I purchased as a kit and built during the off (hunting) season last year a Pedersoli Kentucky bounty pistol. After a post of mine last month which showed the gun laying atop a fresh deer kill,
several here said they wanted more information about it. So here are my less than professional observations about it.
Specifics about the gun itself
Barrel 16 ½”, 1:18 twist ”“ 12 lands and grooves
Overall length 21 ½”
Caliber .50
Weight Empty 3.4 lbs
This gun as a kit, ran around $300.00 U.S. There are still some kits out there but, they seem to be scarce. It is unclear if this pistol in kit form is still in production ”“ at least one source ”“ Jedediah Starr ”“ shows the kits as discontinued.
Since my use for this gun was mostly for hunting, I did some modification to the original design. The simple lever trigger was replaced by a Track of the Wolf single set trigger. Trigger pull runs around 2.5 lbs. To get this new trigger into place, some modification had to be made to the stock trigger guard. The butt cap on the grip is an add on just for looks. On the back of the grip I added a steel plate. This steel “shoe” covers that area of the stock that takes all of the abuse during loading. Since this gun would often be reloaded in the field, the idea was to put a plate there that could be pushed against the ground, tree stand, tree or what ever surface was available, and not leave marks on the gun. Though I am not certain that I like the look, it does do what I intended it to do. Finally, the blue on the lock and barrel was removed and the barrel filed and worked to get the considerable milling marks out of it, smoothing it down. Both the barrel and lock assembly were then hot browned. This gives I think a more authentic look to the gun. For carrying while hunting, I had a local saddle maker put together the flap style shoulder holster you see here.
Ignition is provided by a Pedersoli lock, however I have not been able to find a model number for it. It is similar to their #S-410 flintlock, but is smaller. The lock is very fast and provides reliable ignition. It is very easy on flints. I am still running my first flint in the gun now with more than a 100 rounds and/or strikes. One problem with this particular lock is that the hammer in half cock is too close to the closed frizzen. With no flint in the jaws, the top plate of the vise actually touches the frizzen and keeps it from closing all of the way. The smallest flints that I could find ½” square, still had to be trimmed off of the back as well as placed in a notched leather to get them to fit.
The angle of strike by the hammer is such that if the flint is not properly positioned, the top jaw of the vice will contact the frizzen throwing it open and the flint will never make contact. This hammer may have to be heated and bent slightly to get it in proper position, I just have not gotten around to that yet.
Loading and Shooting ”“ I have run charges as high as 75 grains in this gun with no problem. It seems to do the best with charges of FFFg around 50 ”“ 60 grains. After dropping the powder charge I am finding that I have to work the powder down into the touch hole channel. The touch hole appears to be through the breech plug and to get powder to the mouth of the touch hole liner you have to provide assistance, it will not usually get there on its own. However, I must stay on loads where I have picked the vent and felt no powder, the gun still goes off as rapidly as the times that the powder is present at the vent.
I have seen some complaints from others that this gun is hard to load w/ a .490 and a .015” patch. Pistols, just because they are smaller, are more difficult to load in general than a long rifle I have found. But, other than that it has not been my experience that this gun is particularly hard to load at all. With .018” Wally World pillow ticking, unwashed, smeared with some Wonder Lube 1000 and a .490 Horandy swagged ball, it takes a bit of effort to get it started otherwise, the patch and ball work down the barrel with acceptable ease. I usually start the ball with a short starter and tap it into place with a light wooden mallet. It just seems like it is less stress on the gun itself to do this. The fit is sufficiently tight here that swabbing between each shot is a must. This is something that I always do anyway so I do not see it as a bother. Of course, a pistol loading stand is a must with any muzzleloading pistol.
Power ”“ This is where that long barrel shows its worth. With a 60 grain load of Swiss 3F, the Bounty Hunter is pushing the .490 round ball out at 1477 fps at the muzzle. That converts to some 820 fpe ”“ respectable for a flintlock pistol. That kind of energy gives you whitetail-taking capabilities out to 60 yrds or so.
Accuracy ”“ the long barrel on the Bounty Hunter does indeed give you the capability of reaching out to impressive distances for any handgun, let alone a flintlock muzzleloader. The photos below are from a recent day at the range.
