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Who can make Ball Triggers for Pedersoli pistols?

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If you really want to do it you might explore silver soldering a steel ball bearing to your design. I would cut it with a ball cutting attachment on my lathe, but the bearing would be easier.
 
You're correct about repurposing original pieces to suit new needs. I have an original Ohio style rifle built in flint sometime prior to 1850 or so with a heavy target barrel. It has been converted to caplock, rebored to 46 cal and has had at least three previous sets of sights installed over it's lifetime. The original barrel pin was replaced with a wedge and the lock bolt escutcheon was replaced. It's not pretty any more but it is interesting.
Perfect, this man gets it :)

Many people forget that target shooting with muzzleloaders didn't just end in the 1860s and all the guns just thrown away. There are many stories about guys hunting and shooting with muzzleloaders as a "primary" gun up through the 1940s. Obviously people still do but ya know what I mean .

They kept these guns going with newer parts, added sights, tinkered with them etc and I'm going for a little bit of that idea with these pistols, plus I have a grand total of about $650 in the pair which wouldn't even buy a higher end target model. It's all about having fun :) why else are we here.
 
Many of these pistols and rifles were "tools" and were modified and updated throughout the years.

Maybe even after they were used in the field for hunting, they found new life as target or plinker guns. Just like now, people enjoyed going into a field or in the woods and popping off a handful of rounds, I've read stories that families kept using old flintlocks that were passed down through the family, well through the Depression era and beyond because all you needed to do was buy powder and find flints , and cast balls. They used whatever they had laying around for patches or maybe just bareballed. They just needed to harvest game.

Even to this day my parents neighbors , who aren't even really "dirt poor" use their flintlock muzzleloader to hunt on their property because its cheaper to operate and the ball doesn't go as far as a high powered modern rifle.
 
Sorry Stan!
I really didn't mean to imply that your pistols are crappy. I believe I got a little "bowed up" thinking that I might be shooting next to a guy on a firing line with no triggerguard and a ball trigger.
Personally I wouldn't stay. I'd go home and check the news for tragedies.

I would LOVE to shoot with you, AND your Pedersoli pistols..... please just leave the triggerguards on.
 
If you really want to do it you might explore silver soldering a steel ball bearing to your design. I would cut it with a ball cutting attachment on my lathe, but the bearing would be easier.

This would likely be my only option , I'd have to make it strong enough to hold up to actual use.
 
In keeping with the rules of the forum I'll post these pics of blackpowder pistols, but that said, tens of thousands of trigger guard-less guns like these are carried daily. I have a similar revolver that I've fired thousands of rounds through. But mention a trigger guard-less muzzleloader and it's a huge safety hazard, for some.
 

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I’m thinking colts first pistol was sans triggerguard. In a single shot pistol capped just before shooting and only cocked when pointing down range is no less safe for having no trigger guard
I can’t think of a time when a guard has proved a safety factor. The only thing it seems to do is protect the trigger from damage.
Your welcome to shoot it next to me, provided your a safe shooter. Since the first fail safes were made they only lived up to half their name.
 
Wow Stan, we know nothing about each other except we both seem fairly opinionated. It seems we both have strong feelings about what we believe. I believe in safety above all else. You seem to attack anyone that disagrees with you.
I won't bother you or this thread anymore.
Good luck.
 
The Colt Paterson pistol did not have a trigger guard. It featured a drop down folding trigger that remained in the frame until the gun was cocked. Cocking the revolver caused the trigger to drop down so it could be pulled.

1839-samuel-colt-paterson-holster-model-revolver-patent-print-blueprint-greg-edwards.jpg


The Remington Pocket pistol did not have a trigger guard. It has a "spur" trigger which basically is a solid piece of the frame hanging down with the movable trigger inside of it. The actual trigger only moves forward out of the protective spur or lug when the gun is cocked.

PH0407.JPG
 
The Colt Paterson pistol did not have a trigger guard. It featured a drop down folding trigger that remained in the frame until the gun was cocked. Cocking the revolver caused the trigger to drop down so it could be pulled.

1839-samuel-colt-paterson-holster-model-revolver-patent-print-blueprint-greg-edwards.jpg


The Remington Pocket pistol did not have a trigger guard. It has a "spur" trigger which basically is a solid piece of the frame hanging down with the movable trigger inside of it. The actual trigger only moves forward out of the protective spur or lug when the gun is cocked.

