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Problem with Pedersoli Jager

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vulture

40 Cal.
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
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I have a real nice Pedersoli Jager flintlock, but have a problem with it. I didn't like the fast twist rifling, honestly would not shoot patched round ball worth 2 cents, so had a gun smith redo it from .54 to .58. He did a great job, however the silly thing also has had very inconsistent ignition. There could be a few things I could do to the lock that might improve things, but I was wondering if anyone else had one of these and if so have they had ignition problems and what have they done to fix the problem. Ignition is very slow when it does fire. Priming goes off but a lot of delay before main charge ignites. I am comparing this ignition time to two other flintlocks I shoot, one a Cayman (spelling) built French trade musket, the other a Leman style trade rifle I built years ago. Both of these two have good, fast ignition, much more so than my Pedersoli. If I can't fix the problem with what I have then I will go looking for a replacement lock, which might be difficult to impossible. Thanks for your help.
 
' Capandball' seems on his video to do very well with his Jager. He is a renown shot but works for Petersoli Though I much doubt he would fake it .So its curios but I have never shot any such reproduction from a factory ..I would suggest a vent liner & some capable gun maker check the lock out & ide expect the firm would stand by their products.
Better fortune Rudyard
 
What kind of touch hole or vent has it got?
Pedersoli use vent liners a lot in many of their pieces.
My trade gun made by them came with a liner and exhibited the same issues you describe so I drilled to iirc 1/16" or 3/32".
Super fast ignition to this day several years later.
 
Another issue with the Pedersoli is the patent breech system used. fouling can get into the flame channel and cause slow ignition. I agree with one of the earlier posters, that you should open up the touch hole alittle.
 
capandball does NOT work for Pedersoli. He is, however, a major dealer in Pedersoli products and a close friend of the family. His real name is Dr. Balázs Nemeth and he is Assistant Professor of Military history at Miklós Zrínyi Barracks and University Campus A. building 8.floor 829. Tel: HM 29-445 E-mail: [email protected]

He also runs a major firearms and accessory dealership in Budapest, specialising in BP arms - mainly Pedersoli. See kapszli.hu
 
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If you are getting good sparks from the flint striking the frizzen and the pan is igniting, then the lock is probably in good shape and looking for a different lock probably won't change anything. If there is fire in the pan and ignition of the main charge is slow, then there is something obstructing the flame in the path of the flame to the main charge. Your touch hole should be 1/16" in diameter and very slightly coned on the entry from the pan to the charge to direct the flame to the charge. Can we see a picture of the lock area with respect to the touch hole?

Pedersoli does have a chambered breech. The diameter of the chambered breech is considerably smaller than the bore diameter. Often fouling gets packed in the chambered breech and that will prevent fouling. A 30 caliber wire or nylon brush can get into the chamber and remove the built up fouling. I would consider removing the touch hole liner as a last resort to gain access to the flash channel from the pan to main charge. Use a stiff bristled pipe cleaner to remove any fouling that might be still in the channel. If there is fouling in the chambered breech, it may be quite crusty and difficult to remove except by brushing. Be sure to use a brush that is looped through the base to hold the bristles.

Another cleaning option after a scrub with the brush is to plug the touch hole and fill the bore with soapy water. Wrap the stock with lots of towels to catch the water. Unplug the touch hole and force your patched jag down the bore to force a strong jet of water through the chambered breech and the touch hole.
 
Thanks folks. There is a couple things I am now going to try. First I will remove the vent liner, see what I can from there. When the bore was in-larged and re-rifled it might have caused a problem. If every thing looks good then I will figure out my second move. I wish the lock would produce a bit more spark, but what is produced winds up in the pan as it should. Geometry of the cock to pan seems spot on. Will keep working at this. Thanks again.
 
Could be that swarf from the re-bore etc got pushed down into the flash channel, so pulling the vent liner is a good idea. I swear by the 1/16 flash hole; the tiny ones on some guns don't seem to work as well. Also, when you have the flash hole liner out, try to remove as much of the parallel-sided portion of the channel through it by counter sinking on the outside to make a 1/8" wide 'funnel'. Also carefully with a 1/8" (or so) drill from the inside to open the channel to within @1/16" of the outer opening of the flash hole. Doing so creates a venturi which will squirt the flame into the chamber. I always pull the vent liner so that I can flush a lot of water through the flash channel as well.
 