Obviously, unless you have over developed arm muscles, you will not be able to competitively shoot this using the single hand rules of match shooting. The Bounty Hunter is so front heavy it requires a two handed grip or a bench rest.
Overall, I am happy with the gun. It gives me an added dimension to my flintlock deer hunting and in the off-season, shooting 100-yard targets with it is just a whole lot of fun.
Specifics about the gun itself
Barrel 16 ½”, 1:18 twist ”“ 12 lands and grooves
Overall length 21 ½”
Caliber .50
Weight Empty 3.4 lbs
This gun as a kit, ran around $300.00 U.S. There are still some kits out there but, they seem to be scarce. It is unclear if this pistol in kit form is still in production ”“ at least one source ”“ Jedediah Starr ”“ shows the kits as discontinued.
Since my use for this gun was mostly for hunting, I did some modification to the original design. The simple lever trigger was replaced by a Track of the Wolf single set trigger. Trigger pull runs around 2.5 lbs. To get this new trigger into place, some modification had to be made to the stock trigger guard. The butt cap on the grip is an add on just for looks. On the back of the grip I added a steel plate. This steel “shoe” covers that area of the stock that takes all of the abuse during loading. Since this gun would often be reloaded in the field, the idea was to put a plate there that could be pushed against the ground, tree stand, tree or what ever surface was available, and not leave marks on the gun. Though I am not certain that I like the look, it does do what I intended it to do. Finally, the blue on the lock and barrel was removed and the barrel filed and worked to get the considerable milling marks out of it, smoothing it down. Both the barrel and lock assembly were then hot browned. This gives I think a more authentic look to the gun. For carrying while hunting, I had a local saddle maker put together the flap style shoulder holster you see here.
Ignition is provided by a Pedersoli lock, however I have not been able to find a model number for it. It is similar to their #S-410 flintlock, but is smaller. The lock is very fast and provides reliable ignition. It is very easy on flints. I am still running my first flint in the gun now with more than a 100 rounds and/or strikes. One problem with this particular lock is that the hammer in half cock is too close to the closed frizzen. With no flint in the jaws, the top plate of the vise actually touches the frizzen and keeps it from closing all of the way. The smallest flints that I could find ½” square, still had to be trimmed off of the back as well as placed in a notched leather to get them to fit.
Loading and Shooting ”“ I have run charges as high as 75 grains in this gun with no problem. It seems to do the best with charges of FFFg around 50 ”“ 60 grains. After dropping the powder charge I am finding that I have to work the powder down into the touch hole channel. The touch hole appears to be through the breech plug and to get powder to the mouth of the touch hole liner you have to provide assistance, it will not usually get there on its own. However, I must stay on loads where I have picked the vent and felt no powder, the gun still goes off as rapidly as the times that the powder is present at the vent.
I have seen some complaints from others that this gun is hard to load w/ a .490 and a .015” patch. Pistols, just because they are smaller, are more difficult to load in general than a long rifle I have found. But, other than that it has not been my experience that this gun is particularly hard to load at all. With .018” Wally World pillow ticking, unwashed, smeared with some Wonder Lube 1000 and a .490 Horandy swagged ball, it takes a bit of effort to get it started otherwise, the patch and ball work down the barrel with acceptable ease. I usually start the ball with a short starter and tap it into place with a light wooden mallet. It just seems like it is less stress on the gun itself to do this. The fit is sufficiently tight here that swabbing between each shot is a must. This is something that I always do anyway so I do not see it as a bother. Of course, a pistol loading stand is a must with any muzzleloading pistol.
Power ”“ This is where that long barrel shows its worth. With a 60 grain load of Swiss 3F, the Bounty Hunter is pushing the .490 round ball out at 1477 fps at the muzzle. That converts to some 820 fpe ”“ respectable for a flintlock pistol. That kind of energy gives you whitetail-taking capabilities out to 60 yrds or so.
Accuracy ”“ the long barrel on the Bounty Hunter does indeed give you the capability of reaching out to impressive distances for any handgun, let alone a flintlock muzzleloader. The photos below are from a recent day at the range.
Overall, I am happy with the gun. It gives me an added dimension to my flintlock deer hunting and in the off-season, shooting 100-yard targets with it is just a whole lot of fun.
That is an idea I have toyed with for a while. I will also bet you did a bit of filing on that rear sight blade as well. Thanks for your efforts for a great post. :thumbsup:
