Shot my new Pedersoli Kodiak Express .72 on Friday.

[chainshot09]

Well about 2 mos ago I bought a Pedersoli Kodiak in .54 from someone on a local gun forum. It was so cool to shoot I just had to buy the Grand-daddy, the .72 Kodiak Express. Received it on Tuesday, and I had Friday off and the range was open, so I went and tried her out. The .72 is alot easier to load than the .54, even with thick .020" patches. I used Hoppes #9 Ultra BP solvent and patch lube and was able to load up to 10 shots out of the right barrel before it even felt like there was fouling in there. The Hoppes works great!
So shooting results were thus: 130 grns Goex 2F with .715 ball and .015" patch and CCI #11 Magnum caps: the first shot didn't even cut paper at 50 yds. So repeating the same load I aimed at the bottom of the target and the ball hit about 2" above the black in the center of the target. So I dropped the elevation on the most rearward sight all the way down and shot again, this time aimimg at 6 o'clock on the bull. The shot hit 2" high above the bull, and since it was a 4" dia bull, the strike was 6" high. Now I was in the ball park. So I changed to an .018" patch and shot again with 130 grns 2F and the POI came down one inch. So then I loaded 150 grns 2F and a .020" patch and the POI came down another inch. So it is now hitting 4" above point of aim. Then I shot the left barrel with the same 150 grn 2F and .020" patch and it hit at the same elevation, just 3" to the left of the POI of the right barrel. This gun, (guns), is starting to work really good. Then I fired 2 shots from the right barrel with the 150/.020" load and the shots where one inch apart. All these shots were fired from the bench at 50 yds and I'm really excited by the results!

 

[nkbj]

That sounds like a terribly lot of fun!

 

[Bob J]

I handled one at a gun show (couldn't trade the guy out of it!). It felt very solid and must be real fun to shoot!

 

[oletymepreacher]

Yes,these rifles are a lot of fun, big boomers. I killed a buffalo at a measured 100 yards, shooting 90 grains of GOEX FF, PRB and .010 patch. Both balls went clear through, breaking bones going in and going out.

Have fun with yours.

 

[chainshot09]

What kind of buffalo? An american buffalo?

 

[oletymepreacher]

American buffalo, bison, tatonka in Kansas. Water buffalo and cape buffalo are scarce around here. Since both roundballs went clean through, this is one nasty weapon, and just may work on the African and Asian cousins. Both were killing shots, but the buffalo didn't know it at the time.

The .715 roundballs are hard to find, so I roll my own with Lyman molds.

I, too, had trouble with the rifle shooting high no matter what, so I changed out the front sight, getting one that was higher. When the learning curve straightened out, the barrels regulate within an inch at 75 yards, side by side. Rear sight was set for 50 yards, front sight for 100 yards.

Have fun with it.

 

[BillinOregon]

These are a lot of fun. I have had a couple of them and had good luck with PRB and the 835-grain conical from the NEI mould.
Maybe Mercer Lake will chime in. Believe he is shooting one.

 

[MercerLake]

:v Oh you are hooked but good now!! I've had real good results with Prb and have not had a chance to try conicals. Don't know what I'd need a conical for in Oregon unless I wass standing on the railroad tracks. I believe that most folks have had issues with the supplied sights and have changed them to fit their style or shooting needs. I opted for as low a rear sight as I could find then made my own front sight to get the right elevation. Try shooting off the bench as recoil often changes the POI from what you get on a bench. Have fun and may all the double gun guys meet somewhere for a charging buff shoot. :thumbsup:

 

[chainshot09]

Ok, today was a follow up shooting session with Bertha. The target shows my first 4 shots at 50 yds, offhand. The load was .715" rnd ball, .018" pillow ticking patch, 130 grns of Goex 2F, and a felt overpowder wad saturated with molten SPG and allowed to harden. Primers where CCI #11 Magnums.

So L1 is left barrel, first shot; R1 is right barrel, first shot. L2 and R2 were shot with the addition of an overpowder wad which brought the POI down 2". With this weapon, at 160 grns of BP or higher, the report of the weapon changes to a crack like a centerfire rifle, versus the usual BOOM of a blackpowder weapon.

 

[pchwcf50110]

that's looking real good. i had to put a taller front sight on mine and i changed the double rear sight to a Marble's #20. i also use a .715" RB but there is no way i could load it with .018" pillow ticking. i would have to pound them down the barrel.

 

[chainshot09]

I bought some cast .715" round balls and they were a little undersized, around .712"-.713". I was able to load them fairly easily with both .018" ticking and .020" duck. The patch lube was critical though. Hoppes BP solvent and patch lube or TOW mink oil made it alot easier to ram them down. I even loaded some .720" balls with .015" duck and while going down the barrel a little snug, they sure shot accurate. Oh, one other thing I did was to radius the muzzles with crocus cloth, that helped alot.

 

[BillinOregon]

Chainshot: I would surely hate to be a moose in your neighborhood if you had a tag in your pocket and that rifle in your hands!

 

[chainshot09]

I'm going to have to put a taller front sight on my gun. I've looked at the Marbles replacement sights. Does anyone know how close the dovetails will match up? The Marbles are a 3/8", and I imagine the dovetail on the Pedersoli front sight ramp is close to 3/8", but metric. Anyone got any info on this?

 

[pchwcf50110]

i had to do some file work to the sight to get it to fit the ramp

 

[M. De Land]

What does the double barrel .72 cal weigh? MD

 

[chainshot09]

10.5 lbs with a sling.

 

[oletymepreacher]

I'm going to have to put a taller front sight on my gun. I've looked at the Marbles replacement sights. Does anyone know how close the dovetails will match up? The Marbles are a 3/8", and I imagine the dovetail on the Pedersoli front sight ramp is close to 3/8", but metric. Anyone got any info on this?

I used soda can shim to make front sight fit so that the dovetail wasn't changed. That way, if new sight didn't work, one could still try other Italian sight. The shim works well. Sight has been in the rifle for years and hasn't moved with all the shooting/carrying.

 

[aeatwood]

Yours is doing WAY better than mine. The barrels printed something like a foot apart w/ 2 different guns. One was a little closer, and I should have kept it and played w/ it, but it was only the 2nd one, and I was still optimistic.

After I sent the 3rd one back, I just used the store credit to get the Gibbs .72 African. I like it better anyway. Good accuracy, better stock design, and the hammer/nipple/fence geometry actually keeps your arm/face from getting peppered w/ cap fragments.

 

[chainshot09]

My .54 Kodiak is painful to shoot the left barrel. I have actually bled from cap fragments and powder burns on my left forearm when I fire the left barrel. I have to wear a long sleeve shirt and a shooting glove on my left hand. Now with the .72 I have had no problems at all with anything spraying on me, left or right barrel.

 

[aeatwood]

Actually, I don't remember having problems w/ my .72. It is built on the 10 ga. barrel set, I think. My current .58 will certainly have you looking for a long sleeve shirt.

Even though it is a single barrel, I would 3x rather have the Gibbs than the Kodiak. It is an actual copy of a well designed gun, rather than a "lets see what we can whip up from the parts we have on hand" gun.