Pedersoli Pistol Kit

Okay, I took a few photos last night before I started working on this thing:

Here's the entire kit, lock side:

One thing I noticed, this thing has a HUGE vent liner! Man, the vent liner on this thing is twice the size of the one on my Lyman GPR! The barrel is blued, but rough and will require polishing and refinishing.

Here's the sideplate side, and the lock turned over:

I'm pretty impressed with the lock so far... it seems to be of very good quality considering the price I paid for this kit. It has a straight mainspring, and the fit and quality of the parts of the lock are better than I had hoped.

Here's the bottom:

(I have no idea what the '4' means... :huh: The trigger and triggerguard were already inletted and installed when I opened the box. The triggerguard has been filed but not polished. The ramrod pipes need filing, sanding and polishing, and were already pinned into the stock.

Here it is with the lock inserted:

The lock wouldn't quite go all the way in out of the box. (I used Ted's book to help prop it up. :winking: )

Here's the sideplate inserted:

It looks like it is in the mortice, but it isn't. It's going to take a little bit of sanding to get this to fit.

I started sanding the stock last night, but haven't taken any pictures since then. It was amazing what a little 220 did after just a few minutes.

I also did get the lock to where it would go all the way into the mortice. I do have a question about that. It will go into the mortice, and the lockplate sits just about flush with the stock, maybe slightly beneath, but not by much. To get the lock fully into the mortice requires slight pressure. It is a tight fit, but not very, just enough that it doesn't just fall into the mortice. Should I sand some more so it just slips in, or is it good to have it tight to where I have to give it a little push to get it in there? Pan-to-barrel fit is excellent... sits right up flush.

Also, notice that the muzzle cap is made of steel (I believe). I wish it were brass... but it isn't. I'm guessing I should polish and blue or brown it to match the barrel? Perhaps I can find a brass replacement? ::

I plan on working on it more today, and will post more pictures of progress later on.

 

[CrackStock]

Dood,

Looks like a Pedersoli 310 kit to me. I have been eyeing these as well. You mention a good price, do you have a good source to recommend? Any further comments?

Thanks,
CrackStock

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the lock should be a slightly loose fit at this stage of the game.
If you use just an oil finish, the mortice will shrink slightly. As the wood absorbs the oil it will swell making the cavity smaller.
If you use a finish which builds up on the surface of the wood, that too will make the cavity smaller.
Don't get carried away though. These changes of the woods size are slight and you don't want a plainly visable gap between the wood and the metal.

Another thing to think about: There are two ways to loosen the fit between the lock or sideplate and the wood.
You can remove wood, or metal. Sometimes, it is easier to just file off a tiny amount of metal than it is to try to cut the wood while keeping a fit which works easily but doesn't have any gaps.

That wood is above the lockplate when it is pushed to full depth is a good thing. It gives you some material to sand off to get an exactly flush condition (which IMO is good).

Because this is a flintlock, make sure the locks surface where the pan meets the barrel is tight against the side of the barrel. If the depth of the lock mortice is not deep enough, it will leave a gap there.
If there is a gap, loose powder fron the pan can get down inside the lock. This in and of itself won't hurt the lock, but if powder accumulates in this area, it can explode, blowing the lock off of the stock. Even if your not hurt by this, it will really screw up the stock.

If you polish the nosecap, you might think about polishing it to a mirror condition and leaving it in the white? That can look as good as having it made of brass to some people.

Have FUN!! ::

 

I ordered the kit from Dixie Gun Works. Here's a link to the product: Pedersoli Pistol Kit

I've just barely started building it, but so far, I like it. The only thing is, I kinda wish it had the brass muzzle cap instead of the steel. Other than that, so far it's very nice and I can't wait to get it finished and start shooting it.

 

IMO, the lock should be a slightly loose fit at this stage of the game.
If you use just an oil finish, the mortice will shrink slightly. As the wood absorbs the oil it will swell making the cavity smaller.
If you use a finish which builds up on the surface of the wood, that too will make the cavity smaller.
Don't get carried away though. These changes of the woods size are slight and you don't want a plainly visable gap between the wood and the metal.

Another thing to think about: There are two ways to loosen the fit between the lock or sideplate and the wood.
You can remove wood, or metal. Sometimes, it is easier to just file off a tiny amount of metal than it is to try to cut the wood while keeping a fit which works easily but doesn't have any gaps.

That wood is above the lockplate when it is pushed to full depth is a good thing. It gives you some material to sand off to get an exactly flush condition (which IMO is good).