What kind of touch hole or vent has it got?
Pedersoli use vent liners a lot in many of their pieces.
My trade gun made by them came with a liner and exhibited the same issues you describe so I drilled to iirc 1/16" or 3/32".
Super fast ignition to this day several years later.
This right here. I own a few Pedersolis including the above mentioned Trade gun. Carefully drill the vent liner out to 1/16" and/or skip the Ped vent liner and install a Treso liner made from AMPCO also drilled out to 1/16".
 
capandball does NOT work for Pedersoli. He is, however, a major dealer in Pedersoli products and a close friend of the family. His real name is Dr. Balázs Nemeth and he is Assistant Professor of Military history at Miklós Zrínyi Barracks and University Campus A. building 8.floor 829. Tel: HM 29-445 E-mail: [email protected]

He also runs a major firearms and accessory dealership in Budapest, specialising in BP arms - mainly Pedersoli. See kapszli.hu
Wow! Good info!
 
Also carefully with a 1/8" (or so) drill from the inside to open the channel to within @1/16" of the outer opening of the flash hole. Doing so creates a venturi which will squirt the flame into the chamber. I always pull the vent liner so that I can flush a lot of water through the flash channel as well.

I did basically the same thing on my Pedersoli pistol with a drill bit only because it's a pistol I was able to go in from the muzzle. I also sent the lock to Brad Emig for a tune up. Before I did this I got 3 shots if I was lucky as she did not spark well and then she plugged up and had to be completely cleaned. Now she sparks like a Chambers lock and I can get as many shots off as I want without misfires. I did nothing with the vent liner. Good luck.

Dave
 
First I am going to replace the vent liner that came installed. I need to pull it anyway and see how deep it sticks into the inside of the barrel now that it has been bored out, and I am not happy with the way it is designed. I have a couple of other flintlocks with vent liners and they are conned on the inside, where this one is not conned on the outside but actually has a rather deep channel running back into it before the actual vent. This means that the flash has to either travel all the way back down that "cave" before it can enter the chamber, or there has to be priming powder back in there, which means being even more particular when priming, not something I am always good at. I am going to get at Tresso liner, so could someone tell me what threads to order for this animal? Thanks guys, it's great to have help like this, now if one of you would just get it to warm up out here so I could go have fun I would really appreciate it.
 
There is another cause called bridging powder , when you load you may have to bounce/tap the gun to get the powder to seat in the breach area. Make it part of your loading, powder> bounce >patch> ball..... also cleaning between shots with a bore sized cleaning head can push fouling into breach ,it is better to use a one size smaller between shots (.45for .50, .50 for .54) that way the damp patch rides over the fouling on the way in a turn to the right expands patching and pull fouling out.
also some like to load with flash hole vent pick in /others do after loading to feel the powder
 
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First I am going to replace the vent liner that came installed. I need to pull it anyway and see how deep it sticks into the inside of the barrel now that it has been bored out, and I am not happy with the way it is designed. I have a couple of other flintlocks with vent liners and they are conned on the inside, where this one is not conned on the outside but actually has a rather deep channel running back into it before the actual vent. This means that the flash has to either travel all the way back down that "cave" before it can enter the chamber, or there has to be priming powder back in there, which means being even more particular when priming, not something I am always good at. I am going to get at Tresso liner, so could someone tell me what threads to order for this animal? Thanks guys, it's great to have help like this, now if one of you would just get it to warm up out here so I could go have fun I would really appreciate it.
Iirc.they are about 5/16" long and have a hollowed back.
I do not understand why you feel the need to replace it. Just drill it.
No need to travel all around the issue. Get a drill.
 
Ok, got a Treso liner, can't get it to thread in, not sure why, and yes it is the correct size. I took the original and opened it us as well as conning the outside opening. It requires an allen wrench to install so had to be careful not to remove all of that feature from outside of liner. Had a chance to check out the flash channel inside the barrel, not a positive thing. If this does not improve the situation then I'm going to simply replace the barrel with one I have on hand, set the barrel channel back a bit so the flash hole is right at the end of the breach plug. Yup, I know how much work this will take but I am going to make this thing reliable regardless, just have to get another project finished and off my work bench, and find a decent day to go try this with the new vent liner mods. Want to thank everyone for all of their help. I wish manufacturers would stop using this type of breaching system, especially if they are going to produce flintlocks. The two I built from parts work great, good locks, consistent and fast ignition. I know other folks have not had the difficulties I have with Pedersoli's, we each deal with out own snakes. Thanks for all the comments.
 
Did not like the liner that came in the gun, so drove the 10 miles to town to purchase a 8x1.25 tap, drove the 10 miles back home. Took the funky liner back out, chased the threads with tap, threaded Treso liner in as far as it would go then filed it flush with barrel flat so lock would rest back in like it should. Opened up the touch hole a bit, can't believe that thing was so small, then dropped a light charge of powder down the bore, no wad, no ball, then primed it. Never had this thing touch off so fast. I know it won't be that fast and consistent all the time, but hey, this is a first for me and this rifle. Now for some nice shooting weather, man do I hate Winter. :-(
 
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