Pedersoli .32 Blue Ridge Rifle

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Any of you frontstuffers had any experience with the Pedersoli Blue Ridge rifle in .32 cal.? I have one that I bought the Mrs. about 8 yrs. ago. We fired the rifle a half dozen or so times when we first bought it and it was thouroughly cleaned and retired to the gun safe until yesterday when I decided on a whim that I would get it out and work up a load. After deciding to use either Triple7 fff or Pyro "P" in hopes of keeping fouling to a minimum, I began my shooting session. The rifle seemed to like the taste of Pyro better so I worked up a load of 25gr. under a .310 ball and .010 patch lubed with Ox-Yoke Wonderlube. It grouped fairily well at 25 yds. approx 1-1/4" group and about 7" low at about 7 oclock. It needs some sight filing and adjustment, but that's not my concern. I fired several dozen shots and upon cleaning when finished, I had a heck of a time getting this little gun clean! I flushed the barrel with hot soapy water and dried it thouroghly but still had residue on my patches. I scrubbed the bore with a .35 cal bronze brush saturated with Kroil and let it stand for awhile. When I began running patches through it again, the first dozen or so came out black as if I had never touched it! Using Ballistol and a lot more patches and elbow grease, I got it cleaned out good. I was wondering if any of you have experienced this with the smaller calibers. I also have a .36 Seneca and a .32 T/C Firehawk and I've never had fouling to that degree with either one. I may try 3F black and some patches lubed with a 50/50 mix of Ballistol and water in my next shooting session and see if it makes a difference. I would appreciate any input.....BPS :idunno: :idunno:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Soap and Water work WONDERS when you SHOOT BLACK POWDER.

You choose to not shoot black powder. It should be no wonder that SOAP and WATER don't WORK to clean your gun.

This is a semi-smokeless powder that you are using, and you need to be using modern solvents to clean that barrel. Dry that flash channel by flushing it with alcohol when you get done.

 

[BrownBear]

Speaking from experience with that model, I think you're running into a couple of things. Most important is that it has a skinny little patent breech, yet the barrel is "pinned" rather than keyed. The breech would be less of an issue for me if it also had a hooked tang so I could remove the barrel and stick the breech in a bucket of water for plunging. Biggest source of continuing fouling I've seen, black powder or sub, is remaining residue in that breech which fouls the patch even when the bore is clean.

All is not lost though. I got one of those little tubes for cleaning from TOW, the thing that screws in to replace the nipple. Just put the end of the hose in a bucket of soapy water followed by rinse water and you can plunge to your heart's content, cleaning that breech while you're at it.

As a final step in drying and oiling the bore, I bend the tip of some pipe cleaners and kind of worm them into the patent breech via the nipple opening.

One other thing, true for all the Pedersoli's I've owned in the past and currently own. The steel in their barrels really doesn't like hot water. While not red like true rust, something is going on in there and you get a black residue from the steel itself whether you're using holy black or any of the subs I've tried. I'll leave the explanation to the chemists and folks with more experience. In any case, by switching to room temperature water for cleaning, then drying right after the rinse, I've pretty well done away with it.

In the accuracy department, you might want to see if the bore will accept a .015 patch with that .310 ball. Mine has been shot a bunch and it's fine for seating, plus it shrinks groups a lot.

Oh, one more note worth passing on. My official Pedersoli ramrod broke after half a dozen sessions. It had some cross grain in it. I've since started using a brass range rod (with bore guide) for cleaning. I hand-picked a really clean-grained ramrod from a couple of dozen in a shop a few years back, and it seems destined to last forever.

Sweet little gun that really wants to shoot when you find the right load combo. Mine doesn't care whether it's shooting Goex 3f or Pyrodex P, so long as it's 20 grains of it. I've tinkered a little with 15 grains, and that might be even better. I'm head-shooting snowshoe hare usually within 35 yards, and not worried about velocity so much as accuracy. Sighted in with 20 at 25 yards, it's "minute of hare head" with a dead hold all the way to 35, and probably further if I ever got a glimpse of one further out.

