Pedersoli S x S muzzle loading shotguns

[Limey]

Anybody using one of these?.......

....if yes, comments and feedback please....thank you.....

I am really lusting after one of these....but got to get a good trade on my Winchester Model 23 in Pigeon Grade on it so I can afford it!.....there's just always too much month left at the end of the money!

...what do you recommend....12 or 10 Bore?......

...I will use it as a general walk round with the dog gun during hunting season so it's likely to be pointed at ducks, pigeons, rabbits and hares plus to compete in the shooting clubs annual BP clay pigeon shoot......

...if I got the cylinder bored model I could even use it on deer and wild boar....I already have a round ball mould in .680 diameter.....

Straight shootin',

Limey

[longbow]

I used to have one of the early Pedersoli 12 ga. percussion side bys back in the mid '70's. I really liked it and wish I still had it but it was a casualty of my needing money for school and it just never got replaced ~ maybe one day.

I was just discussing this with someone after looking at the Pedersoli site because they seem to be cylinder one side and improved or modified on the other and I would swear both barrels were choked in mine, and I thought modified and full but maybe improved cylinder and modified. The reason I remember is that I wanted to load patched round ball but 0.690" was as large as I could load through the chokes (well, a 0.715" might have fit, I didn't mike them).

I did shoot the 0.690" round ball naked over hard card wads but accuracy was poor. I got a spike buck with 12 pellets of 00 buck over about 90 grs. of BP. Very effective! I recovered 9 of the 12 pellets. His shoulder was broken, lungs gone, left leg broken and generally he was well perforated. Distance was about 25 yards and he was on the run.

Now that I am a lot older and a little smarter, I would try the undersize ball on donut wads or inverted gas seals to keep it centered.

If you go cylinder bore you should be able to use shotcups and load the 0.680" ball into a shotcup which should give quite good accuracy to 50 yards or so. Probably best to use a nitro card wad or two over the powder though to minimize plastic fouling if you do.

I liked my 12 ga. but if I were doing it again I might be inclined to go with the 10 ga. Also, it seems to me that for your intended targets you would be best to get choked barrels.

FWIW

Longbow

[stuffy25thia]

I have one of the Navy Arms T&T 12 gauge, made by Pedersoli. Great gun, very well made. Don't shoot it much any more since I stopped hunting, can't do the walking that much anymore.

[northmn]

They used to make a couple of models that are similar to the Pedersoli. One was a light weight with chokes that kicked you in the face and the other was the "magnum" cylinder bored. I shot a pile of decoyed ducks with a cylinder bored 12 ga. Quit doing that mostly because of the duck population. Ducks seem to be coming back but I use a double hammer cartridge gun with BP now instead of a ML. Also have a 12 bore flintlock. Shot more than a few grouse with the ML double also. Reflexes were quicker. Actually for grouse it could have been a single shot as I never got down to earing back 2 hammers quick enough to get on a grouse. For ducks you can either buy Nice shot or bismuth at an exorbitant price and load traditionally or you can buy steel wads from a reloading supply store. I like to cut off the shot cup to make a sleeve and load a heavy overpowder card, then seat the wad to just below bore level, fll it with steel and put on the overshot cup and ram the whole thing home. Other wise you can load the steel wad as is but you will need a hefty charge to get it to work. Make sure you slit the wads. For a ML you maybe should slit them with 5-6 deep slits. I do not like to use plastic wads without a card underneath as they can coat a barrel pretty bad with black powder.
I use a 690 ball in a 12 ga. which can be had from Lee, Lyman etc. 10 bore or 12 does not matter much for shot but for roundball I would prefer the 12 as that is more than enough for about anything and a heavier ball would kick the H--l out of you in these doubles.

Northmn

[George Tucker]

I have a Navy Arms 12 gauge magnum, both barrels are cyl bore, made in 1970 i beleive, i really like it, George.

[Hometek]

I have the 20 gauge Pedersoli SxS. Light and quick. Wouldn't part with it.

[stubshaft]

I shoot a 12ga. Pedersoli. In fact it is now my primary shotgun turning all of my more modern ones into safe queens. Bearing in mind that I used to shoot competitive skeet and trap. I just have so darn much fun shooting it.

I use 85gr 2F behind 1 1/8oz of shot. I do not use a cushion wad and just load a .125" over powder wad on the powder charge and use the same type of wad over shot.

I tried cushion wads and they didn't pattern as well for me. Besides it makes for less "stuff" to carry in the field.

[Limey]

Thanks fellas.........after all that positive feedback I want one even more!.......

....anybody want to buy or trade for my Winchester Model 23?......

....(sadly I know personal export/imports of firearms into and out of countries is next to impossible and you have to use firearms dealers and they, naturally, want to take their slice of the action which makes the situation unviable)

You all enjoy your M/L's......but I will get one.....not sure when but I will.

Straight shootin'

Limey.

[BLTsandwedge]

I have one in 12 with threaded choke tubes. Very nice shotgun- my 'go-to' for the field.....if I could ever get to the field. I made paper cartridges for mine- no cushion wads for me either. Jus' like stubshaft said, it slows things down for no tangible results. Ox-Yolk thin fiber wads do well in this gun.

Good luck!

Tom

[PatMarlin]

Here's my DP 12 full. The LOP is a little long for me but I can't bring myself to shorten it...

http://www.patmarlins.com/Ped12ga2.jpg



http://www.patmarlins.com/Ped12ga7.jpg

[Old Goat Keeper]

Pat is that standard wood or custom? Sure is good looking! I've had a Pedersoli 12 double since bout 1980. I enjoy hunting squirrels with it cause the walking don't go so well any more for me. I've loaded it using both traditional wad column and also using power pistons. I've not had any problems with plastic in the barrells. but then maybe I don't shoot as often as other do.

