Finally got a Bess

Well, after almost a year of looking, I finally found a used Pedersoli Brown Bess for a decent price. Call me cheap, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay full retail for something that I was just going to dirty up anyway! I purchased it from a gentleman who never shot live ammo in it; just blanks for reenacting. He assured me that it was in good shape, with no severe rusting problems.

It arrived last night, VERY well packaged. A+ on that! Just for the record, if I NEVER see another styrofoam peanut in my life, I will die a happy man! As soon as I got it unpacked, I started tearing it down and giving it the once over. Shining a light down the bore revealed a nice, shiny breech plug staring back at me...and a rusty bore. The good news is that it was all light surface rust with no pitting. 30 minutes with some JB bore cleaner, and it was as good as new. I polished up the exterior of the barrel (after removing the factory markings...how cheesy can you get? Pin punch markings? Really?) to 350 grit and set it aside.

As soon as I took the lock out of the gun, it became apparent that the previous owner had never dismounted the lock from the gun. It was absolutely sans oil or grease, and all of the screws were a mass of rust! :shocked2: Proceeding carefully, I was able to get them all out without buggering any screw heads or breaking anything, but it was touch and go for a few of them. I see some pretty serious clean up in my future. It really isn't that big a deal since I would have tuned the lock anyway. All of the lock parts are currently soaking in kerosene so I can start scrubbing them tonight.

While I was eating my breakfast, I got on TOTW and ordered some things to get this old girl shooting. The only thing I can't find is some tow. Any suggestions on where to look for that?

I am really looking forward to getting this old girl to the range. I spent half the night awake, thinking about the best way to tackle the chores ahead of me. Flintlock muzzleloaders alone are a bad enough affliction, but I suspect the King's Musket may be even worse. God save us all.... :hatsoff:

You can find tow at Smoke and Fire under firemaking. Good luck with the Bess.

Jac S. Muell

Congrats!

I'm shooting a .730 ball patched with ticking and 80 grains of 3f in mine. When I get around to making a horn and bag specifically for the Bess I may switch to 2f, but I really like being able to charge and prime with the same horn. Experiments required.

But I gotta say, as much fun as the ball is, the real fun didn't start till I started using shot from my Bess: 80 grains of 3f, a TOW lubed 11 gauge fiber wad, 1 1/4 oz of #6 shot, and a nicked 11 gauge over-shot card (also TOW). It puts virtually all pellets into a 20" pattern at 20 yards and smooth IC patterns in a 30" circle at 30 yards.

Just a dandy snowshoe hare shotgun, and a real hoot to hunt with. My hunting pards just shake their heads, and that makes it all that much better! :thumbsup:

Bear,

Where did you find a .730 mold?

I "misspoke." It's a Lyman .735. It came with the gun, as well as a .720 or .725 bag mold (don't remember which). The ones from the bag mold were too loose with ticking, letting me seat the ball as far down the bore as I could reach with thumb pressure. The .735 with patch takes a decided push with the rod to start it. No such thing as thumb seating.

I see that TOW has the .735 mold here.

I'd mike your bore before buying though. From other posts, I'm hearing that there's a range of sizes in Pedersoli Bess bores. Mine is an older one with the short (32") barrel, and it mikes .748. I've heard of tighter, but none bigger.

Nice deal on the Bess. As far as finding tow,I've found M/L suppliers a little too proud of it. check evilbay, found it there for $7.00 for a quarter pound, or do a web search for spinning supplies. Found it here http://www.woolery.com/Pages/fibers.html#flax for $20 per pound.

Well, I spent a rainy day at the bench. After a night of soaking in kerosene, I scrubbed all of the rust off of the interior of the lock and the screws, did some polishing, and greased everything well. About half an hour ago, I loaded up 75 grains of powder, a greased 11 gauge fiber wad and blew a hole in the front lawn. I'm sure my neighbors will get over it...although the horse wasn't too thrilled! :blah:

The trigger on this Bess goes about eight pounds, and the full cock notch MAY be undercut a bit. I would have taken a better look at it, but I can't get the cock off of the tumbler. I see an eventual trip to the gunsmith in the future.

Great to finally hear you found yer first Bess!
Beware....tow does Burn...so be careful when shooting! Smokey the Bear does not like forest fires.

I was able to get out and shoot my Bess for the first time today. It's a real attention getter! As soon as I touched off the first round, I had people coming from the other end of the range line to see who was shooting the cannon! 90gr of fffg, a .715" ball with .015" patching produced a four shot group at 25 yards that I could almost cover with my hand, but it was high and a bit left. From the way the ball seated, I think I can go to pillow ticking for patching and have no problems. Perhaps that might tighten the group up a bit. I only shot ten rounds total because the weather was absolutely miserable. We don't have any snow, but it was raining, windy and cold. If nothing else, it cut down on the number of folks at the range!

Looks like I have a .715" Lyman round ball mould order in my future.

Well done :thumbsup: Could you of put those balls in the side of a deer?

Brits.

congrats on your new girl, she probably wont be your only one..thay become addictive...

Sure, if I could get close enough. Our deer are pretty smart and have good eyes.... :surrender:

I think you have the Bess Carbine if you are using a .715 ball. The full grown Bess has a 41" barrel and seems to take a .735 ball. My Bess carbine really likes a .010 spit patch and 90 grains of 2F. I use the 2F for the priming as well. With a Bess you don't really need a tight ball/patch combination. If you shoot 20 or 30 shots through it in a match the looser combination will let you shoot without having to clean.

I like to be able to short start the ball with my thumb even after 10 or 15 shots. If the crud ring starts to build up real thick the steel ramrod will still pound it on down. If loading with a patch becomes a problem, shooting bare ball doesn't affect accuracy all that much once the barrel is good and dirty.

If you ever get into a post shoot, you may find that the thinner patch will be most helpful.

Many Klatch

If Mossyrock can use pillow ticking he will finish with a 0.751 diameter load to your 0.755. Four thousands differance is within tolerance for bess barrel.

Nope, not the carbine. It is a Second Model Short Land King's Musket for sure.

My .751 bore likes the .715 ball and heavy denum patch.
Loads nicely and misses consistantly. :thumbsup:

.I have a Middlesex Village Trading Company Long Land Bess myself, I use a .735 ball with .15 patch and 75 grains of Goex 1F. She will keep the rounds in a 1.5' x 1.5'square at 75 yards consistently. I use the Lyman .735 mold, used it this weekend to cast 350 more balls for this summers fun. My patch is nothing more than round cotton weave cleaning patches I use for my modern rifles slathered in patch grease. The combination works well. I got the gun from a fella up in Canada who discovered that reenacting was a little to much like work for him, and I have been having a lot of fun with it. I didn't know the Bess carbines used a smaller ball, I am planning on acquiring one soon, looks like I had better ask about that when I call them.