Brown Bess DGW/Pedersoli Trade Gun kit

[barracudadave67]

Hello All
I am thinking of getting the Dixie Gun Works/ Pedersoli Brown Bess Trade gun kit, for a winter project.
I'm awhere that is is not a copy of any thing, but I dont want a real long gun. I shoot Civil War 2 band Muskets, with 33 inch barrells, and thats long enough for me. This kit has a 30.5 inch BBL.
I"m looking for some insight on this kit, Pro and Con.
I have built all my own, and others I have sold thru the years, CW Muskets, Rifles, and Carbines, so I think I can handle this kit. I know Pedersoli has decent BBLs.
I have never built, or shot a flinter, this is another reason I chose this kit. It seems pretty decent to me.

Anyone build one of these,??.
Thanks in advance.
Dave

 

[Ironoxide]

I haven't built the kit you ask about, but I'm building another Pedersoli musket kit.

If you haven't seen it, there is my kit review thread in this forum section.

Perhaps my experience can give you a general overview of what to expect with regards to quality, state of parts etc. Someone who built this exact kit can give you more details.

My opinion of Pedersoli kits is mixed. One gets a functional gun in a kit already put together set in a bare wood stock. This gives an impression it will be a breeze to finish in comparison with kits of other makers that supply "proper" kits with all parts separate, with some inlay that may need to be fitted etc. Here everything is fitted already. However, as the stock is unsealed wood and metal parts are also unfinished tolerances of fit are necessarily bigger than what could be achieved by cutting your own . As a result there are certain difficult to correct gaps present from the start. In my kit the most annoying ones were behind the tang and behind the barrel itself. Those gaps can be correct using various methods.

Other than the tolerances I have no complaints. There was an extra 1/16th of extra wood on the outside so one could do own shaping as desired or keep the original.

The lock was fully finished and working. Less functional metal parts like barrel bands, the trigger, trigger guard were halfway between "as cast" and finished.

I hope this helps.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Anyone build one of these,??.

So when you order one of these, finished or in a kit, order a replacement ramrod shaft from Track of The Wolf. For some reason the Italians skimp on rammers, and tend to send you something that doesn't have straight grain.

When it arrives take a hard look at the touchhole placement. Another place for a Pedersoli to go wrong is in the placement of the touchhole. IF they mess it up it will be too low.

Next, take a look at the frizzen on the lock, and see if there is a discernable line on the back of the frizzen showing where they quenched it to harden it. There shouldn't be one.

Now the lock will be case hardened, but a little polishing will remove the color from that. While they did case harden in the 18th century, the discoloration was polished off before the gun was sold. The lock itself will be held in place by a wood screw, just forward of the bend in the frizzen spring. Be CAREFUL with this..., as for some reason Pedesoli doesn't like a single lock bolt to hold in the lock, so this wood screw is there, but you can strip out the wood if you're not careful.

Same is true for the sideplate. It's held in place with a wood screw and the lock bolt. Be careful when tightening the wood screw.

Inspect the holes for the ramrod thimbles as they can, even on factory finished guns, be done too shallow, and will break out of the stock in no time. IF you find them too shallow, then I'd suggest a hand gimlet from Garret Wade be used to position a proper hole, and you can fill in the original holes the wood from a medical swab.

Gimlet tools (not the beverage)

As for stock sanding and finishing it's pretty straight forward. You can even paint a stock and still be correct. A brick red perhaps a shade darker than an actual brick done in oil based paint is one option, and it can be embellished with a vine pattern in black oil based paint if you wish.

It will not come with a rear sight, but the actual trade guns often did have them. IF you feel you need one them simply get an angle bracket of brass and use your tang sight to hold it in place. You can use the hole in the bracket for a "ghost" type sight or shorten it and make an open sight.

LD

 

[TreeMan]

I’m pretty sure the gun you mentioned is simply a rebranded Pedersoli Brown Bess carbine with a browned barrel. There are many many posts about their Bess carbine on this forum. Several about mine. Use the search feature and type in Bess carbine. Mine wasn’t a kit but I have zero complaints about it.

 

[tenngun]

What you want is what you want, but might I suggest the NWG at track of the Wolf, about the same price or a little cheaper and will produce a gun more like origanal trade guns

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes I think I'm mistaken and the Trade musket is one thing and the Bess Trade Gun is really the Bess Carbine....my mistake. I saw "Trade gun"...

I'd recommend the Trade Musket in 20 gauge...,

LD

 

[TreeMan]

Yes I think I'm mistaken and the Trade musket is one thing and the Bess Trade Gun is really the Bess Carbine....my mistake. I saw "Trade gun"...

I'd recommend the Trade Musket in 20 gauge...,

LD

I have the Bess carbine and the pedersoli trade musket too. They both have their place I just haven’t figured it out yet lol. I like shooting both with shot and ball. The 20 trade musket by far swings better and has a nice front sight. The Bess is the exact opposite but hey it’s fun because it’s a Brown Bess. I definitely get better groups with roundball with the 20 ga mostly contributed to the nice front sight and not the huge bayonet lug aka sight on the Bess.

 

[barracudadave67]

Hello All
Well I ordered the Pedersoli kit. Should be here in about a week. Going to make it a winter project.
I have an original MD 1847 Springfield smooth bore, but it is percussion. Its a hoot to shoot.
Now I guess i'll have to get some flint accessories. I ordered 12-1 inch English flints, and they're flinnters tool. Not quite sure what all I'll need for a flinnter.
What do you guys use to prime the pan with,??.
I have lots of the Holy Black, in 2, 3, and 4f. What kind of gizmo do you guys use to hold the priming powder, ??.

This will be a new expeirience for me. Thanks for all the replys.

Dave

 

[Ironoxide]

Hello All
Well I ordered the Pedersoli kit. Should be here in about a week. Going to make it a winter project.
I have an original MD 1847 Springfield smooth bore, but it is percussion. Its a hoot to shoot.
Now I guess i'll have to get some flint accessories. I ordered 12-1 inch English flints, and they're flinnters tool. Not quite sure what all I'll need for a flinnter.
What do you guys use to prime the pan with,??.
I have lots of the Holy Black, in 2, 3, and 4f. What kind of gizmo do you guys use to hold the priming powder, ??.

This will be a new expeirience for me. Thanks for all the replys.

Dave

Please post some hi resolution photos of the kit and parts when it arrives. I'm very curious to find out if the as delivered finish is the same as on my kit. If the gaps I mentioned are present on all those kits or just one I got. Etc.

I also suggest, unless you have a mental picture how you want the gun to look like, you obtain lots of pictures of the finished gun (and/or originals). I needed them to check how certain features should end up looking as the only instructions I got was a single piece of paper with a list of parts and a diagram where they go.

And have fun working on it