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Thread: Pendersoli pistols

  1. #21
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sasquatch-1 View Post
    Tried real 4f in the pan and Pyrodex down the tube. Still seemed like it took a week and a half to ignite the main charge. There is no substitute for real black powder in a flintlock.
    Part of they key with getting good ignition is to make sure the flash hole is open. Old military drill had the soldier roll the piece to the right when shouldering. What you want is the flash from the priming charge to "shoot" through the open touch hole to the main charge. What you don't want is the touch hole filled with powder from the pan, then it acts more like a fuse with a very noticeable hang. Some experimentation to find the right priming charge is worthwhile. Too much can be as much of a problem as too little.

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Those rifled pistols are made for round ball and have the right twist for ROUND ball and you need to shoot patched round ball from 430 toFFFg powder. The Charleyville is a 600 to a 630 ball and up to 40 grains of powder or a 3/4 oz ;load of shot for a rabbit gun. Wads can come form Track of the Wolf.

  3. #23
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    It would be good to find out the twist rate on your pistols.
    I had a friend that built a muzzle loader from a kit last fall. He brought it over to shoot and he had some maxiballs he wanted to try. We checked the twist rate and it was 1:128, if I remember correctly. So I told he it would shoot round balls, but would not stabilize the maxiballs. We tried the maxis from 25 yds and it keyholed through the target. Once we got it on target, we moved back to the bench and the round balls shot great from 75 yds.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master


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    FFF should work in the pan. Trick is not to use too much. Don’t cover the touch hole. I put a fine line across the bottom of the pan to the bottom of the touch hole. You will also need to get your flint in good shape, so you are getting a good spark as well. There’s a lot to learn, but a lot of fun to be had too!

  5. #25
    Boolit Master
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    Keeping it simple is the way to go with flintlocks (percussion guns, actually any guns). Decide what you are interested in achieving. Me, I hunt and have fun so my way of shooting is vastly different then a chunk shooter or target shooter. I won’t have a ball starter or priming horn near me. I want my load to be accurate but “loose” enough to slide down a fouled bore with little resistance. I prime with 2f if that is what I have in the horn or prepared cartridges. Keep your flint sharp and positioned for sparks.

    With flintlocks in general and flint pistols specifically, flow through is paramount to hitting the target. Practice dry firing and keeping the sights aligned for several seconds after the shot goes down range. Okay, that one is stolen from the target boys but it is valuable advice.

    Enjoy shooting! It is not rocket surgery!

    Kevin
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  6. #26
    Boolit Master
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    Here is what a properly tuned and loaded flintlock pistol should look (and sound) like when fired. Use Black Powder for the main charge and use FFFFG (4F) Black Powder in the frizzen pan. Keep the flint SHARP and align it properly.

    https://youtu.be/fNDmvYbyLqA

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
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    That's it Tar Heel!! If a fella gets a "clack, whoosh, boom" sumthin' ain't right.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

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  8. #28
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by sharps4590 View Post
    That's it Tar Heel!! If a fella gets a "clack, whoosh, boom" sumthin' ain't right.
    Or...it's a Hollywood gun with lots of visual appeal. Smoke. Fire. Whooshing. Clacking. Boom! They actually set them up specifically for all the camera visuals. That gun in the video is a stock Pedersoli by the way. I did select and align a new flint to be sure it would fire. The touch hole is inline with and centered on the top plane of the pan so fortunately it was just great out of the box. I actually bought it used. It was a return at Cabela's because the person who bought it didn't know how to make it work. What a shame but GREAT for me! Got it for $199

    I have hunted for decades with a flintlock rifle I built. It's an Isaac Haines 50 caliber and I have NEVER had a misfire with that rifle - even in a drizzle all day. Put a cows knee over the lock, wipe the frizzen with a patch, and she has put many a deer on the table. Last year I left the main charge in for 5 days. I knocked out the priming charge in the evening and re-primed in the morning. On day 5 I shot a beautiful buck in Stokes county NC. Love that rifle.

    Attachment 285286 Attachment 285289

    Yup. Turtle Clan
    Last edited by Tar Heel; 06-27-2021 at 05:43 PM.

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master

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    You do NOT need 4FG for the pan - I use 3FG in my pan and the British Army used the charge powder in the pan in the Brown Bess, and that was probably closer to 2FG than 3FG. That worked for more than 200 years! Sure, you might get a microsecond faster charge ignition with 4FG, but having too much of either powder in the pan will slow the ignition down more than that.

    You have good advice so far, and Track of the Wolf online has everything you need except the powder. That you may need to get locally and I don't know where you are. You do need FFFG black powder.
    Wayne the Shrink

    There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!

  10. #30
    Boolit Buddy
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    You need real black powder for your flintlock pistols, but you do not need 4f priming powder. The same 3f that you use for the main charge is just fine for priming the pan. Scientific studies have shown that 4f priming powder is slightly faster than 3f, but the difference is so small that human senses can’t tell the difference as long as you have a good quality lock. Something to consider: English duelling pistols were among the fastest flintlocks ever built....and I have never seen an original cased set that had a priming flask....they were primed with the same powder used for the main charge. Have fun!

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by lar45 View Post
    Loading Black Powder is different than loading Smokeless.
    You have the patience of Job. I think I would have just provided a link:

    https://www.nmlra.org/store/muzzleloadingguide

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have the Harpers Ferry .58 flintlock and I'll give it to straight. The pistol is a total unreliable po-s. When new, I was lucky to ignite 4 out of 10 shots. Tried everything I could think of to get it to ignite. Ended up shipping it to Brad at Cabin Creek and even he commented that the import lock design is very poor. The geometry of the hammer causes the flint to slam directly into frizzen, not arc along the face like it should. Cabin Creek tweaked my lock timing and hardened my frizzen and my lock is way better (but I still do get inconsistent ignitions).

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check