Tom

[PatMarlin]

Stock wood, but I believe the shotgun's a deluxe grade.

I had wanted one for about 5 years before I found this one, and I kept watching the prices on these go up and up. One day this one pops up at Gunbroker on a buy it now auction for $600. I snapped it up and asked if the wood was really as nice as it seemed in the pictures and the guy said it was. Hardly even fired. When it arrived I was blown away.


http://www.patmarlins.com/Ped12ga1.jpg

[bigted]

as a kid i got in trade a 20 fox double. had such fun with it but then someone wanted to give me too much money for it and i stupidly let it go. now then i just purchased a navy arms double and it arrived in the mail just yesterday. what a sexy gun!!! thing is tho is the drop with the straight wrist. i remember sighting rite down the barrel along the rib and trying to do so with this puts my cheeck so hard against the high comb that i can only imagine how much of a mouse ill get on my cheeck bone. any body help this ol grump with some knowhow as to how to shoot this straight gun and hit with it while keeping my poose in shape it came with??

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

Bigted-

You could always steam the wrist and bend it down for more drop.

Regards,
Everett

[Marvin S]

Is your 23 a 12 or 20ga? I have a 20 but would like a 12 also.

[Limey]

Hi Marvin S,

....only just got out of hospital......my gallbladder decided to blow up last Monday.....I was rushed into hospital, they cut it out last Thursday....they threw me out yesterday so I am back on here today for the first time......re-couperating!

.....anyway, my 23 is a 12 bore.....

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f101/lambris/P1030153.jpg

Straight shootin'

Limey

[Dean D.]

Glad to hear you are ok Limey, wishing you a quick recovery.

Dandy looking 23 ya got there.

[Marvin S]

Hope you get to feeling better the old hospital aint no fun. Should have asked before but does the 23 have winchoke tubes.

[Limey]

Thanks to all the good wishes for my recovery guy's.....

.....getting better everyday but already fed up of being ordered to do nothing....even when I'm well I hate being idle.......

....my 23's got fixed chokes......they were very tight to start with but I had an armourer open them up to improved and modified.

I use the gun for huntiong and clays and have done really well in both disciplines.....if you need tighter patterns at really longer ranges with the variety of cartridges on the market today that gives really tight patterns it is not a problem.

Most folk shoot with too tight a choke.......you gotta ask yourself.....do I really like my meat full of lead anyway?.....killed yes, but turned into a tooth breaker?.....no thanks!

Straight shootin',

Limey

[northmn]

Another option that is a lot of fun and very similar in experience to shooting a ML SXS is to get an old double hammer breech loader and load BP shotshells. I use one in a 16 ga now but have shot a lot of game with ones in 12 bore. Straight cases like Cheddite, Fiochi or Federal work the best. I personally like Federal's cheap field cases as I could pick them up by the vbasket full at a local gun range and if wanted just pitch them after one shot. Paper is traditional and you could use brass, but I just use plastic cases as the actual shooting experience is the same. Load them like a ML and use a couple of cards over powder.

Northmn

[I Haines]

Limey,

I have an older Pedersoli 10ga that I hunt doves and pheasants with. One barrel is cylinder and one has a slight choke. The gun is OK for flying targets. One trigger is a little stiffer than the other which causes me to flinch sometimes. I suppose a good gunsmith could fix that.

I have tried a few different combos of wads, cushions etc. Still haven't got it to pattern very tight. Not a good choice for turkeys so far.

IH

[Moose Owner]

Limey,

I have two Pedersoli 12 gauge SxS's which I have used for hunting Pheasants for three years now. I have also used the Pedersoli at some Muzzle Loading Trap and Skeet competitions lately. The 12 gauge throws plenty of lead, assuming that I do my part. I do not see any reason to go up to the 10 gauge.

The Pedersoli's have been great for Pheasant hunting. However, I would definitely get a Pedersoli with interchangeable choke tubes. Cylinder bore guns will produce "OK" patterns. However, I have never gotten a dense enough pattern to feel comfortable shooting a big bird like a Pheasant with a cylinder bored gun. Where I hunt, it is simply not that common to get a shot at a pheasant which is less than 25 yards. I generally use modified choke tubes when hunting with the Pedersoli. I also use at least one size larger shot to compensate for the lower velocities which the muzzle loader produces.

The Pedersoli Choke tubes will interchange with the Browning Standard Invector choke tubes. There is a comparison of the patterns shot with both types of choke tubes at:
http://www.muzzleloadingshotguns.com/articles/pedersolichoketubes--interchangewithbrowninginvectortubes

I have shot .715 round balls through the Pedersoli with Skeet choke tubes. The best that I can do is about 6 inch groups at 25 yards. The interchangeable choke tubes also come in handy when you are shooting at a muzzle loading skeet competition. However, you do not see to many Pedersoli's at the muzzle loading skeet competitions. Most of the competitive shooters seem to be using either custom guns or original muzzle loaders.

[DIRT Farmer]

Welcome Moose, it wasen't that long since I joined. I have used the Pedersoli guns to hunt with and shoot compation, having in the family 2 fixed choke 10s, 1 screw in choke 10 a 12ga Richland by Pedersoli and a 20 ga. I have never tried RBs as a 50 cal RB makes short work on a deer. In the 10s loads are from 7/8 shot to 1 1/4 dependind on the game played or hunted. By playing with wads the patterns can go from cylinder bore to improved modified in the one 10 that is cylinder bored the other fixed choke is ic x m. The screw in choke is generaly the last out the door as it requires a short starter to get past the step at the bottom of the choke tubes. As for wads some loads like card wads, with 1/2 fiber, some with a full fiber. Two over powder wads will come close in patterns as with a fiber.