Pedersoli 1859 bullet info

[ohio charlie]

I have a Pedersoli 1859 Sharps carbine. Those of you who shoot this carbine what bullet and load are you using? Looking for 100 yd accuracy. Thanks

[gemmer]

I have the '63 Sporter. 60 gr Swiss 2F, Moose .544 flat base glued to Charlie's tube.

Duane

[ian45662]

What part of ohio do you live in?

[Greg Ogdan 110th OVI]

60g of FFg Swiss is a bit hot and may cause premature erosion of your pressure plate. Try 50g of FFg Goex. and try either the moose or NEI rebated base "ringtail". I shoot that load in both my Pedersoli Sharps Infantry and Shiloh Carbine and the load is lights out. In the pedersoli, you may get away with pure lead, but if all you can get is a little bit harder lead, I wouldn't worry at all.

Greg

[ohio charlie]

Thanks for your imput. The modern pedersoli mold came with the carbine and I cast some up. I had Hahns do his o-ring job and was using his tubes and 40 gr. of 2f Schutzen powder. At 100
yds I got more like a pattern instead of a group. Cast bullets out of pure lead. I didn't know if that was a good bullet design or not. I do not belong to NSSA I bought the gun because it was
on my bucket list. I do like to find the accuracy potential of the rifles I own and so far what I am using does not make me happy. Even at 50 yd off the bench it will shoot 2 or 3 in 3 or 4 inch
group and then throw one 8 or 10 in. high or low. I have owned muzzleloaders and cartridge guns and have reloaded for 30 years but this is new experience for me. I figured this would be
the place to go to get some good information. Thanks ahead of time for your help. Charlie By the way I live near East Liverpool

[ian45662]

What size tubes does your gun take? Have you slugged the bore? Are you lubing your bullets with a good black powder lube?

[gemmer]

Maybe, given the carbine's short barrel and relatively slow twist, the Pedersoli bullet is too long and too heavy for it. Cast in 30/1 it weighs over 100 grains more than my Moose bullet.

I don't worry about plate erosion with the 60 gr Swiss load in my Sporter. I worked it up as a hunting load that shoots pretty flat at 100 yards with excellent accuracy. I don't think I put 50 rounds a year through it.

Duane

[William Schoenfeld, 1386]

I have the 1859 Pedersoli and I shoot the ring tail from Rapine. I use Charlie's tube and I use 38 grains of Goex 3 F powder. I have not shot it in a while but if I remember the group was about 2 inches in diameter on the bench at 50 yards. The only problem that I have had with it was the caps. The RWS German caps do not go well but the old wingless Dynamit Nobel work very well.

[ohio charlie]

I checked the bullet from the Pedersoli mold. It is 1.06" long and it weighs over 511 grains that is the capacity of my scale. When the weather permits I am going to try shooting these
bullets without attaching the tube to the base of the bullet and see if that makes a difference.

[gemmer]

They're 535 gr.

Duane

[Greg Ogdan 110th OVI]

Charlie,

You have a heavy bullet there, so you may need the 60 gr charge. I would still recommend FFg powder. No one has addressed the lube issue yet. I dip my finished rounds in MCM for a 1001, 1002 count. Off the bench, and with proper form, the gun should shoot 2" groups or so at 100 yd. Plenty tight enough to bread a 6" tile at 100 yds. Now if I could hold that well.

You may not be aware, but the N-SSA now allows individual memberships. Our schedule should be up shortly after New Years. Check it out. Come to a Skirmish. You don't have to compete; just look and ask questions. Either Ian or I will be more than glad to chat with you when we're not competing.

Greg

[Charlie Hahn]

Howdy,

I found an issue in bullet stability in the twist rates we have, (1:36 & 1:48) Once the bullet is shorter than .800 There is a big difference. I also believe the magic weight might be between 410 and 355 grains.

I have two new bullets in test that meet this requirement. I will have more data shortly.

Charlie Hahn

[ohio charlie]

Finally got to the range today to try some things on my Sharps. I used the same bullet and lube as before. I used Charlie's tubes but did not glue them to the base of the bullet. Loaded bullet
in chamber then pushed in tube flush with breech. Had two loads to try for my trial runs, 30g and 50g 2f Schutzen powder. Ran dry patch thru bore between shots. Shot at 50yds off bench.
When I dry patched sometimes the tube was still in the barrel, I think that was why I was getting fliers. The tube was not in the chamber but father up in one piece. The 30g load shot in two
inches and the 50g load shot in under 1 1/2 inches this was 5 shot groups and my eyes have trouble seeing the front sight, but I got no fliers like before. Now I have to figure out how to get
the tubes to follow the bullet out the barrel. So I know now that the rifle is OK I just have find the right combination of load. The weather is turning cold here in Ohio so it might be awhile
till I get back to the range. Charlie suggested 40g and I don't doubt that if the tube would blow out.

[gemmer]

If they're the white tubes, I believe Charlie recommends giving them a light coat of shellac to help them break up. I have had a few that left portions in the chamber. I haven't had that problem with the brown tubes. They do hold a little less powder when filled full length.

Duane

[ohio charlie]

What type of lube seems to work the best? I was using 50/50 beeswax and pure neatsfoot oil it seemed pretty thick to me. When I dipped the bullet there was a heavy build up on it.
Perhaps that is keeping the tube from exiting the barrel?

[Greg Ogdan 110th OVI]

Charlie,

Try 50/50 of beeswax and olive oil. Personally I use MCM.

Greg