Pedersoli trapdoors

[vynshah]

I'm new here. Very exciting find. I have an old 1884 original TD infantry rifle that I've played with. Recently there was a cute little Pedersoli replica 1873 Carbine that talked into buy it.

Does anybody know what the bore diamater is? The twist is 1:22. Any experiences you have in load development would be helpful. I hope this isn't repetitious but as I said this is my first day here.

[fourarmed]

The thing you need to know is the groove diameter rather than the bore diameter. It is probably somewhere in the range .457" to .460". You will have to drive an oversize, soft lead slug through the barrel and measure it to know. You can use a slug that is slightly undersized by first shortening it slightly in a vise. You will also need a good straight steel or brass or aluminum rod for the driving. One of quarter to three-eighths inch diameter will work fine. Grease or oil the bore first. Drive the slug through with a heavy hammer - two or three pounds.

[13Echo]

The Pedersoli will have a barrel with modern specs- That is it should have a groove diameter of .458". Pedersoli seems to be pretty good at making barrels they also tend to be tapered, that is the groove diameter will be less by a minute amount at the muzzle than at the breech.

Jerry Liles

[NickSS]

I have owned an H&R and an original Springfield carbines. The H&R had a 458 groove diameter and the original about a 463 groove diameter. Both shot just fine. The original carbine load was a 400 gr boolit and 55 gr of black powder. The extra space in the case was taken up by either card wads under the bullet or a cardboard tube that lessened the powder capacity of the cartridge. I have made some useing 55 gr of FFG and 5 gr of corn meal. Worked just fine and kicked less than a full load.

[Major Tom]

Fishing sinkers are a good source for slugging the barrel. Come in all diameters to fit your caliber.

[1874Sharps]

VYNSHAH,

Welcome to the forum, we are at your service. Slugging the barrel as described above is the traditional (and probably the simplest) way of discovering your specific bore/groove size. However, you can also experiment at the range to find what the optimum boolit diameter is for your new trapdoor. Slugging the barrel will help you find a better starting point for your experiments and it is especially useful on guns like the old trapdoors, which can vary widely. If you were to slug your Pedersoli barrel, I bet you will find it is mighty close to the advertised numbers.

13Echo (Jerry) is right about the precision of Pedersoli stuff. I know, there will certainly be stories out there of the bad gun that got out the factory door, but I am sold on Pedersoli. Both of mine (1859 and 1874 Sharps) shoot quite well. I bought the Pedersoli "Christmas tree" boolit mold for the '59 Sharps and was pleasantly impressed with its quality as well.

[Grapeshot]

I'm new here. Very exciting find. I have an old 1884 original TD infantry rifle that I've played with. Recently there was a cute little Pedersoli replica 1873 Carbine that talked into buy it.

Does anybody know what the bore diamater is? The twist is 1:22. Any experiences you have in load development would be helpful. I hope this isn't repetitious but as I said this is my first day here.


Having owned an original 1884 Infantry TD and the H&R TD Carbine and more recently the Pedersoli Infantry TD I can say with authority that you need to get Spencer & Pat Wolf's book "Loading Cartridges for the Original .45-70 Springfield Rifle and Carbine".

You will find that this book is full of great information on how to get the rifle and carbine to shoot accurately all the time. It was the best investment I ever made.

http://www.the45-70book.com

Take heed to follow his advise because it works.

[northmn]

One bullet I have often seen recommended specifically for the Trap Door is the Lee 405 grain hollow base. I believe it is close to a military spec. As to the other lee molds for BP loading, I have been less than impressed.

Northmn

[quasi]

internet rumor mill has it that Pedorsoli purchased the tooling for their trapdoors from H+R.

[Larry Gibson]

internet rumor mill has it that Pedorsoli purchased the tooling for their trapdoors from H+R.

That is indeed rumor. I have it from Pedersoli that they are using there own equipment/machinery and not the H&R equipment/machinery. Pedersoli also advised me that the groove depth of their TDs is a nominal .458/.459. I have sluged 3 of them and that is what they come out to. The Pedersoli's are very good shooters and can use the pleathora of standard .45 caliber cast bullets available. I have cast and sized to .459 several different bullets for use in those pedersoli TDs. They all shot quite well, as well as my H&R TDs or my original.

If one wants a shooter TD made of modern steels then the Pedersoli is much recommended.

Larry Gibson

[quasi]

Larry thanks for the info. In your opinion are the Pedorsoli's as good as or better than the H+R's? I know Ken Waters thought the H+R's were very nice.

[missionary5155]

Greetings & WELCOME vynshah....
Always nice to have another new Big Bore Shooter around.
I think IF Mr. Waters had a Pedersoli in his hands he would be favorable of them. I do not claim to know his feelings BUT I think the Pedersoli is at least as GOOD as the H&R's I had held. H&R did a god job... so does Pedersoli.
Be a nice project for a well healed feller. Test 5 Each side by side. One on one would not be fair at all.... actually 7 each would be a fair minimum. Measure throats & bores & metal fit & parts interchangability. Measure the wood to metal fit.
Load up 400 rounds of the standard 400 grain / 55 grain BP loads and fire them at 100 & 200 yards to get the feel of them as a trooper would. 20 rounds to break in, set the sights and 10 rounds each range.
Finally shoot them with a proven accurate load with equal boolit weights at the same ranges. Should only take a couple months, 50 pounds of powder and alot of lead.
That would come close to being a fair comparrison.

[StrawHat]

Be a nice project for a well healed feller.

Can't wait to read your report when you return from SA.:kidding:

[Don McDowell]

Would be interesting to know what the OP did with his rifle, in the 2 years since this thread was started?

[montana_charlie]

I agree, Don.
I hate to see a guy ask a question...and never return to his thread.

Kinda makes you think it was a waste of time, if you typed out an answer...
CM

[Larry Gibson]

Larry thanks for the info. In your opinion are the Pedorsoli's as good as or better than the H+R's? I know Ken Waters thought the H+R's were very nice.

I'm of the opinion that the Pedersoli's are of equal if not better quality that the first H&Rs. The last ones made before they went out of business were pretty poor. If I were wanting a shooter TD I would not hesitate to get a Pedersoli. I have a nice original TD which I shoot mostly BP loads in and two H&Rs; an OM and a LBH Carbine. Both the H&Rs are excellent shooters and I mostly use smokeless loads in them. However, I had to replace both breach blocks with original SA BBs to cure the "pop open" phenominon. I also put M1878 rear sights on them, a Beech front on the OM and took the tang sight off the LBH.

Actually a Pedersoly TD might very well be in my future.

Larry Gibson