Pedersoli Scout Rifle Flintlock 50 cal

I bought this a few weeks ago in September from Dixie Gun Works. I had a CVA Traditions rifle with a 26 inch barrel that I tried converting the half stock into a full stock with a fore-end I made for it. I couldn't get the joint strong enough on that rifle so I ended up buying the Scout Rifle from Dixie Gun Works. It's literately what I wanted, a shorter barrel full stock flintlock rifle. I know in the Americas they weren't popular. Most American rifles such as the Lancaster patterns, had barrel lengths of 34 to 41 inches on average. However in Europe shorter barrel lengths of 28 to 32 inches were somewhat common. Rifles in the 18th century were fairly uncommon as most here know the tooling for cutting the lines and grooves was expensive. I bought it as a kit. Took me a few hours to sand the stock and the brass parts but it really wasn't that bad. It was 90% done. Just had to finish the stock, install front and rear sights, touch up blue the barrel and finish the barrel crown, drill a hole for the rear screw of the trigger guard, and stain it all. I have shot it and I must say it's very easy to shoot. The small action has a very fast lock time. The frizzen is a little stiff to move because the frizzen spring is a little heavy. It does produce a good spark. However since it is a small lock it uses small flints of 1/2 inch or 5/8ths or so. I'm very happy with it over all. I know they market it as a Pennsylvania rifle carbine which never existed. It is kinda like a smaller caliber Baker rifle though if you glance at it from a far. I just used off the shelf oil based wood stain and satin clear coat from Home Depot. It seems to work well so far.

Those are nice little rifles. For years I hunted & shot a .50 Deluxe "Cub" from pedersoli. That rifle was very accurate, easy to shoot and a nightmare for whitetails. The Cub is similar except for the patchbox. With that carbine I killed a deer at over 100 yards in a hay field. Nice carbine you have.

hanshi said:

Those are nice little rifles. For years I hunted & shot a .50 Deluxe "Cub" from pedersoli. That rifle was very accurate, easy to shoot and a nightmare for whitetails. The Cub is similar except for the patchbox. With that carbine I killed a deer at over 100 yards in a hay field. Nice carbine you have.

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That's pretty good at about 100 yards. I put a dozen round balls down range with 60 grains of 2ff. It's the German bp. I hit a little right but it could be just me. I like it a lot thanks.

Have you put it through a chrono? I was shooting mine last weekend with 70 grains of 3f schuetzen and only clocking just above 1300 fps with it, but that was with thin linen shirting material for patching.

DixieTexian said:

Have you put it through a chrono? I was shooting mine last weekend with 70 grains of 3f schuetzen and only clocking just above 1300 fps with it, but that was with thin linen shirting material for patching.

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I don't own a chronograph yet. I use schuetzen also just 2f instead of 3f. I thought max load was 60 grains 2f. The Pedersoli manual has all these safety warnings and many don't apply to flintlock lol. However they don't have load data for your muzzleloader in the manual. Thought for some odd reason they list SAMI specs for common calibers like 357 magnum and 45 long colt in the manual. It's lawyer talk ugh lol. 1300fps is pretty good. Hopefully I can go shooting this week. Tropical storm Ian is coming through thought. It looks like it will miss the Gulf coast of Florida by 150 miles thought due west.

I have the same rifle in .50 cal. I love it, short and light, very accurate with RBI’s, and sparks like crazy! It does require a very short flint, almost a pistol size. I have had to nap a notch in the back of some to allow the frizzed to fully close at half cock.
I will be taking it hunting this weekend, if I get a deer I will post pictures .

Hi Rustic bob what is the flint lock on the bottom? That a Jaeger rifle? Thank you for your reply. Yeah I have a few dozen small flints I bought when I got into this hobby over the summer. I do that with all my guns, I keep extras of a lot of parts just in case. I still need to take the safety course for my state, Florida, to hunt. I should take it to the range soon and run some more lead through it. Not this weekend but next weekend I plan on shooting blanks out of it at a pirate festival.

I've got a Traditions Tennessee, and a custom Leman style shorty. I like those Scouts, and I've been tempted to get a Jäger.

I can't find the Traditions Tennessee rifle anywhere used. Too bad they stopped making it.

stevenj4810 said:

I can't find the Traditions Tennessee rifle anywhere used. Too bad they stopped making it.

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They are hard to find. Maybe we should talk...

Birddog1911 said:

They are hard to find. Maybe we should talk...

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I appreciate it, I don't know if you're trying to give up yours but I am good with my Pedersoli Scout Rifle. If I didn't have it then yeah. I appreciate it though.

I have an older Pedersoli Kentucky 50 with a 35 in barrel. The max powder charge for it is 90 grains.

The only thing I sort of dislike about the rifle and the similar "Cub" is that tiny pistol lock they carry. Larger locks look better (to me) and are more reliable.

I'm pretty sure (but may be wrong) that the scout is a fast twist. If so bear that in mind with load development.

The 50 caliber Scout has a 1-34" twist rate. The .45 and .32 are 1-48" twist rate.

stevenj4810 said:

That's pretty good at about 100 yards. I put a dozen round balls down range with 60 grains of 2ff. It's the German bp. I hit a little right but it could be just me. I like it a lot thanks.

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Finally got mine out to do some load development this past weekend. It was shooting to the right by about six inches at 50 yards. I had to drift the front sight and it is now good to go. Using 100 grains of 3F Schuetzen and traditions prelubed .015 patches it was shooting about 1525-1550 fps. For whatever reason this rifle likes stiff charges if you want decent velocity.

Nice looking n lite they are. If you can get them working well i spect they would be the cats meow. Schuetzen powder is very slow in velocity. Goex is couple hundred feet faster n Swiss is the fastest of the 3

Well if I mix a little 4f with my 2f the main charge detonates each time. It was hitting left of center. Now it is hitting right of center after moving the rear sight left lol. At least it groups in one spot. I use 90 grains 88 2f and 2 grains of 4 about.

stevenj4810 said:

Well if I mix a little 4f with my 2f the main charge detonates each time. It was hitting left of center. Now it is hitting right of center after moving the rear sight left lol. At least it groups in one spot. I use 90 grains 88 2f and 2 grains of 4 about.

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I have been using Swiss 4 f in the pan. Using Goex 3 f as the main charge 50 gr. I got several shots off my sand bag, ragged one hole. Trouble for me was/is ruins my flint in 1-3 shots. Then most of the time i get pan flash 4-5 times before it fires off

Interesting I use English flint. The only change I did was to use a aftermarket vent sleeve with a flat face on the touch hole I bought from Track of the Wolf. I got about eight shots on that one flint and I only stopped because it was 4pm and the range closed. I was over filling the pan with 4f though. I bought a new pan powder horn. It dispenses a lot more powder at once more easily than the one it replaced so I am getting used to it.