Pedersoli Plainsman Percussion Rifle

[Andyd]

I picked up a used Davide Pedersoli .45 percussion rifle recently. The rifle is about 53 inches long and was built in 1979. It is overall in very good condition with a nice set trigger, good walnut, nice engravings but the adjustable rear sight does not stay put and the front sight was obviously changed and is too thick for the rear sight.

I am still working on the stock finish. I think that this was built from a kit and was only cold blued, so I will eventually get a container to rust blue this lo-o-ong barrel after trying to find the proper load for it. I thick a .440 round ball and thin patch will work with about 35 to 45 grains of bp.

Does anyone else here have experience with the Plainsman rifles from DP?

[johnson1942]

their is something good you need to know about your rifle. if it is a 45 with a 1/48 twist then you can buy a cheap 250 grain lee .451 mold and cast pure lead bullets. then take these bullets and run them through a pushthrough .440 resizer. then learn to dry wrap two wraps of number nine paper (the cheap all wood fiber paper) and shoot that over a 60 thousands thick fiber wad over 80 grains of powder and it will drive tacks at 100 yards. also increase the kill of a deer. lots of muzzle energy, extreem accracy and easy to load. that is a beautiful rifle and again if yours is a 1/48 twist its even better.

[Andyd]

Johnson1942,

thanks for this helpful info, it is what I was looking for! I checked the twist rate and it is a 1/48 rate. That isn't a round ball mold that you are referring to, do you have a number or a photo of the finished bullet? I have cast plenty of RB for cap and ball revolvers in .445 and was thinking of coating some round ball and try that first, since I have plenty of them on hand.

[fouronesix]

The Pedersoli muzzleloaders I've looked at are a cut above most of the other imports and seem to be on par with the Uberti muzzleloaders. The 48" twist should do well. If the bore condition is good, the gun has potential to shoot well.

I don't know what you mean by "coating"?? You can try either a .440 ball or .445 ball. The bore diameter and thickness of patch material will determine which combination works best. I would guess the .440 to be a little easier to work with. The other type projectile to try would be a 45 caliber conical, like the Maxiball or Lee REAL. A third option is to paper patch an undersized, fairly short conical.

[johnson1942]

again if you get a real bullet mold for the 45 cal and a push through resizer a.440 and resize the real bullet for the 45 it can be paperpatched. the wads can be bought in bulk from buffalo arms or track of the wolf. they are the size that work for the 45/70 and would go between the bullet and powder. the real bullet mold is about 200 to 250 grains in weight. a pistol bullet mold of .451 or .452 diam 200 to 250 grain will work also. they all just need to be resized to .440. now to learn to wrap in paper their is all the info here on cast bullets as idaho ron has numerous post on that as well as i. also you can go to ramshot.com then go to their blog section and look for the article i wrote for them with pictures, paperpatching the inline muzzle loader. i know yours isnt a inline but makes no diff. a rifle barrel is a rifle barrel. you have two ways to chose in paperpatching your muzzle loader and that article expains both ways. when i had a 45 1/48 twist barrel on a muzzle loader i paperpatched a 250 grain bullet and shot 100 grains of real black behind it and it kept a hole ragged at 100 yards. i rebarred that gun to a 45 1/18 twist and sold the barrel to kroger and he is shooting it now. the 1/48 twist 45 cal is a good barrel and pedersoli makes good guns. their nipples are american threads. read the article and join every one else paperpatching, you wont regret it. its not rocket science and very easy to learn.

[bob208]

how do you increase the kill of a deer? dead is dead. a .440 round ball will go through a deer side to side at 100 yd.
with out all the dancing just use a maxi-ball if you want more power.

to the rifle I think the sights have been changed which is common on a used gun. the rifles themselves were very good shooters. they were made in .38 and .45. I have always wanted to find one in .38.

[johnson1942]

in my experience i have knocked down deer with a 45 round ball in good ares of the body to hit but a couple have got up and i had a heck of a time tracking them. they dont get up with a 250 grain pp bullet. i veiw a 45 roundball as a gun for the woods or semi woods, not for the prairie and rolling grass hills. its not just placeing a ball where it should go but shocking the animal also. 50 cal roundballs i have no problem with as they shock and no second shot is needed. im too old to track a animal for hours then carry it back from God knows where.

[StrawHat]

...im too old to track a animal for hours then carry it back from God knows where...

Same with me, I take an English view and consider the 45 caliber as too small for deer. Sure, lots have been used but a larger caliber means less tracking, with a proper shot. Of them all, my favorite is a 58.

The Pedersoli rifle reminds me of one built by Cecil Brooks. Good looking rifle.

Kevin

[Andyd]

four one six,

by coating I mean the coating with paint that I use on centerfire bullets. My theory is that a coated .445 RB with a light load should do well but I have landed hard on my butt on more than one occasion with those theories.

Does anyone here have experience with coated RB in muzzle loaders?

[dondiego]

I coat mine with a tight weaved cotton patch.

[Hanshi]

That nice rifle is tailor made for a patched round ball. Of all the deer I've killed most have fallen to one .45 or another in my stable. I've had a higher percentage of DRTs with a .45 than with the various .50s I've used on deer. None has run more than 75 yards, usually not even out of sight, and the majority of hits were pass throughs; including one deer I shot at near 80 yards. Deer are not at all difficult to kill as long as you shoot accurately. I've found the .45 prb to be about as effective on deer as the 30/30 cartridge. You now own a deer harvesting machine; enjoy.

[fouronesix]

four one six,

by coating I mean the coating with paint that I use on centerfire bullets. My theory is that a coated .445 RB with a light load should do well but I have landed hard on my butt on more than one occasion with those theories.

Does anyone here have experience with coated RB in muzzle loaders?

I thought that may be what you meant. And no problem with the question…. even though it's a little unusual. Won't hurt to try it. After all, "bare" roundballs are shot out of both C&B revolvers and cartridge guns all the time…. albeit in both those cases the ball is usually a little larger than the bore so as to engrave the lands. I'd guess a slightly oversized ball started with a short starter over a light charge of BP would probably shoot ok. But I'd also guess a lightly lubed, tight weave cotton patch would work better for most charge levels- light through heavy.

[johnson1942]

sold a rifle i built for cast and or paperpatch and it shot bare round balls very accurate with full charge that is 70 grains of black. the grooves are 5 thousands deep. the ball was a little over sized but popped into bore with out a problem and the key i think to no leading and shooting so well was i used a 60 thousands firm fiber wad between ball and powder. i even make a round ball rifle that is made for a bare round ball. narrow lands, at leaste 5 thousands deep with the proper twist for a round ball. the idea of coating the ball is a good idea and their is a section in castbollits that deals with coated bullets. i would say it could be very very accurate and never lead and shoot full charges easily. this post got me to thinking about makeing a rifle like that again and with a twist just for roundballs.