Flintlock Pistols...

[MIOutdoorsman]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

 

[Rockvillerich]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

I've made several flintlock pistols, and one cap-lock, and they take almost as much work as a rifle, hence the hefty price tags. Never skimp on parts because of cost. Once you've invested that much time you'll want something worth the trouble.

 

[hawkeye2]

Have you looked at the Lyman Plains Pistol? It's avaliable in .54, flint, has a hook breech for disassembly, avaliable as a kit or finished. There is an ongoing discussion about these pistols in the Handguns section.

 

[Le Loup]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

I looked around for ages for a pistol to match my .62 caliber fusil, finally came up with a smoothbore flintlock in .70 caliber. I can load buckshot, or I can patch a .62 caliber ball that fits neatly in this pistol using a leather patch.
Keith.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Have you looked at the Lyman Plains Pistol? It's avaliable in .54, flint, has a hook breech for disassembly, avaliable as a kit or finished. There is an ongoing discussion about these pistols in the Handguns section.

Yup-I like that one Hawkeye. But it’s a cap, so I couldn’t take it with me on Flintlock-only deer season in PA. They have a flint and a BP season and my brothers and I like to go during flint only due to less ya-hoos in the area.

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I looked around for ages for a pistol to match my .62 caliber fusil, finally came up with a smoothbore flintlock in .70 caliber. I can load buckshot, or I can patch a .62 caliber ball that fits neatly in this pistol using a leather patch.
Keith.

Wow brother, I’ll bet that one rocks your world! Sweet looking piece!

 

[hawkeye2]

Yup-I like that one Hawkeye. But it’s a cap, so I couldn’t take it with me on Flintlock-only deer season in PA. They have a flint and a BP season and my brothers and I like to go during flint only due to less ya-hoos in the area.

The Lyman Plains Pistol is avaliable as either a caplock or a flintlock (also as a kit) though you may have to search for a while to find it. They are out of stock at Lyman.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have never seen or heard of a Lyman Plains pistol in flint. I have written them several times over the past 13 yrs about a flint option for the pistol. They list no flint lock or parts for a flint lock in the parts list. I see the web site says, they come in Flint as a kit. and I wonder if that is something new, because it says they are out of stock, but available for back order. The OP has it right that a flint pistol is required for PA's late season. Had Lyman offered a flint pistol, they would have sold a thousand here in PA during the first month. I would certainly order one. Tried calling Lyman and was put on terminal hold. Will try again later

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Investarms, the Italian company that makes the pistols, lists no flintlock option for them on their web site.

 

[M. De Land]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

I think you may have to build what you want. Because in a pistol your going to have to go with caliber to make up for short barrel velocity, I'd use a shortened rifle barrel of say .58 caliber. You will be limited to ball shooting because of muzzle velocity but a slow twist rifle barrel will work fine for ball shooting. I made a good cap gun with a .54 rifle barrel of 1-60 if I remember correctly and it shoots fine.
I used a small rifle lock on that gun and see no reason why it could not be done in flint as well.

 

[trent/OH]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

Pedersoli makes a 54 caliber Kentucky pistol in flint. I just bought a used one in 45 caliber flint to keep my wife's 45 percussion company. I took it out on New Years day for a shoot, and was pleased with it, although it will need some trigger work. \

https://www.davide-pedersoli.com/sc...kentucky-pistol-kentucky-flintlock-model.html

 

[Zonie]

I advise anyone shooting that Pedersoli Kentucky pistol to keep the powder loads on the light side.

A weakness in the design is the method of retaining the barrel in the stock at the muzzle.
The stock has a small rather thin projection of wood at the front. The muzzle cap slides over this projection and is then held in place by a screw from the bottom.

When the gun fires, the muzzle tries to raise the barrel out of the stock and the only thing that keeps this from happening is that thin piece of stock wood so, if the powder charge is very large the wood can end up being sheered off. Over the years, several people have had this happen and reported it on the MLF.

As a project, I decided to restock my Pedersoli Kentucky so I bought a curly maple pistol stock blank from Dixie Gun Works.
One of the things I changed was the method of retaining the barrel in the stock. I decided to pin it thru a barrel underlug I installed. The pin goes thru the star shaped inlay located slightly behind the nose cap.
I also changed all of the furniture to German Silver to match a longrifle I had built.

 

[hawkeye2]

A Pederzonie Kentucky Pistol? Impressive!

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I advise anyone shooting that Pedersoli Kentucky pistol to keep the powder loads on the light side.

