And......a Peabody followed me home. :)

[Don McDowell]

Lee 43 Kaiser dies, work very well with .446 bullets

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[trails4u]

Don....I'm going to guess that the dreaded autocorrect got ya here..... 43 Mauser, I'm assuming was your intent.

You may live to regret chiming in on this post.....I'm gonna pick your brain like there's no tomorrow!!

Lee 43 Kaiser dies, work very well with .446 bullets

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Don McDowell]

Yup , the stupid auto correct finally wore me down, and I quit changing it..
Pick away when your ready, there ain't much there to get..LOL

[trails4u]

Well....it's here, and it's very, very much as advertised. First thing I did was stick a light in the chamber and took a gander down the bore, and holy cow....it is truly bright and shiny. Case hardening is every bit as good as the pics suggested, wood is very clean, cartouche looks like it was stamped in yesterday! No time for chamber casting or bore slugging tonight (gotta water the garden) but coming soon!!

Giddy doesn't even begin to describe it!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big Mak]

Range report please!

[John in PA]

If any of that brown discoloration on the action/lock etc is old oxidized oil and grease (very common), Gumout or similar carburetor cleaner will remove it with a soft cloth and no damage to finish beneath. It's quite possible that nearly 100% brilliant case colors and nitre blued screw heads are hiding under there. Don't get the Gumout on the stock, though. With extreme care and a little light oil around the lockplate first, you should be able to tap the lock out of the stock without damage to the inletting. Then you can let the solvent go to work!

[trails4u]

If any of that brown discoloration on the action/lock etc is old oxidized oil and grease (very common), Gumout or similar carburetor cleaner will remove it with a soft cloth and no damage to finish beneath. It's quite possible that nearly 100% brilliant case colors and nitre blued screw heads are hiding under there. Don't get the Gumout on the stock, though. With extreme care and a little light oil around the lockplate first, you should be able to tap the lock out of the stock without damage to the inletting. Then you can let the solvent go to work!

Thanks for the tip....and you may be spot on with your assessment. I haven't been over it in detail yet, but I'm not sure this thing has been apart much. Without too much inspection, it does seem that to some degree what you suggest may be true. Very excited to get deeper into it! Too busy to mess with it last night, and storms tonight...so no shooting yet.

[trails4u]

Well....I finally got around to shooting it a bit, not much, as my 10-yo daughter is quite the 'range hog' with her 10/22 , but I did get about a dozen downrange. Not very impressive....but it was using brass that had been fireformed to the chamber of my roller. Hoping that now having brass better formed to this chamber, results may improve a bit. Having the fired brass will also allow me to do some measuring....maybe figure out what bullet this thing is going to like. I used the 439186 yesterday....it was what I had loaded for the roller, and I just really wanted to make it smoke.

I didn't measure....but it was probably 4" at 50yds. Ouch.... Not optimal conditions, however, as I was tending to Lil' Miss Annie Oakley between shots.

I did learn that I'm going blind....I don't shoot much with military sights these days, and good lord...I can't see them anymore!!?!? I ended up putting some white nail polish on the rear and a touch of red on the front post. That helped.

A few questions:

1) Vertical stringing. The last three I fired were after I could see the sights a little better, and without distraction. Windage was probably .3", but vertical was about 2.5", again at 50 yds. I'm thinking...if I can fix the vertical, this thing might be a shooter. Any ideas??

2) Trigger. This thing has to have a 15lb. trigger. Any known fixes?? I've done some internet searching, and can't find anything about lightening the trigger.

I do get that #2 may be directly affecting #1.

3) I had a couple fired cases that dropped the primers out, and a few more where they were partially out of the pockets. Headspace issue? Based on the design of the action....I'm pretty clueless about how I'd even check the headspacing. It is not reformed brass...it's Jamison 43 Spanish stamped brass. If it is a headspacing issue...will the fired brass now pseudo-headspace on the newly relocated shoulder, or do I have a bigger problem??

All in all, this thing is fun! One of my favorites right now for sure!!

[BRUCE MOULDS]

regarding the trigger, the assra forum gunsmithing section might be worth posting the question.
there are people there who know these old guns.
the headspace question might also be relevant there.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Don McDowell]

If you were shooting black powder, the vertical was most likely coming from fouling out. Another cause could be inconsistent rest, or possibly the rest being to high or to low. Grip on the wrist can also give you fits. But with that heavy trigger could be a big part of the problem.

[trails4u]

If you were shooting black powder, the vertical was most likely coming from fouling out. Another cause could be inconsistent rest, or possibly the rest being to high or to low. Grip on the wrist can also give you fits. But with that heavy trigger could be a big part of the problem.

Yes, shooting black. 2F at about 63g IIRC.

I've not had a chance to slug the bore, and I'm not sure after really looking at this thing how exactly I'm going to do a chamber cast, short of taking the action apart. I did measure around on the fired brass a bit, and apparently the chamber is plentiful, as the fired cases measures around .448 inside the mouth. Comparing the fired brass to that fired in my rolling block, two things of interest. #1, the Peabody fired brass seems to be about .010 shorter than the RRB fired brass. #2, the shoulder seems to be about .020 or so ahead of where the RRB fired brass is. Just for fun, I tried to chamber a Peabody fired case in the rolling block....it won't go. Stops about 1/2 inch or more from chambering, so apparently the chamber in the Peabody is much more generous than in the rolling block.

More work to do...... I really appreciate all the feedback!

Trails.

[Don McDowell]

May want to jump that charge up to 70 gr. or a bit more.

[John in PA]

Here's a link to a pretty good article on adjusting trigger pull on musket locks. The lock pictured is a Springfield lock, but the principles are the same for a back-action lock like the Peabody. You should be able to achieve a safe, crisp 3-4 lb pull if you do this correctly. Regarding the suggestion to shim the full cock notch with brass to decrease engagement, I use J-B Weld to retain the shim after degreasing both parts thoroughly. Much more detail in the referenced article. http://www.nwtskirmisher.com/useful-locks.shtml

A quick, totally reversible cheat to getting a better sight picture is to prepare a small piece of aluminum flashing or shim stock with a very clean hole about .050" and J-B weld it over the large v-notch in your rear sight. If you desire to remove it in the future, the application of a bit of heat from a propane torch to the sight will allow the peep aperture to pop right off with no damage to finish.

[John in PA]

To remove the breechblock of a Peabody, with the action closed, remove the breechblock pivot screw. Then, while applying gentle pressure to the front of the block, open the action. The breechblock will pop out of the hinge recess. For a chamber cast, you also need to remove the extractor (single screw, bottom front of receiver). Use modeling clay or Duxseal putty to close action areas where you don't want Cerrosafe or Sulfur to flow in case of sloppy pour. Also, oil bore and chamber lightly, and then plug bore maybe 3/4" ahead of chamber to avoid making a casting that's too long to get out of receiver.

To reassemble, lower the lever, set the block in the action, engaging extractor properly, with rear of breechblock protruding above receiver. While applying firm thumb pressure down on the rear of the block, "tickle" the lever into the correct position to engage the hooks on the bottom of the breechblock and close the lever. The block will snap back into place. Then hinge screw can be replaced. With a bit of practice, you can have the block in or out in about 30 seconds.

[trails4u]

Great information, John. Thank you!!

[RedJackson]

Sweet gun, nothing better than the oldies !