Pedersoli Brown Bess

Apologies if this has been previously covered. I would like advice on what size ball and types of paper to use when shooting the Pedersoli 'Bess'. The Bess is .75 and I wondered what size ball I should use when shooting them.

many thanks

The Ped BB is supposedly a 12 ga. But, what they ship can vary from about 14 ga. to nearly 10 ga. Mine was 11 ga. I used a patched .715" round ball in it.

Let your Bess tell you what ball to use. These are cylinder bore muskets and the bore diameter will tell you @Gwalchmai where to start. As @Rifleman1776 observes, the tolerance on bore diameter of the Pedersoli Bess will vary quite a bit and measurement of the bore diameter is necessary. Most likely the bore diameter will be 0.750" (roughly 11 gauge) and a 0.715" wrapped in a 0.015" patch will be fine. The patching material bunches up to hold the ball in place while still being loose enough for easy loading. A bare 0.735 ball sitting atop an over shot card then 11 gauge lubricated wad and covered with an overshot card will also hold the ball in place.

Since Gwalchmai wants paper to patch the ball then measurement is even more important. However, these muskets can be very forgiving when it comes to patching. You want the paper patched ball to slip easily into the barrel. You make a tube that wraps the ball three times. Loose is better than tight. The excess paper from the tube holding the powder will act as a wad and the wrapped ball will be held in the bore until the musket is fired. After that the black powder fouling will hold the paper patched ball in place. I spit on the wrapped ball to soften the fouling as I load, or the paper wrapped ball end can be dipped in a mix of about 5 parts olive oil and 1 part bees wax that has been mixed in double boiler to liquify the lubricants.

Keep in mind that accuracy on target was not a prime concern when these muskets were used. Getting a lot of lead downrange was the main concern. Very loose loads were favored and fashioned. Balls on 0.690" were paper wrapped and the paper tube was fill with up to 160 grains of military grade powder. Some of the powder in the tube was to be used as priming in the pan. I do not prime from the tube when loading a round ball. I prime from a small priming flask when I am ready to fire at a suitable target.

I’ve owned four pedersoli Bess’s, i always found myself using a .715 patched round ball. For paper cartridges I’d keep it at .685 with the ball end waxed.

Cyfarchion i chi!

I use a .73 ball either with a cloth patch or with a couple of turns of paper in my Besses, one of which is a Petersoli...

Get in touch with James Tanner at Ballmoulds and they will supply both moulds and patches of whatever size you desire. They are based in Essex so you only have to deal with Welsh customs at the border!

Yr eiddoch yn gywir

Felix y gath

Oh, sure, Felix speaks the tongue of my ancestors but offers no translation, says the guy with lots of L's and W's in his name ...
--

My Pedersoli 'Bess is 11 GA. I started out with a Lee .69 mold and using conventional paper cartridges. I also have a .715 mold and some .735 balls to try.

.69 got me through the first year of deer hunting. They were good out to at least 40 yards. This year, I'm fine tuning and going to try different balls and different wads, patches, etc.

BillinOregon said:

Oh, sure, Felix speaks the tongue of my ancestors but offers no translation, says the guy with lots of L's and W's in his name ...
--

Click to expand...

He said:
Yours faithfully Felix the cat

Gwalchmai said:

Apologies if this has been previously covered. I would like advice on what size ball and types of paper to use when shooting the Pedersoli 'Bess'. The Bess is .75 and I wondered what size ball I should use when shooting them.

many thanks

Click to expand...

Ballmoulds as rec9mmended is a great choice. I shoot a .735 on top of powder with wading on top . If I had to do it over I would have ordered a .737 or .738 mould to allow for the shrinkage at casting.