Loading .45 Pedersoli Kentucky pistol

[In Over My Head]

I'm gearing up to shoot my new (to me) .45 Pedersoli Kentucky pistol. But I work seven days a week during tax season and I'd like to hit the ground running when I can finally get to the range.

What size ball is this pistol likely to take?

For that matter, I'm open to any and all advice on loading, maintaining, competing with or competition modifications for this pistol.

TIA!

Claude "In Over My Head" Heale

 

[In Over My Head]

BTW, FWIW, it's a flintlock.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Try a .440 cal ball, lubed pillow ticking patch and starting load of 25 grains of FFFG black powder. Adjust the load up or down 5 grains at a time. For me, I wouldn’t go higher than 30-35 grains of powder.

A good short starter would come in handy.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Instead of spending $14 for a box of balls, spend the money for an inexpensive digital caliper from some place such as Harbor Freight. You can get one on sale for about $10. You'll need a caliper to measure patch thickness and ball diameter anyway.

Use the caliper to measure bore diameter. Buy a ball 0.010" less than the land to land measurement. I am going to guess either a 0.440" or 0.437" ball will work. After measuring the bore diameter, measure the groove to groove diameter. Calculate the groove depth and get patching as thick as the groove is deep.

I went to the Pedersoli web site. The ball recommended for the 0.45 caliber Kentucky pistol is 0.445. I would want a looser ball and patch combination for easier loading as I get to know my pistol. So, my earlier suggestion stands. The specs state a 1 in 18" twist. There's 12 lands and grooves.

In addition to a pistol powder measure, a short starter and loading stand should be in the inventory. I made a starter with a rod long enough to seat the ball.

 

[azmntman]

I made a starter with a rod long enough to seat the ball.

GENIUS :thumbsup:

 

[Kansas Jake]

I lucked out and my homemade starter for my rifle is just long enough to seat the ball in my CVA pistol with about 1/8" of the rod below the starter handle showing when the ball is seated. If it goes down farther I either dry balled or have a light load. It makes loading easier that pulling a ramrod.

 

[azmntman]

I will be making one for sure. :hatsoff:

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

In Over My Head,

I'm open to any and all advice on loading, maintaining, competing with or competition modifications for this pistol.

For sure you want to have a good loading stand. I prefer to have a curved wood block on the top of the main base shaped to match the back side/end of the pistol. I also pad it with a strip of leather for cushion.
I would start with 440 ball, .017 pillow ticking, 20 to 25 grs of 3F BP. The long starter by others is a great idea. If you are going to compete, most likely your trigger will need some overhual to make it better.
Flintlocklar :wink:

 

[In Over My Head]

Larry (Omaha),

I was wondering about providing support in the loading stand for the outside curve of the grip - given the stories of these pistols breaking at the wrist when loading tight loads. I have a beautiful range box with built-in pistol loading stand from Cliff Bequeath that I will add that feature to in short order.

The wrist breaking problem was one of the reasons I wanted to hear what size ball others were using successfully.

 

[Zonie]

As you know, most of us use fairly thick patches with our roundballs when we are loading a rifle.
Patches in the .018 (eighteen thousandths) of an inch are common.

For a muzzleloading pistol, things are different.

The smaller powder charge along with the difficulty in starting a patched ball with a thick patch has convinced me that the thick patch is not needed with a pistol. It can cause more trouble than it's worth.

I agree that the patch thickness should be about the same as the rifling groove depth.
Dixie Gunworks says the rifling grooves in your pistol are .008 deep.
That would work nicely with a patch that is .010 thick.
A .010 thick patch would seal the barrel in your .45 if you were using a .440 diameter ball.

As you know, your flintlock will need real black powder. The substitutes won't work well by themselves for priming or for the main powder charge.

Although the rule of thumb says you need 3Fg powder, if all you can get is 2Fg powder it will still work. It will give you slightly less velocity and it will also make more fouling but, it will work.

As for 4F powder, forget it.
The small difference in ignition speed between it and the courser powders is too small to be sensed and the powder charge to prime the pan is so small, one pound of 4F will last you several lifetimes. :grin:

Have fun.

 

[In Over My Head]

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice!

Everything from "Technically, you should..." to "Here's what I do...". What a forum!

I ordered some .440" balls since that sounds like a logical starting point. I have a variety of patching but it is (almost) time to head to JoAnn's Fabrics to stock up on some more.

I get so pent up being chained to my desk for tax season. When I am sprung I want to be ready to make smoke with my new pistol. So I've ordered in whatever balls and accessories seemed likely to give me a good starting point.

I love to keep the gun culture in front of my clientele, so I bought a display stand for my pistol and for the last couple of months I've been handing it to anyone who would give it a second glance - along with demonstrating that it is empty and describing how it functions. I've done that with a variety of firearms over the years, just to help more people view guns as normal and common-place. I think an 18th century styled flintlock pistol has broadened some horizons this year.

 

[morehops]

I have the same pistol in .50 cal. First the factory trigger pull was ridiculous, about 12 lb or higher. I did not want to work on a new trigger so I took the lock out and got some good lube in the trigger mech. Continued dry firing into a heavily wadded cloth. Smoothed it out to a much more usable pull.
I tried .490 rb's and could barely get em down the barrel. .50 cal sabots, no way. Ended up with .480 rb and med patch. 25 gr 3F put the 1st two shots 2" apart at 20 yds. That's without trying hard.
After getting things smoothed out You're going to have a lot of shooting that pistol. Enjoy.

 

[M. De Land]

The thing about fine grain powder is not so much the velocity advantage as is the ease of ignition. It does light easier than does course grained powder but it also absorbs moisture slightly faster.
If you sieve any can of 2 or 3F powder you will have enough fines in the bottom of the can to keep your pan loaded from now on plus you will have made for a more consistent fuel for the main charge of your arm.