 

[Rat Trapper]

You shouldn't have any problems cleaning Tripple Seven with soap and water. Can't tell you much about pryrodex as I don't use it. However from what I've read it should also clean up with soap and water. I think you have some other problem other than using soap and water. Maybe with more detail one of us can figure it out for you.

I think Brown Bear pretty well explained what is going on.

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

First of all I would to say thanks to all who have replied so promptly. Secondly, in response to PaulV, I swabbed the bore thoroughly with Birchwood Casey solvent, ran a few drying patches down the barrel and then one wet patch with ballistol immediately after I ended my shooting session and then cleaned the gun thouroughly later that evening. In response to Brownbear, my barrel is not pinned, it's held in place by the ramrod pipe screws and the tang screw, so it's no problem to remove it. I also have one of those flushing tubes from TOW (I have both mm and standard thd.) and personally I find them to be WORTHLESS!!! They leak and the hose won't stay in the hot water unless it's weighted down. Because my barrel is not a problem to remove, I flushed it just as I do my hooked breech guns. I did not use boiling hot water, just what comes from our tap as hot as it is with Dawn dishwashing detergent. I then flushed again with clear hot water and also took the very warm barrel out to the garage and used my air compressor with a blow nozzle to blow out any excess water before I began running any cleaning/drying patches through it. I will experiment more with powder/patch/ball/lube combos in the future. Further note, the ramrod that came with my rifle is fiberglass and it seems to work well for loading and cleaning. Thanks again guys, any further input appreciated...BPS

 

[BrownBear]

My barrel is the same with the small screws in the pipes, and that's why I put "pinned" in parenthesis. Nowhere as convenient as keys andI worry some about a lifetime of pulling the tang screw and all that. Prone to losing small parts, too.

I solved the tube problem by cutting a little hole in the lid of a 1 liter Nalgene bottle and sticking the tube in there. I've never had any trouble with leaks at the gun end, so maybe I'm lucky.

That narrows it down to the hot water. Source of lots of black fouling for me, even if it's not rust.

 

[vern faulkner]

I have the same rifle as you (mine is flint) also .32 cal. I never shot anything in it except 3F goex. Clean with room temp water with out any soap added. Dry barrel and then run an oil patch down the bore. Really haven't had a problem such as you describe. I've been shooting this rifle for many years (my #1 squirrel gun). Maybe try some cooler water. I've read a lot about flash rust but have not experienced it myself. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

Vern

 

[outdoorman]

I have this gun and I know about the black stuff. I shoot Goex 3f and Pyrodex P in it.

I take the barrel off and soak it in room temperature water and Dawn dish soap in a 5 gallon bucket. I won't lie---I spend several minutes getting it to come clean. But I have gotten better results with room temp. water over hot water.

My TC .54 Hawken I built from a kit is my favorite rifle. But the Blue Ridge is my second choice, and it is accurate. I've killed many squirrels and rabbits with it.

Enjoy the gun. It is sweet, and that for me makes cleaning it tolerable.

Outdoorman

 

[Blackpowdersmoke]

Thanks a bunch fellas for your input. I intend to work with the little gun more to see if I experience this problem consistantly or if it was a one time event with the prolonged cleaning session. I think the next time I will use 3F black and different patch lubes. I have experienced "flash rust" on some of my larger caliber guns when I used to use boiling hot water. I now use just hot water from our tap, which is not so hot you can't hold your hand in it. I still have some sight-in work to do and I'm thinking of replacing the front sight with a shorter blade type sight of German silver or brass. I could file the existing front sight, but I feel that it's already too thick for my likes, so why bother? I appreciate the help you fellers have to offer whenever I have questions or concerns, and I enjoy offering up my $.02 when I get an opportunity to. Good luck to all in the up and coming seasons and keep yer powder dry!...BPS :thumbsup: