Can anyone tell me about the pedersoli kodiac double black powder rifle? There's one for sale and the feller is asking $900 Can. It's a 72 cal and looks like lotsa fun!!! Would this be considered a reasonably accurate gun? I'd be inclined to think this is a tad high but if he would accept $750 I might have a nice x-mas present--from me to me

thanks

the chef

72 cal!man you must have big shoulders.

The problems with these doubles are ! first you must get a load for one barrel at a time then load the second barrel only to shoot the first barrel and carefully measure the not fired barrel to see if it's load moved fore ward from the recoil of the first barrel being shot , Now do the same with second barrel when you have a both barrels profed for accuracy and both loads stay tight your ready to hunt or whatever , if you don't do this testing you could have a barrel split apart from a loose load . Merry Xmas

Good point, that hadn't occured to me.

thanks

In some states it is illegal to hunt big game with a double black powder rifle. colorado is one of them. Check the regs. before you hunt.
good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
Can anyone tell me about the pedersoli kodiac double black powder rifle? There's one for sale and the feller is asking $900 Can. It's a 72 cal and looks like lotsa fun!!! Would this be considered a reasonably accurate gun? I'd be inclined to think this is a tad high but if he would accept $750 I might have a nice x-mas present--from me to me

thanks
the chef

I have a .54 in this model, and have examined a .58 and a .50. The Pedersoli Kodiaks are nice guns, and I was able do develop a load for mine that puts both barrels pretty close together at 100 yards. Mine has a 1/66" twist, so I have stuck with round balls for it.

In mine, the load in the left barrel does not move when I fire the right, but with the .72, it might due to the much greater rcoil. However, this is easy to find out with your ramrod.

These rifles have two rear sights, and the story goes that you have to zero one for one barrel, and the other for the opposite barrel, then use both sights accordingly. This has NOT been my experience, although it could be the case if one is too lazy to develop a load that puts both barrels close to the same POI at the desired range.

I chose 100 yards for mine, as I will never shoot anything larger than deer with mine, but for dangerous game with that .72, one might choose 50 yards instead! I think the price is reasonable. (I traded a C. Sharpes Arms New Model 1875 in .32/40 for mine.) As a matter of fact, if that .72 was here, I'd probably buy it myself at that price! I just finished a .73 Jaeger, and could use the same balls in both (.715")!

The following was written for breech-loading doubles, but I found that it worked with mine too, although mine only shot wide or crossing, not high/low as well.

REGULATING A DOUBLE RIFLE

CROSSING: Example: If the right barrel is shooting to the LEFT, (possibly low as well) the bullet is traveling too fast, and is not getting enough barrel time. It needs to be slowed down. This is where most loaders make the first mistake. They mistakenly think because the shot is going LOW, so it is too slow! ACTUALLY IT IS GOING TOO FAST.

SHOOTING WIDE: Here the RIGHT barrel is shooting to the RIGHT, and the LEFT barrel is shooting to the LEFT. When the rifle is shooting WIDE, the bullet will probably be HIGH as well, and is traveling TOO SLOW, exiting the barrel too LATE, and needs speeding up. Think of the target with an "X" drawn from top left to bottom right, and vice-versa, with the apex being the point of aim. The recoil will more or less follow these two lines as the load increases, or decreases. As described above, at rest in the vice, the RIGHT barrel will be pointing at the LEFT lower leg of the "X", and vice-versa for the LEFT barrel. So to say it plainly, if the barrels are CROSSING, and LOW, they are shooting a load that is too fast. If the barrels are shooting WIDE and HIGH, they are shooting a load that is too slow. Add to all this, the fact that the double rifle is not that strong, and will not tolerate high pressure, one must start his loading very low, and work up very slowly, to avoid damageing the rifle. Just ONE load that is too hot, will permanently damage your double. The double rifle is a 19th century technology, no matter if it was made yesterday, and must be approached with extreme caution!

Here's my "regulated" target.

There is a thread on this on the percussion forum at muzzleloadingforum.com. These guns are an immense amount of fun, whether with round bal lof 835-grain conical. Go for and brush your teeth first, 'cause you'll be grinnin' from ear to ear.

Below is a 770gr .72 conical next to a .58 Minie and a .45 conical. These 770 grainers are being used to good effect over here in South Africa. It is a tripple diameter bullet that I designed and the top band in engraved at loading. None of the shooters that use this have a problem with loading or with the bullet slipping forward during recoil. This bullet was designed specificaly for the Kodiak.



Sean.

Sean, what twist will that conical work with? Can it be used in a 1/78"? If so, I'd like to try it in my 12-bore flintlock Jaeger.

Thanks!

It Should work. The Pedersoli doubles have a 1:75 twist if I'm not mistaken which is actually quite quick in that bore size. Also the 770gr bullet is not that long in relation to the diameter so should be well stabilsed even in much slower twists.

Sean.

Cabela sells them new for about $1000 US, so that sounds like a decent price if it's in good condition.

A double rifle isn't a lot more trouble than a double shotgun, and the .72 rifle weighs about 10# so the recoil is actually less. The big thing to remember about reloading the first barrel when the second barrel is loaded is to DECAP THE SECOND BARREL before you stick any part of yourself in front of the muzzles.

1. Fire right bbl.
2. Decap left bbl.
3. Pull ramrod from ferrules, poke into left bbl to be sure the load is where it belongs. The load won't move with one shot, but it might after several right bbl shots without a left bbl shot.
4. Load right bbl as usual, return ramrod to ferrules.
5. Cap both nipples.

