Pedersoli Lock

Has anyone replaced their lock with a better one on the Pedersoli Frontier rifle? Can you recommend a better one?

I'm in the process of a complete revamp of a Pedersoli percussion to flint. In the conversion process I first ordered a Pedersoli flint and it was such a piece of garbage in quality I immediately returned it. I then ordered an L&R "drop in" replacement, but the footprint of the lock was smaller than the current inlet and I wasn't going to mess with trying to fill in wood around the inlet. So, I went to the Chambers builders lock as the center-of-pan to sear measurement was a perfect match. I am also getting Chambers quality!

I have posted about this conversion so you can take a look and see the process I used (a Flickr link to pictures is embedded in that post).
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/294257/post/1475949/hl//fromsearch/1/

That's quite an undertaking, Spike....! All I can say is wow!

Thanks. Lots to do yet, but my building activities halt summer/fall. But with the lock portion done, it's a good example of what could be done with the Chamber's builder's lock, which I found to be of substantially higher quality than either of the other two locks I mentioned...no comparison. I'd go through all the work to shape and fit the lock plate again just to have the superior lock quality. :thumbsup:

I am with you on Chambers locks. Nice job on the conversion as well. :thumbsup:

Dave

Spikebuck said:

In the conversion process I first ordered a Pedersoli flint and it was such a piece of garbage in quality I immediately returned it.

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In what way(s) was the Pedersoli lock junk? Could you be a bit more specific? Pedersoli has an excellent reputation as a maker of production firearms and most people seem satisfied with the quality. I'm considering a purchase of one of their flinters so would appreciate any first-hand insights.

Black Jack said:

In what way(s) was the Pedersoli lock junk? Could you be a bit more specific?

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First, let me say I have owned and still do own Pedersoli's. All my finished guns have been good shooters. All also cappers, so have no experience with their flinters.

The issues were: horrible pan cover to pan fit. The pivot hole in the cover was drilled incorrectly and there was literally about 3/32 of an inch gap. How something like that leaves the factory is beyond me. In addition, the cock was "twisted" such that a flint squarely in the jaws would have only struck about 1/2 of the frizzen! Then, for a "finished" lock that costs around $200 :shocked2: the pan itself was very rough. Now, I could take care of that but when I buy a finished lock, especially one that expensive, I expect it to be finished.

Yeah, that's pretty poor awright. Never seen that on one o'there guns per se...

I had a Pedersoli .32 Frontier caplock. Wanted to convert it to flint and bought the L&R replacement lock from Track of the Wolf.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/724/3/LOCK-LR-06-F

The lock plate fit perfectly and I had only to clear a bit of wood inside the mortise to get it fully seated.

That said, the Pedersoli lock on my .45 Hatfield flinter is every bit as good as was that L&R, perhaps better.

Thanks Spike Buck, I will check out the Chambers lock. Also I found that the vent hole is drilled into the breech plug which has a 1/4/" hole drilled into the barrel end which gathers fouling quite nicely. I think a small caliber brush inserted into said hole every few shots will cure this, I will try it and report back. Thanks for the info.

I have a pedersoli frontier in a .50 flinter that I was considering converting over to percussion so that I could maybe get a little closer to how good the gun shoots. That big ball of fire that close to my face still has a tendency to make me flinch. I love shooting it and would probably hold on to the flintlock and liner to convert back again one day but would love to see if I could match my ability to that of the rifle...I was curious to the fit of the l&r rpl lock and how it would match up to the lock plate of the factory pedersoli.

Thomas Rose said:

Also I found that the vent hole is drilled into the breech plug which has a 1/4/" hole drilled into the barrel end which gathers fouling quite nicely.

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Your gun has a Patent Breech...a small chamber behind the main bore. On my guns that have this feature, I never have a problem with it while actually shooting. I do make sure I clean that really well with a smaller jag, and make sure it gets a coat of whatever rust preventer I'm using. Then it has to have those lubes wiped/dried out before shooting or it likely will collect fouling.

In my conversion the drum thread hole (I was converting from Percussion) was so low I could not use it for a touch hole liner, so I actually had about an inch cut off the end of my barrel and a new breech plug installed, so mine no longer has the patent breech.

Travis B said:

That big ball of fire that close to my face still has a tendency to make me flinch.

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Uhhh...what big ball of fire? :idunno:

hanshi said:

Travis B said:

That big ball of fire that close to my face still has a tendency to make me flinch.

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Uhhh...what big ball of fire? :idunno:

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The one that you don't see because you close your eyes when you pull the trigger. :blah:

Yea that one!! :rotf:

It's really the one you don't see because you are focused on the front sight and keeping the front sight on target through the shot.

Twisted_1in66:thumbsup:
Dan

:hatsoff: Them is the facts, if you see the flash you have taken your eyes off the sights.

The flash really doesn't bother me at all its the delay between the trigger pull and the gun going bang. Haven't had time to get around to tuning on the gun to get this dialed in. The dang frizzen is so hard its eating the heck out of my flints and you better not stand to the side of me when I shoot or your liable to get flint thrown at you.

I just received a beautiful Blue Ridge rifle yesterday, I'm rather pleased with the lock and IMO the lock seems to be rather well built, very happy to see they use a stirrup link between the main spring and tumbler. However, what I feel is lacking is the cock geometry in relationship to the frizzen... Easily fixed, but I'll eventually drop in a RPL lock from L&R. I've got numerous locks from them and I've been very pleased with their performance. Specifically speaking for their frontier and blue ridge lock, my old Hatfield wears one and it's been a great addition. :hatsoff:

Also, the delay and bang probably isn't your lock, most likely it's the way your priming the pan. Also, if it's eating flints, check the way you have it positioned in the cock jaws.

Travis B said:

The dang frizzen is so hard its eating the heck out of my flints and you better not stand to the side of me when I shoot or you're liable to get flint thrown at you.

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That is an indication that the frizzen is rebounding and hitting the top of the flint. You can check for this by placing a piece of tape on the top of the flint and dry firing. The heel of the frizzen will leave an imprint where it is striking the flint. If this is the case try making a flint leather that is almost as long as the flint on the top. That will solve the problem until you can get the lock sorted out.