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Problems I have had with, and thoughts on Pedersolis I have owned .

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DuncNZ

54 Cal.
Joined
Sep 15, 2021
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Location
Trout Country New Zealand
I have owned a few different Pedersoli Muzzle loaders over the years . .

Tryon Deluxe : Ramrod made of some sort of dowel needed replacing , this applies to all Pedersoli's with wooden ram rods . A piece of wood missing from the fore end replaced at factory with a wedge of slightly different wood . Not what I’d expect from a Deluxe version. Agent would not replace the stock . The Tryon is a genuine Plains Rifle , not as romantic as a Hawken but at least as authentic

Charleville 1777 : Frizzen so soft it wouldn’t spark , I hardened it and never had a problem since . Ignition was very slow so I decided to fit a Jim Chambers white lightening flash hole liner . I found the breach plug was too long and the flash hole was drilled into the face of it with a small part of the flash hole showing about 1/64” wide on the face of the plug . I had to Dremel back the face of the breach plug about ¼” and shape it , to get everything to work . I won a National championship with this musket .

Tryon Whitworth : ( Whitworth rifling )Ramrod again , nipple supplied burnt out in about 10 shots because of pressure , needed platinum lined nipples before it would shoot a group without stringing . The sights were adequate but a bit flimsy and I replaced them . otherwise it was very accurate .It seems they no longer make this rifle . I purchased it because it was a match rifle with double set triggers ,

Mortimer 12 ga flintlock : Ramrod again . The gun wouldn’t fire a test shot of powder and cloth . I removed the breach and found that the hole drilled from side to side with the flash hole on one side and the “cleanout screw “ on the other , barely connected with the hole of the patent breach , which had not been drilled right through , there was a x shaped hole about 1/32” connecting the two . I drilled out the unfinished breach and Dremeled away some of the threads to smooth out the chamber . The factory flash hole liner lasted 10 shots before it melted away , the jet of flame was so hot it melted the end of the flint . I replaced it with a white lightening flash hole liner . after all that it was a great shotgun .

Gibbs .40 rifle : A very accurate rifle , better so when Bob Roller re built the lock for me . The sights were adequate but not precise enough I replaced the rear sight with a match grade sight I purchased from England and the front , with a windage adjustable sight form South Africa . Once again there was a problem with nipples burning out , that was fixed with platinum lined ones . The stock finish didn’t last so I re finished it with Truoil . Shortly after I got it shooting very well the only long range range within 4 hours drive closed down .

Zouave 1863 . I brought it cheap ( loaded ) and sold it cheap , It just would not group .

12 Ga double barrel shotgun , Rod again , no real problems but I found when firing the left barrel ,cap splatter on my left arm was most uncomfortable , I think a hammer face redesign would help

The only one I still have is the Charleville 1777 . That one I will never part with . I've had Tadpole since 1987 ,the varnish is coming off the wood so I'll re finish that soon .

Just remembered I have a .45 scout rifle which started life as a flintlock and has been converted to caplock and shortened in both barrel and stock to make a ML for a small child ( I suspect Rudyard did the conversion ) . I was given it and have never shot it , one day I will get a junior family member to shoot it if his mother will let him .
 
One thing I really should have said is , These are good ML firearms , it is the attention to detail and the quality of some of the parts and fitting which can leave something to be desired . The Mortimer was potentially dangerous with an unfilled chamber at the end of the patent breach . I suggest if you buy a new Pedersoli check it thoroughly and fire a blank load before you load a ball .
 
I had a mate who was the New Zealand Pedersoli agent . He had a discussion in the 70's with Pedersoli and mentioned quality control . Pedersoli said the European muzzle loader manufacturers were not too concerned with quality control in the early days because they never really believed that anyone was going to shoot more than blanks out of them and want decent accuracy .Ie: reenactor and movie guns only .
Quality has improved with time and so have the expectations of the shooters .
It is 50 years since the MLAIC , International Muzzle loading had its first World champs .
The Parker Hale's were by far and away the best commercially made and most accurate portrayal of historic military rifles available at that time , other than that it was custom gunsmiths and antique firearms .
The opening of Muzzle Loading game seasons in the USA had a big influence on the industry .
 
I have owned several Pedersoli guns over the years. A Frontier .36, a Pennsylvania .32, a Deluxe Tryon .50, and a Rocky Mountain Hawken.54. All have been, or still are great looking guns, and have performed flawlessly. I do have to agree with the OP that the ram rods supplied with all of the guns I have had are junk. I have replaced every one of them.
 
I've got a 59 Pedersoli Sharps that came with a poor quality rear sight. The hinge point wasn't drilled the same on both sides, the upshot being the ladder tilts to the left. I contacted Pedersoli customer service and was given excuses and a refusal to help even with a reduced price on a new one because it's something like 20 years old (though it looks new) and I'm not the original owner.
 
I have the Pedersoli made GPR in flinter. I really like it and overall think the quality is great, but....first thing I noticed was the very undersized ramrod that was loose and rattling in its tubes, fell out when I tipped the barrel down. It never saw a wipe of the barrel.
 