Good for deer, boar, and lightly armored vehicles.

A couple of our local boys have recently shot buffalo with these .72 doubles. One guy took a giraffe with a .72 and another guy took another giraffe with a .58 Pedersoli double using my 590gr minie bullet. These guns are getting popular here and are proving to be very effective.

Sean.

Here is a pic of the giraffe shot with the .72 with the proud hunter posing with his rifle and trophy.

Sean.

Sean - Thanks for the info and pics. Good hunting!

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Murphy:
This bullet was designed specificaly for the Kodiak.

Sean, have you recovered any bullets? Do they expand? (Not that they need to, of course.)

A couple of my customers have recovered bullets and they did expand well. I had a pic of one but cant find it at the moment, I'll look. As I've heard said, " your .30 cal might expand mister but my .72 aint gonna shrink".

Sean.

Sean, are these bullets available in the US?? I was just at Cabelas and handled one of their 72 Cals. Looks like a hoot.

quote:

Sean, are these bullets available in the US?? I was just at Cabelas and handled one of their 72 Cals. Looks like a hoot.

I was thinking the exact same thing. So far I can't find anyone on the web selling either bullets or molds for 72 CAL conicals.

I have my moulds custom made by a local BP shooter who is a retired toolmaker. If anyone is interested in one of these moulds then let me know and I will make a plan. If you guys are willing to pay the shipping costs, the moulds would cost about $110-00 US which is not too bad for a custom mould. His moulds are all steel and very good quality, better than RCBS and Lyman. I have about 20 of his moulds.

Sean.

I would be interested and $110 is not bad but I would need to know how payment would be made (credit card, check, etc) and how much shipping would cost. Let me know if you get enough replies to make it worth your while.

quote:

Originally posted by DrScott:
I would be interested and $110 is not bad but I would need to know how payment would be made (credit card, check, etc) and how much shipping would cost. Let me know if you get enough replies to make it worth your while.

Me too!

Sean: What kind of accuracy are these bullets giving in the .72 Kodiak?

Are those bullets marketed in the USA?

I would be interested in buying some of the 590gr .58's

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Are those bullets marketed in the USA?

I would be interested in buying some of the 590gr .58's

If you can find a mould for it, try the Lyman 57730 minie bullet. It weighs 570 grains. I use it with 120 grains of FFg in my .58 flintlock. I would not hesitate to take on Kodiak bear with that load!

Here's the bullet, between two .45/70 rounds.....

I have a .50 cal Kodiak.It hits goot to 75-100 yards.I installed double adjustible sites.Its a chore to site one of these in.I also shot accushot primer adapeters in mine to use small rifle primers.It would not fire 100 % of the time with precussion caps.I never had a miss fire after I changed it over.

quote:

accushot primer adapeters in mine to use small rifle primers

Hi dgr,
Where did you get those primer adapters?

Thanks
Martin

I just picked up a 54 used. Anybody have a source for a better rear sight. It works ok but looks like a turd on a wedding cake.

Brian 1,
Did you ever find a sight? I'd like to know because I've got a bad itch for one of those .72 Kodiaks myself and would like to put a fixed sight on it when I get one. Any recent load data would be appreciated too.
thanks,
David

Yes I did find a fix for the sight, It looks a little redneck with 2 dovetails and only one being used but hey I do live less than an hour from Oklahoma. I found a more traditional (looking anyway) sight in my junk drawer and put it on. I don't know for sure what the sight came off of, probably a 30-30 or something like that.

LOL.....sounds like something I'd rig myself.....and probably will.

After I got my Pedersoil Express rifle in .72 caliber, I was frustrated not being able to find a conical bullet for it, so I E-mailed Brooks True Bore Bullets Moulds up and had them make me a mould. Here is a pic of the .72 bullet I cast next to a .58 Cal REAL bullet.Shot a nice doe with it last deer season, she went down real fast. If you would like to contact Brooks here is a link.
http://www.brooksmoulds.com/bullets.html

muddy,
thanks for the link. can you give us some load specifics? i just got one of these (kodiak .72) and would like to find out as much as i can about them.

degoins
I use between 100 and 130 grains of Goex FFg. 100 grains for target shooting and 120 or 130 grains for hunting. The cast bullet weighs in at 1.53 oz and is hollow based.Some have suggested I try a wad behind the bullet, but I've have never seen a reason too as my accuracy has been very good so far.

muddy,
sounds like a winner......thanks

Muddy,
have you chronographed those loads? sorry to be such a pest...

degoins
I don't have a chronograph, I wish I did. I would really like to know what kind of velocity I'm getting getting out of these large cast bullets.

muddy,
well I appreciate it anyway. I have one and will probably chrono my roundball loads this weekend....if weather permits. I'll let you know how that turns out. Do those slugs load easily? I have to use a thin patch for the round balls I have and they're still pretty tough to load.

degoins
I lube them with a little bore butter so they load without much resistance. I have more trouble loading round ball then conical.The conical shoots much better, you don't get near as much drop on the cast bullet, shoots much flatter then the round ball.Well worth the cost of the mould.

muddy,
sounds like the way to go. thanks again.

my .72 Kodiak with 550gr. round balls and 140gr. FFFG Goex chronies at 1330 fps. muddy boots conicals are 669grs. and i would imagine in the 1150-1250 fps range. what great fun these rifle are.