Navy Arms 12 Gauge Questions

Cheers Paul, I would of struggled :surrender:


I have done this on one breech double gun and one Pedersoli double M/L and got the exact desired affect :thumbsup:

Brits.

I believe they are standard 1/4x28. I don't have any special order nipples in my parts box. (but I really don't recall right now) All I can tell you, or anyone else is, I have three Pedersoli's and none of them had good nipples from the factory. Now either I am incredibly unlucky or they are bad nipples from the factory. Maybe?

The nipples I would have for it are Thompson Centers and they have always worked well for me.

I have a navy arms national wild turkey federation double barrel 12 guage that has served me very well. Mine is a pietta. The bores mike out to 11 guage so I use 11 guage wads.I have shot chukar,squirrels,rabbits,groundhogs,doves plus other pests. I use 60 grains FFF,OP wad,80 grains shot,OS wad. it patterns very well. Im thinking about changing back to FF and add a cushion wad to my load for the days of lots of shooting at doves. my FF load is 80 grains FF,OP wad, 1/3 cushion wad,OS wad,80 grains shot,OS wad. Without the OS wad over the cushion wad I get doughnuts in my pattern. You will love your double. They are a blast. To bad you dont live closer to ohio, otherwise we could get together and do some shooting. Cheers SS

I'm hoping my double will become my "870 wingmaster" of my muzzleloders. I hunt just about everything with that 870 and it does the job therefore I've really never used any other shotgun since. I'm hoping to hunt squirrel, rabbit, dove, turkey, and some ducks and geese with it. I don't think I can do all my waterfowling with it because I've never hunted waterfowl before so my shot oppurtunities will be limited.

i think you'll get a few shots at geese with it. but you are also right in that there is a steep learning curve to waterfowling. on the other hand, that first goose is definatly worth it!

I looked into what a bag of nontoxic shot costs. I'll definitely have to use that stuff very sparingly.

We are about in the same situation although I am 4 times your age! I have had the Pedersoil double 12 ga for several years but only started using it for hunting last season for pheasants. I also use a Wingmaster 12 ga as my regular shotgun. Mine was made well before chock tubes so I have three barrels for it. I can tell you the black powder double is no Wingmaster. You need altogether different hunting methods or at least loading methods. You just need to be into muzzle loading and love to do it, to make it work.

BTW, TC nipples are good.

I know that patterning is important with muzzleloading shotguns because I have a TC .56 smoothbore also that I squirrel and rabbit hunt with. I got this so I could hunt more things with it.

Oh, another BTW, you will quickly tire of the lubed patch material as a shot cup. That is a PITA idea.

ebiggs said:

Oh, another BTW, you will quickly tire of the lubed patch material as a shot cup. That is a PITA idea.

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One PITA to another, to each his own if it works for you. What doesn't doesn't.

ebiggs said:

Oh, another BTW, you will quickly tire of the lubed patch material as a shot cup. That is a PITA idea.

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You got bigger stones than I. :rotf:
I agree. :thumbsup:
Twice.

luie b said:

I looked into what a bag of nontoxic shot costs. I'll definitely have to use that stuff very sparingly.

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it goes much farther than you think it does. don't be shy with it.

I just got my wads, cleaning jag, etc... for the gun and I think the left barrel has some sort of choke in it because it's harder to pull the rod out only in that barrel in the last 1 1/2 or so of the barrel.

Lucas,

That's normal for Pedersoli shotguns. My 10 ga. Pedersoli is the same way. I had Gregg Dixon make me a Range Rod with a hickory stick and a good jag that he "turned-down" on a grinder in his shop while I waited. I gave him the gun and he custom made me a turned-down jag that would hold a single patch just snug enough to get the job done, but not what you would call "loose" by any means. It made all of the difference in the world, allowing me to load & clean much faster :wink: .

That left barrel is just slightly "choked", maybe to around IC, and the right is cylinder bore. I can't wait to shoot it some more!

I wish we lived closer so we could go together and pick up some tricks from each other :wink: . Don't be affraid of using a lot of shot to fill-in that cylinder bore choke. The more shot you use, the denser the pattern becomes! I'm using 1 3/4 oz of #7.5 Magnum shot and the pheasants fall out of the sky! In your 12 gauge I'd start with 1 1/8 oz and also try 1 1/2 oz. to test the gun. You WILL be pleased indeed! Also consider using a pre-lubed wonder-wad on top of the OP .125 card to help keep the fouling nice & soft. It reloads easier that way, especially if you're shooting out-of-the-pouch :wink: . And it makes clean-up a snap too.

Good luck with that thing & enjoy it. That 870 will collect some dust for a while I do predict :haha: .

Dave

The weird thing is that track of the wolf has the same gun and they say both barrels are cylinder bore. But the left barrel is tighter around the muzzle.

That's cause there's a difference between someone reading out of a pamphlet or computer and someone who actually takes that gun into the field :wink: . Sometimes something gets lost in the translation from Italian to English! Pietta for example is KNOWN for advising folks that use their .44 C&B revolvers to only use a pathetic 15 grain charge when 25 is the norm and they'll hold over 30 :idunno: .

You can bet that the person you spoke with on the phone never tried to push a .125 OP wad down either side of a double. That ever-so-slight difference requires at least twice the force necessary to push the same card into the right side.

My Range Rod's jag is the perfect solution. I use it when working at a range, and save the ramrod for hunting only, as it saves the extra wear & tear on my arthritic hands. The Range Rod also is my cleaning rod to do the pumping method. If that jag wasn't turned-down on the grinder, soaking wet patches that are fully expanded would be a terrible ritual to remove from the tighter side of my double :wink: .

Dave

I turned down the jag myself. It may need a little more because in a smoothbore since I've been shooting my TC .56 smoothbore sine september, a smaller jag works for these guns and it doesn't have to be extremely tight. My .56 uses a .54 jag because they don't make a "true" full-sized jag for that gun. The thompson center one is a ".54/.56" jag.

Sounds good to me! :thumbsup:

luie b said:

.... I think the left barrel has some sort of choke in it because it's harder to pull the rod out only in that barrel in the last 1 1/2 or so of the barrel.

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Luie, many of the SxS percussion doubles imported from Italy had some choke. I have a Navy Arms double 12 ga. which is made by Pietta and it is choked improved cylinder right barrel and modified left barrel. I have another similar gun made by Pedersoli and it is choked the same. Since you are interested in working up a turkey load, pay close attention to the patterns to see if your left barrel shoots tighter than the right. I haven't hunted turkey with these guns because I'm a flintlock nut, but a modified barrel would do a good job on them. And if your gun is choked, loading your regular wads will work just fine, only takes a little practice to figure it out and it will become routine.

You are going to like your new gun, it is a good one. It will take some time to work out the kinks and come up with a variety of loads for it, but that is a large part of the fun and very satisfying.

Spence