I've got a 59 Pedersoli Sharps that came with a poor quality rear sight. The hinge point wasn't drilled the same on both sides, the upshot being the ladder tilts to the left. I contacted Pedersoli customer service and was given excuses and a refusal to help even with a reduced price on a new one because it's something like 20 years old (though it looks new) and I'm not the original owner.


That is like asking for warranty work on a Studebaker!
 
So it appears Pedersoli is not as good as people claim despite their high price. Years ago at a range, a shooter who was shooting an original Austrian rifle musket told me to buy an original. "The Italian replicas are junk" he said, even though I was shooting a Navy Arms 1863 Souave that I could drive tacks with, I had to agree. Even my Souave had to have lock work done to it the first month I owned it. Growing up with an original trapdoor Springfield in the home I could clearly see the Italian reproductions are not up to the standards of the originals.
 
Thirty + years ago years ago a young fellow turned up at a black power club's range with a Spanish made 45 "Kentucky " rifle , he could not get it t shoot , all the club guys had a go and couldn't get it to shoot either . One shooter dropped a bore light down the barrel and found the rifling looked a bit strange . it appeared the barrel had been made out of two barrels welded together , the twist went one way for the first half , then the other for the second half . The cub members banded together and found a new barrel for him .
 
Had a 36” Sharps Replica…Beautiful and it shot amazing. I Have a Double Rifle Muzzloader, Kodiak .58 and boy does it shoot accurately. Very lucky with that… Beautiful to Boot, Oh and I Replaced Ram Rod. Don’t really care about that little detail since all others had been cared for. I feel fortunate about the Accuracy department with the Double.
 
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I have owned a few different Pedersoli Muzzle loaders over the years . .

Tryon Deluxe : Ramrod made of some sort of dowel needed replacing , this applies to all Pedersoli's with wooden ram rods . A piece of wood missing from the fore end replaced at factory with a wedge of slightly different wood . Not what I’d expect from a Deluxe version. Agent would not replace the stock . The Tryon is a genuine Plains Rifle , not as romantic as a Hawken but at least as authentic

Charleville 1777 : Frizzen so soft it wouldn’t spark , I hardened it and never had a problem since . Ignition was very slow so I decided to fit a Jim Chambers white lightening flash hole liner . I found the breach plug was too long and the flash hole was drilled into the face of it with a small part of the flash hole showing about 1/64” wide on the face of the plug . I had to Dremel back the face of the breach plug about ¼” and shape it , to get everything to work . I won a National championship with this musket .

Tryon Whitworth : ( Whitworth rifling )Ramrod again , nipple supplied burnt out in about 10 shots because of pressure , needed platinum lined nipples before it would shoot a group without stringing . The sights were adequate but a bit flimsy and I replaced them . otherwise it was very accurate .It seems they no longer make this rifle . I purchased it because it was a match rifle with double set triggers ,

Mortimer 12 ga flintlock : Ramrod again . The gun wouldn’t fire a test shot of powder and cloth . I removed the breach and found that the hole drilled from side to side with the flash hole on one side and the “cleanout screw “ on the other , barely connected with the hole of the patent breach , which had not been drilled right through , there was a x shaped hole about 1/32” connecting the two . I drilled out the unfinished breach and Dremeled away some of the threads to smooth out the chamber . The factory flash hole liner lasted 10 shots before it melted away , the jet of flame was so hot it melted the end of the flint . I replaced it with a white lightening flash hole liner . after all that it was a great shotgun .

Gibbs .40 rifle : A very accurate rifle , better so when Bob Roller re built the lock for me . The sights were adequate but not precise enough I replaced the rear sight with a match grade sight I purchased from England and the front , with a windage adjustable sight form South Africa . Once again there was a problem with nipples burning out , that was fixed with platinum lined ones . The stock finish didn’t last so I re finished it with Truoil . Shortly after I got it shooting very well the only long range range within 4 hours drive closed down .

Zouave 1863 . I brought it cheap ( loaded ) and sold it cheap , It just would not group .

12 Ga double barrel shotgun , Rod again , no real problems but I found when firing the left barrel ,cap splatter on my left arm was most uncomfortable , I think a hammer face redesign would help

The only one I still have is the Charleville 1777 . That one I will never part with . I've had Tadpole since 1987 ,the varnish is coming off the wood so I'll re finish that soon .

Just remembered I have a .45 scout rifle which started life as a flintlock and has been converted to caplock and shortened in both barrel and stock to make a ML for a small child ( I suspect Rudyard did the conversion ) . I was given it and have never shot it , one day I will get a junior family member to shoot it if his mother will let him .

I've heard a lot of negative reports on Pedersoli's over the last few years, as for myself I imported a brace of Pedersoli Charles Moore FL ML Pistols only to find that the Touchhole on both were set too far forward to the edge of the pan !
Never another Pedersoli anything for this man.
 

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