PH0407.JPG
Absolutely, there have been many handguns without trigger guards, in my opinion as long as they are used as range guns , I don't see an issue. That said I'm carrying an NAA type revolver right now.

As a 'plot twist" a Cowboy Shooter, years ago unfortunately shot himself with what I believe was a cap and baller, when he was shooting one handed and the grip slipped, the trigger guard "ringing" around his finger and the gun discharged. I believe he survived , thankfully. If he would have a Paterson the gun would have just dropped.
 
I was at a line shoot and the person next to me shot a ball thru the bill of his hat. He was lucky, had the pistol been at a few degrees different it would have passed thru his chin. As it was, it barely missed his nose. It scared him when he put his hat back on and found out how close the ball came to hitting him.

The pistol did not have a trigger guard.

We all get to chose what we shoot and whom we shoot next to.
 
I'm not trying to debate this to death but I'm pretty certain anyone who is gonna cap one off out of a pistol that's already cocked and facing toward their head , would have still done so with a trigger guard. How did the pistol get loaded, primed, and cocked while pointed at a mans face? I would have many questions......

I've witnessed MANY many ND's, close calls, the reasons I stopped shooting at a certain public range, dude ND'd a handgun a foot away from his kid, shooting through rifle cases, rounds hitting the dirt......all weapons had trigger guards. I was a RSO in the Army , witnessed more close calls than I care to think about .

A muzzleloading pistol with a ball trigger and no trigger guard is IMO just as safe as the same exact pistol with one on it. The hammer shouldn't be cocked until it's on target.
 
And what kind of mysterious pistol was this man shooting that had no trigger guard?

So by the logic of some , if I'm shooting a Colt Paterson you're gonna pack up and leave but an 1860 Army is fine though.
 
As Mr Robert Plant would say..... Ramble on.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.
I'm sorry if I've offended you. I really am.
I hope we can meet on better terms.
 
Since you I guess didn't see the PM I sent you.....I'm one of the easiest to get along people in the world and at no time was I offended, I came to ask a valid question about a period correct modification and was met with unsolicited negativity that was not limited to one comment. So I mean, what did you expect eventually I have to respond to it.
 
I was at a line shoot and the person next to me shot a ball thru the bill of his hat. He was lucky, had the pistol been at a few degrees different it would have passed thru his chin. As it was, it barely missed his nose. It scared him when he put his hat back on and found out how close the ball came to hitting him.

The pistol did not have a trigger guard.

We all get to chose what we shoot and whom we shoot next to.

I had a lady at a CHL class shoot a hole though the loading table.
That 1911 had a trigger guard, a thumb safety and a slide lock on it.
You can't fix stupid......
What was the idiot doing pointing the gun up at his face in the first place???
 
I have no idea.

As embarrassed as he was, there was no reason to ask him. Especially after he realized how close he came to dying.

My guess would be one of the range commands is to keep all pistols pointed "up" as he was doing and it went off for whatever reason.

You are right, you cannot fix stupid and folks keep trying to qualify for a Darwin Award.
 
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In all 100% seriousness , since this kind of debate is like a Coke vs Pepsi thing and neither side will give in.....

I agree, people doing dumb stuff with "unmentionable " handguns like hacking pieces of trigger guards off or all of of it, of guns that are carried and used for defense or range shooting is unnecessary.

But how a man poured powder, seated a ball, brought a hammer to half cock, primed a pan/placed a cap , brought hammer to full cock, and then buzzed his face with a ball......just shows about 5 safety failures on the part of the shooter or it was a mechanical failure of the lock. Still, once that thing is primed the muzzle should not be pointed at your face.

I just saw a YouTube video of a guy hunting with a shotgun and slipping, capping a round off 4 feet from his buddies feet.

Fact is , some people just cannot safely handle firearms . Shooting is inherently risky as it is ,let alone with someone who is incompetent behind the trigger.

I do feel the primary function of early, original muzzleloader triggers was to protect the actual trigger and keep it from breaking off.

I just watched "Turn" and saw all the British Officers with Flintlocks on half cock stuffed into their belts, pretty much relying on a little half cock nub to keep that thing from firing. To me that's a bit unnerving but that's how it was done.
 
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