A weakness in the design is the method of retaining the barrel in the stock at the muzzle.
The stock has a small rather thin projection of wood at the front. The muzzle cap slides over this projection and is then held in place by a screw from the bottom.

When the gun fires, the muzzle tries to raise the barrel out of the stock and the only thing that keeps this from happening is that thin piece of stock wood so, if the powder charge is very large the wood can end up being sheered off. Over the years, several people have had this happen and reported it on the MLF.

As a project, I decided to restock my Pedersoli Kentucky so I bought a curly maple pistol stock blank from Dixie Gun Works.
One of the things I changed was the method of retaining the barrel in the stock. I decided to pin it thru a barrel underlug I installed. The pin goes thru the star shaped inlay located slightly behind the nose cap.
I also changed all of the furniture to German Silver to match a longrifle I had built.

View attachment 2743 View attachment 2744

Impressive modification. And.... that means the Pendersoli kit is out for me. I'm not a gun builder. I'd need a kit that is SAFE, reliable, and designed for the "average guy" who's handy with tools, but not an official gun builder. Dang it! Thanks for the important safety update Zonie. I love your work here!

 

[Zonie]

Well, notice I said "the powder charge is very large" in my comments.

For what I consider a normal pistol powder charge, the pistols will work fine.
I would say a normal maximum powder load for a .45 is about 30 grains, a .50 is about 35 grains and a .54 is about 40 grains.

If you stick with a powder load of 25 grains in a .45, 30 grains in a .50 and 35 grains in a .54 the Pedersoli should do just fine as it comes from the factory.

As I'm sure you know, there are people who seem to want to make Magnums out of their muzzleloading pistols and load basically "light" rifle powder loads into them.
Those are the people who get into trouble with guns like the Pedersoli Kentucky pistol.

 

[trent/OH]

I can't recall ever seeing a report on how effective a ball from a pistol is on game. I don't think I've ever read about shooting a ML pistol over a chronograph. I sure would like to though. (Hint, hint)

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

Well, notice I said "the powder charge is very large" in my comments.

For what I consider a normal pistol powder charge, the pistols will work fine.
I would say a normal maximum powder load for a .45 is about 30 grains, a .50 is about 35 grains and a .54 is about 40 grains.

If you stick with a powder load of 25 grains in a .45, 30 grains in a .50 and 35 grains in a .54 the Pedersoli should do just fine as it comes from the factory.

As I'm sure you know, there are people who seem to want to make Magnums out of their muzzleloading pistols and load basically "light" rifle powder loads into them.
Those are the people who get into trouble with guns like the Pedersoli Kentucky pistol.

Thanks for this clarification. Since you seem to know this pistol well, can you tell me if the barrel is removable for cleaning purposes? Or do they not intend that??

 

[Zonie]

In its factory condition you can remove the barrel by first loosening the lock screws on the left side of the gun. Then, remove the nose cap and the screw that is in the barrel tang at the rear.
Once done, the barrel will lift easily out of the stock.

While your at it, you might as well remove the lock to clean it up and oil it.

 

[mwsalter]

So I keep coming back to the fantasy of carrying a flintlock .54 pistol with me hunting, in the caliber that matches my rifle. Trouble is... there are very FEW flint pistols out there, and even fewer in .54 cal.

I prefer flint because there are special flintlock deer seasons in PA where I hunt (flint-only, not just BP), and also because they're just cool. I do not own a cap BP gun.

Some pistols that I've found online searching have pinned barrels that I assume you cannot remove, which seems odd to me given the cleaning routines that I've come to know with my rifle, where I remove the barrel to clean. To those who have these types... is it a bear to clean when you cannot remove the barrel?

Secondly... any good kits out there in .54 flint? I'm not a collector, but I have a collector's tastes! I'm after a highly reliable flint pistol with a solid lock and build. I've never built, but may try a pistol--for fun, and also trying to keep cost down, else I'll have to sleep in the garage when the wife sees the price tag of a super nice one!! I sure wish I could trade in a modern rifle from the safe that doesn't get used anymore!!

Suggestions?

Isn’t it funny that a guy will catch hell for even looking at a nice firearm, but she can “surprise” you with a new $2000 living room set?
I have a Traditions Trapper in .50 FL. Kinda cheesy but a good shooter. Then there’s the Pedersoli Harpers Ferry .58 FL.
I could recommend what you should trade in for a new flinter, but she might not appreciate it. ;-)

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I admit that those Pendersoli kits look really nice.