plate" yet the penetration & energy delivered is better deer medicine than the lighter .54 round ball.

Dixie has the Pedersoli Kentucky .54 Flint listed:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_187_188&products_id=970