Anybody ever own / shoot Pedersoli SxS percussion shotguns?

How's the quality of the guns in general?

Thanks for any info,

JW

Hi Jeff...
I have two of them; an older, light weight 12ga. and a 3 year old 10ga. I bought the 12ga. used about 15 years ago for $100. It was sold through Dixie Gun Works and is no longer made. The 12ga is well made and has always functioned perfectly. It's choked cyl/mod and has killed lots of dove and quail. It's pretty well made and has a checkered walnut (fair quality) straight grip English style stock. The new (current)Pedersoli ML shotguns are another story. It (mine anyway) is a first class gun. Great wood and checkering and fit/finish is first class. It functions perfectly and can be ordered with screw-in chokes or fixed cyl/mod. The only thing I don't like about it, as a left hand shooter, it the right hand cheek piece on the stock which is never shown in pictures of the gun. I doubt there is a nicer new ML SxS than the current Pedersoli and, although they are a little pricey, you DO get your monies worth.

Jon

Jeff: I have had them in 10,12 and 20. Nice guns, although it is unusual to get consistent left and right triggers in my experience. For some reason, the 10 gauge always bruised my cheek, and not because of the loads. Odd thing is that I got my best patterns from the 20 gauge, which also fit me the best.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Wemmer:
Anybody ever own / shoot Pedersoli SxS percussion shotguns?

How's the quality of the guns in general?

Thanks for any info,

JW

I have owned no Kodiak double guns. I presently own a pair of Safari double rifles, and have owned one .58-caliber Kodiak rifle. It is to these I reply.

Pedersoli apparently offered/offers two tiers of Kodiak quality. The plainer version, usually with a reseller/distributor brand name, appears to have significantly less hand work on locks and triggers - that is, they need work to bring trigger action into congruence AND to become acceptable.

The higher grade is ready to go.

Hope this helps.

Bill...
Does your 10ga have a cheek piece and do you shoot right handed? Wonder if it's causing the bruising. Patterns: my 10 and 12 ga. guns both shoot equally good patterns using the V.M. Starr loading method. The best patterns are as good as those from my Beretta A391 with it's favorite ammo. But, the ML patterns are not CONSISTENTLY as good...probably because of fouling. I use Swiss 1 1/2fg in both guns and find it's "hotter" and fouls less than others I've used.

Jon

Jon: I think the 10 gauge had a cheek piece but I traded it off years ago thanks to the bruising, so might be wrong. It was the Cabelas version though, not the Dixie.

Naphtali/Jeff...
I bought a Pedersoli mod.1874 Sharps rifle through Cabellas a few years ago and returned it for several quality/functioning issues. I've since bought 2 Pedersoli's through Beauchamp's, also known as Flintlocks Inc. The first was the 10ga ML, and 2 years ago a .451 Gibbs long range ML target rifle. Neither were Pedersoli's engraved "Deluxe" model but they are both so nice I have to agree the big distributors might not get the "best" guns. So Jeff...if you do decide to buy a Pedersoli shotgun check Beauchamps. Their prices are usually only about $20 above Cabella's and other large distributors.

Jon

I just picked up an older Pedersoli 12-gauge double. The fit and finish are very good, and the gun is very well balanced. It sure is fun to watch a pheasant fall after the cloud of smoke and have other hunters look to see what the heck that was.

Congratulations on you're purchase! Can you describe it a little more3? My "older" Pedersoli 12ga. has a browned rather than blue finish and is very lightweight...almost like it was meant to be an upland game gun. It's hard to see but it DOES say Pedersoli on one of the barrels. Otherwise, no markings besides proof's and "black powder only". The barrels are cyl. right and mod. left. I get the best patterns using the V.M. Starr loading method; two card wads over the powder and one over the shot. It's a great dove gun and the first shot 1/2 hour before sunrise really turns some heads.

Jon

Jon

I'm puzzled! Does this mean to say that you don't use any sort of FELT WAD between the powder and the shot?

Certainly here in UK you would load the powder, then a card overpowder wad and a 3/4" greased felt driving wad and a card wad on top of that.

Loading those three as a "sandwich" all at once.

Finally pour in the shot and then last the overshot wad.

Hi Jon.

Your gun sounds a lot like mine, which weighs about 7 pounds, is browned, has a straight grip stock with a checkered wrist, and a moderately figured stock that looks like English walnut. I use 85-grains of FFg black powder with a cardboard overpowder wad followed by a felted wad, then 1-1/8 ounce of shot (#5-1/2 nickel plated for pheasant) and then a thin cardboard overshot wad on top of everything else.

I am still trying to decide on what is the best lubricant for the wads.

Dave

loud-n-boomer...enfieldspares.

Sounds like the same gun. I believe they were sold through Dixie Gun Works years ago but that's all I could find.

I have probably tried most of the loading methods using fiber wads, felt wads, plastic shot cups, and various lubes. None of them produced (for me anyway) better patterns than the simple 3 card Starr method. Search (Google) "V.M. Starr" muzzle loading shotguns and you should be able to find the article he wrote many years ago describing the method. Let me know if you can't find it and I'll see if I can track it down.

Jon