Good info. I will keep that in mind. I hadn't considered thickness building up during finishing.

Because this is a flintlock, make sure the locks surface where the pan meets the barrel is tight against the side of the barrel. If the depth of the lock mortice is not deep enough, it will leave a gap there.
If there is a gap, loose powder fron the pan can get down inside the lock. This in and of itself won't hurt the lock, but if powder accumulates in this area, it can explode, blowing the lock off of the stock. Even if your not hurt by this, it will really screw up the stock.

Yes, I checked this first thing when I got the lock completely in the mortice. The pan does sit right up flush with the barrel flat. I will double-check this as well after polishing the barrel.

If you polish the nosecap, you might think about polishing it to a mirror condition and leaving it in the white? That can look as good as having it made of brass to some people.

Have FUN!! ::

I hadn't thought of that... and it's certainly worth a try.

Thanks for the help! I've been doing some sanding on it today, trying to work the grip down, and will have more pics soon.

 

[waksupi]

I have one of these, and the trigger pull is terrible. Any suggestions? By the way, it IS very accurate.

 

[Zonie]

Sence I don't have my Pedersoli Pistol anymore ( I sold it years ago) I can't look at the hardware so everything I say here is in principle. It may be there is not enough material to do what I'm suggesting.

The trigger on one of these pistols can be thought of as a simple lever and fulcrum, or a teeter-totter. The closer the pivot or fulcrum is to the work (pushing up on the sear arm or lifting the overweight kid on the other end), the easier it is to push on the other end to move the load.
(Conversly, the further you have to push the lever to get the same amount of movement at the work end).

Knowing this, it becomes obvious that if the pin (fulcrum) that the trigger rotates on is moved to the rear (towards the sear arm), the less the force needs to be to operate the system.

I don't know if there is enough material to do this, but if you drilled a new trigger pivot hole thru the sides of the trigger plate and the trigger, aft of the existing pin hole, removed the existing pin and repinned the trigger thru the new hole, it would reduce the heavyness of the pull.

How much can be gained? Without looking at the parts, I don't know, but if the location could only be moved 1/8 inch, it would have a noticable effect.
Drilling the hole "higher" (towards the barrel) would have the effect of lengthing the distance from your finger to the pivot axis, and this too would reduce the load needed to release the sear.

The new holes in the trigger plate does not have to be a press fit to the pin. As long as the new pivot pin is as long as the trigger plate is wide, the stock wood will keep it in place when the trigger assembly is inserted into the stock mortice. ::

 

I have some more pics I just took.

Here's the lock side of the pistol with the lock fully inletted:

Here's a close-up of the lock in the mortice:

Here's the other side with the sideplate fully inletted:

Here's a close-up of the sideplate:

I'm pretty happy with the shaping of the grip at this point. I don't know how PC it is, but it is a good fit to my big paws, and I think it looks good too. I also sanded out the rough cut at the end of the stock where the muzzle cap fits, but I still have to mate the end of the stock to the muzzle cap. Zonie, the more I think about it, the more I like your idea of polishing the steel cap and leaving it that way... I'm pretty sure that's how it's going to finish up.

I can't comment too much on the trigger of mine yet, from what I can tell it is pretty heavy, but it doesn't grit or creep, at least it breaks well. I do have a question about your comments though, Zonie. Wouldn't moving the fulcrum of the trigger closer to the sear arm reduce the leverage and increase the pressure? I would think getting the sear arm further away from the fulcrum would make it easier... kinda like putting a long pipe on a wrench and getting further away from the bolt to loosen it? ::

I still have some wood removal to get the trigger guard mated to the stock, and then I'll be moving to finer sanding.

How do you guys normally finish the muzzle of the barrel? Mine is sawn completely flat. I looked at my two rifles, and honestly it looks like they chamfered them with a special tool...

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the closer the pivot point is to the work (moving the sear bar upward), the less pressure has to be applied to the other end of the bar (or trigger where your finger will be).

The work you've done looks great! Keep it up.

Looking at the butt end of the stock, I notice a light area. Perhaps this is just from the angle the picture was taken at, but if it is really as light as it looks in this picture:

you should think about staining the area.

IMO, you should use a water base or alcohol base stain like Birchwood Casey Walnut. Do not use an oil base stain like Minwax.
The reason for this is the water or alcohol stains will get darker with each coat you apply. That will let you put on several coats on the light colored wood to darken just that area, and then just one coat on the wood that is already dark to blend it in.
By the way, with the water/alcohol stains, you can dilute them with a little water to make a weaker stain. This will allow you to sneek up on the darkness you want.

Oil base stains are pretty much a one shot thing. The first coat will darken the wood but the wood will not get darker when you apply multiple coats so they won't allow you to sneek up on the color you need. :boohoo:

 

Yeah, if you look at this picture:

You can see the line running down the middle of the stock. I don't know if it's sapwood or not, but it really is that light. Basically, half of the stock is lighter than the other half, and it wraps around the butt of the grip where you see that line. I thought it was kinda interesting, but I guess I could stain it to make it even. If I do, I'll pick up a bottle of the Birchwood Casey stain. I already have a bottle of Tru-Oil that I plan on finishing with. I still need to get some mineral spirits to thin it with, as well as some tung oil to dilute and use for sealing and wet-sanding though. That's still a ways off... most of the sanding in the photo is only 100-grit.

I will pull the trigger out of it next time I mess with it and see if I can relocate the fulcrum. In fact, I will take a photo or two and post them before trying anything. Perhaps somebody can take the photo and "paint" a little dot where the relocation would probably work best?

 

[Stumpkiller]

That's the line between heartwood and sapwood

 

That's the line between heartwood and sapwood

Yeah, I kinda figgered. Oh well, it ain't like it's a Manton double flinter... :crackup: I'll still have fun shooting it, sapwood or no. :RO:

 

[Stumpkiller]

It's not necessarily a bad thing. Just a difference in the ages of the rings at that point in the tree's life. In a rifle, it might give you a problem with moisture warping the different properties at different rates.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates... I've been really busy at work and haven't had a whole lot of time to work on it lately. I did some more sanding last night, down to 220. I also picked up some files, and got most of the mill marks filed off the muzzle.

I'm heading to the range with a couple of buddies tomorrow... weather's supposed to be cold, but clear and sunny, high in the upper 40's. Anybody see any problem if I put a few rounds through it prior to complete finishing, just to try her out? I don't have the sights in their dovetails yet, but I shore would like to see her go bang...

 

[Zonie]

You Kids!! Just can't wait to try out your toys!! ::

If you do take it out and shoot it, be prepared to do a little more sanding.
Shooting these guns seems to always get the shooters hands greasy. That grease/oil will get on the stock as you handle the gun.
If you plan on staining the light wood area, you may have to apply a degreaser (like acetone, MEK, Brake Cleaner) to the wood to get the stain to "take" properly. It won't work very well on greasy wood. If you degrease the stock, you might have to do a little more touch up sanding.

Have fun!! .......Kids!

 

Yeah, I know... :redface:

Am I the only one around here like that? Something tell s me... :no:

I don't mind more sanding... small price to pay to see her work! ::

 

[flaming canvas]

I have one of these, and the trigger pull is terrible. Any suggestions? By the way, it IS very accurate.

Look at single set triggers in some catalogues and see if there is one that will work with your pistol.

 

[PaulN/KS]

I got one of the Kentucky flint pistols and it too had a hard trigger pull.Took a good look at the trigger guard and saw that the little curl on the trigger was rubbing on the guard.Some careful sanding and polishing on the inside of the guard solved the problem.You might want to check yours and see if that is the problem. :m2c:

 

[squirejohn]

I too have a Pedersoli pistol kit. I think it is called the Bounty; can't tell as I filed all the lettering off the barrel. The trigger was bent so it wouldn't even fire. I bent it (can be easily cold bent) and works fine - actually has a fairly light trigger pull.

 

Static , your pistol is looking good ! Is it a .50 or .54 cal. ? Pedersoli seems to make a good kit for the price , I recently finished one of their Queen Anne pistol kits and am quite pleased with it (now I need to find a Queen Anne to shoot , since I live in Maryland , I'll look in Queen Anne's county :crackup I agree with Stumpkiller about the sapwood , don't worry about it , it might look pretty cool , still I don't understand why they would make a stock with sapwood in it (I would prefer good old American Black Walnut , without the sapwood ,thank you). I want to get another Pedersoli flintlock pistol kit , but I can't decide wether to get the Kentucky or the Harpers Ferry . Since I already have a percussion Kentucky pistol I made from CVA 21 years ago I'm leaning towards the Harpers Ferry . Maybe I'll get them both :hmm: . I have 9 1/2 months more of child support to pay , so I have plenty of time to make up my mind :: .